What did you do today?

[Mark Brown]

Today I was asked if I get sued a lot because I told an irate arsehole that I am not responsible for failures due to the base building. He did not like that I suppose.
Flooring isn't a Lifeproof warranty. If your house burned down, would you call me and ask me to replace all the flooring free of charge because it was within the warranty period?? Sounds about right I suppose.

 

[Floorist]

Today I was asked if I get sued a lot because I told an irate arsehole that I am not responsible for failures due to the base building. He did not like that I suppose.
Flooring isn't a Lifeproof warranty. If your house burned down, would you call me and ask me to replace all the flooring free of charge because it was within the warranty period?? Sounds about right I suppose.

I had a business that flooded when heavy rain made the river rise and they had the nerve to ask me if the carpet was under warranty.

 

[Mark Brown]

yeah that about sums it up. Oh people

 

[Floorist]

Got one actual complaint in years. They said a seam was coming apart. Actually, they had put a roller chair with steel castors on the carpet and gradually cut through it. It was about 6 feet from the closest seam.

 

[highup]

I had a business that flooded when heavy rain made the river rise and they had the nerve to ask me if the carpet was under warranty.

I had a business that flooded when heavy rain made the river rise and they had the nerve to ask me if the carpet was under warranty.

If people were smart enough they would actually embarrass themselves.

 

[C.J.]

Went and bought a bed today. They seem expensive but if they last 10 years and you get the one you want then they really aren’t that expensive.

 

[highup]

I took a look at a job yesterday where the carpet needs to be fit against some cortec laminate flooring. It's either a miniature dining room or a pass-through to the stairway and living room that is carpeted and meets up with the cortec close to an island that sits at an angle. I suggested using a clamp down metal on it and I happen to have two little pieces with different colors and she picked the so-called nickel color which tends to look good. I stopped at the warehouse and pick some up and headed off with some shim material and my hammer drill and hopefully everything I needed. The guy that installed the carpet left it loose and the guy that installed the cortec trim the carpet flush with the edge of the Cortec. He told the lady he didn't finish off the edges, he just installed the flooring.
Cutting this thick carpet flush with the edge of the Coretec would make installing the clamp down metal more of a pain in the butt because it would need to be installed accurately so the carpet would be able to fit into the clampdown. The total span would be about 11 ft 3 and would have a bend in it at about the 6 mark. I cut a couple of wedgies and proceeded to make my bend. When I slid it against the corner to see exactly where I would start at I discovered something ugly. An installer that could probably read Braille.
He couldn't make a straight line at an angle.
These two photos are of the first six feet prior to making the bend.
I remind you, the carpet was cut flush to the edge of the Cortec. My tape is straight, barely missing the bow in the middle of the span so I can't really move it.
Is it really that hard to cut at an angle.
It would also help to leave the carpet edge two or three inches long so the fella finishing the edge had something to work with.
I showed her a scrap piece of flat bar and she liked the looks of that. The carpet is pretty heavy so we're talking the inch and a half flat bar.
So I drove 6 miles back to the warehouse, then two and a half miles farther to get my angle finder and my table saw so I could cut a miter accurately and then to pick up some dowel materials. I'm going to end up drilling about 23 freaking holes then tapping sections of dowels in so I can install drive screws. The spacing of course is going to have to be dead on so I don't end up putting a drive screw into concrete.
Any have you guys have hard time figuring out how to make a straight line?
Now I understand why I had a hard time finding time to come over and finish this job for someone. There was a little devil sitting on my shoulder that said don't do that job, don't do that job.

 

[Floorist]

I took a look at a job yesterday where the carpet needs to be fit against some cortec laminate flooring. It's either a miniature dining room or a pass-through to the stairway and living room that is carpeted and meets up with the cortec close to an island that sits at an angle. I suggested using a clamp down metal on it and I happen to have two little pieces with different colors and she picked the so-called nickel color which tends to look good. I stopped at the warehouse and pick some up and headed off with some shim material and my hammer drill and hopefully everything I needed. The guy that installed the carpet left it loose and the guy that installed the cortec trim the carpet flush with the edge of the Cortec. He told the lady he didn't finish off the edges, he just installed the flooring.
Cutting this thick carpet flush with the edge of the Coretec would make installing the clamp down metal more of a pain in the butt because it would need to be installed accurately so the carpet would be able to fit into the clampdown. The total span would be about 11 ft 3 and would have a bend in it at about the 6 mark. I cut a couple of wedgies and proceeded to make my bend. When I slid it against the corner to see exactly where I would start at I discovered something ugly. An installer that could probably read Braille.
He couldn't make a straight line at an angle.
These two photos are of the first six feet prior to making the bend.
I remind you, the carpet was cut flush to the edge of the Cortec. My tape is straight, barely missing the bow in the middle of the span so I can't really move it.
Is it really that hard to cut at an angle.
It would also help to leave the carpet edge two or three inches long so the fella finishing the edge had something to work with.
I showed her a scrap piece of flat bar and she liked the looks of that. The carpet is pretty heavy so we're talking the inch and a half flat bar.
So I drove 6 miles back to the warehouse, then two and a half miles farther to get my angle finder and my table saw so I could cut a miter accurately and then to pick up some dowel materials. I'm going to end up drilling about 23 freaking holes then tapping sections of dowels in so I can install drive screws. The spacing of course is going to have to be dead on so I don't end up putting a drive screw into concrete.
Any have you guys have hard time figuring out how to make a straight line?
Now I understand why I had a hard time finding time to come over and finish this job for someone. There was a little devil sitting on my shoulder that said don't do that job, don't do that job.

