Volume: 91 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

Getting the right flooring product into the right place can be very challenging particularly if you don't fully understand all of the circumstances, conditions and parameters of what you want to use, where and how to use it. That said we'll look at how you go about getting the right product in the right place, regardless of what it is and having it meet all your expectations. Nothing in a commercial space gets as much abuse as the flooring material. With the right product it may never show how much traffic and use it really gets. The wrong product will make you want to pull your hair out when it fails miserably after a short period of time.

 Volume: 90 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

Installing floor covering materials of any kind and floor preparation treatments such as leveling agents and feather finishes is challenging enough without impeding their effectiveness with a barrier. We’ve discussed before the use of Fly Ash in concrete and how, if in high enough quantity it can prevent anything from bonding or sticking to concrete substrates.

The flooring industry, and anyone else involved in flooring which includes the General Contractor, Architect, Designer, Facilities Managers and owners are facing another obstacle to successful floor covering installations due to the use of concrete admixtures, additives and topical applications.

Unfortunately this action has moved us from the frying pan into the fire. Worse yet a bill of goods on these systems are being sold to Architects and General Contractors and the systems are being written into the construction specs. This forces the flooring contractor to either install the flooring material and face imminent failure or not do so and face legal action.

 Volume: 89 |  Issue: 1 |  Download

This issue is dedicated to my dear friend Dan Blake who passed away suddenly on February 13, 2016.

In commercial flooring applications it's important to make sure the flooring being selected and specified is appropriate for the application. We've talked about making sure the right product gets into the right place but we'll look at what makes the product the right one to use so it delivers the performance, life expectancy and appearance retention expected and then some.

The most complex of flooring products for commercial use is carpet. The components and engineering that go into making a carpet a high or low performing textile floor covering material are more involved than for hard surface flooring — with all due respect. Vinyl flooring for example may have a thicker wear layer, be thicker overall or have layered in it components that categorize it for a particular application and a particular kind of backing but the list is short compared to carpet as you'll see.