Any time I have ever been asked to finish someone else job, I knew it would be a nightmare. Either it was screwed up or it was the customer from hell.

 

[highup]

He's the same age as I am and has been installing just as long. He installed Pergo flooring at his friend's house and of course charged him for it but he wouldn't do the trims because they had angles in them. He told him he didn't do that and he'd have to find somebody that would. You would think after 45 years you can figure out a way to make an angle and fit to it. Well I would think that.

 

[Mark Brown]

See buddy, it isnt that he doesn't know how. It's that he is smarter than you or I and just pretends not to know how. Once in a while you gotta do one and mess it up.... just to make sure people don't get the wrong idea and think you can.

I tried that with carpet but people just kept asking me to do more... so I just learned to say no.

 

[Tom Picciani]

I had something like that on my cub cadet. Air wrench didn’t do anything. I got the nut off. I removed the handle from the floor jack. I slipped the end of the breaker bar into it. Then I put my feet against the housing and pulled in a rowing motion. Had to pull really hard though.

 

[C.J.]

I tried that with carpet but people just kept asking me to do more... so I just learned to say no.

So you finally gave up on carpet? Good man! I knew you would come around.

I don’t even have a kicker on my van anymore to bump up doorways after I do LVP, that’s how committed to not touching carpet I am.

 

[highup]

See buddy, it isnt that he doesn't know how. It's that he is smarter than you or I and just pretends not to know how. Once in a while you gotta do one and mess it up.... just to make sure people don't get the wrong idea and think you can.

I tried that with carpet but people just kept asking me to do more... so I just learned to say no.

Trust me, he doesn't know how..... I mean, there's stuff like angles and straight lines and complicated stuff like that.
I'm close to 64 and I met this guy while I was working with my grandfather in '75. Hey, his brother, and cousins always like big jobs where they can go whole hog and put down a lot of material. If you give him anything out of a square room I think he starts to shake cuz he doesn't know what to do when a corner isn't...... A corner.
You have to think outside the box. If I was doing a job like this one, since it's more than one day including prep work, I'd ask the customer the starting and ending points and you some hot glue and glue a strip of plywood or a 1-in board on that angle then every piece of material you cut would be tapped against that temporary board. If he was working towards this angle and with his measurements, somehow made the material 1/8 of an inch too big that wouldn't have been a problem, as long as he got the angle correct.
Again, if the carpet was left 2 in big I could have retrimmed this to make it straight.
It's not like I'm not getting paid, nobody tells me what to charge. I just figured I'd go over there and spend two and a half hours drilling the concrete to accept clamp down and ripping a strip of 8-in Masonite as a shim to put underneath the metal. I get there and then discover this. That's what I'm pissed about. I can bill for piss nobody can stop me. It's work.

 

[highup]

So you finally gave up on carpet? Good man! I knew you would come around.

I don’t even have a kicker on my van anymore to bump up doorways after I do LVP, that’s how committed to not touching carpet I am.

It wouldn't be so bad if they made a realistic trim edge that carpet could be tucked against. Those little end cap moldings are a pain in the butt and they're not very tall. They need to sell something similar that's a good eighth of an inch taller, then you'd actually have a cavity to tuck into.

 

[highup]

Hey CJ if you quit doing carpet and won't finish off these edges like this guy won't do. He's light years ahead of you, he hasn't finished off carpet edges for 20 plus years.
Oh my God, this guy one up't you.

 

[C.J.]

Yeah but my edges are straight and I can figure out angles but I guess in the sense that he quit carpet before me, he’s a winner. I quit working for friends a long time ago so now we’re even.

 

[highup]

He's not a friend he's an acquaintance.
Never worked around him but I've cleaned up the aftermath.
You could probably do better work one year after you discovered this trade, than he does now.

 

[highup]

And I'm doing this at the request of the shop, not for him personally.

 

[C.J.]

I have too much pride to do half assed work. Don’t care if I’m doin it for free, I don’t want my name on crap work. I’d rather stay home. Now favors are another thing entirely. I try not to do favors as a general rule but if you have a good relationship with a shop then that’s different. I was asked to do a shower next week since a tile guy went AWOL. I said no. Showers aren’t my thing so I’m not risking it but believe me I’ve polished many a turd as a favor. Just rub a little craftsman enhancer on it and it’ll shine right up.

 

[Floorist]

I have done a lot of free work through the years for friends and relatives.