Which one are you?

[Floorist]

I worked for a store that would do a 3" side fill in at least 6 pieces to save the customer money. I have taken a cut out from a fireplace to fill a spot in the room in several pieces. They had a contract to do some apts. The kitchens were vinyl. The way they were layed out I would have to do a 6" fill across the end to save 6" off the length for the customer. It seemed like every one of the old lady tenants would put their dogs water dish where that seam would be wet constantly. So we had a few failures.
Last straw was they sent me out with 8 vinyl scraps to do a 5' x 10' hall. I quit.

 

[MikeAntonetti]

The mentality is insanity

 

[C.J.]

I never understood it. If you make money off of selling why would you want to short yourself out of commission by shorting the installer out of material. Grow a set and learn how to sell instead of making the sale by being the lowest bid.

 

[highup]

To me this is a catch 22. If the shop is providing the materials and supplies then they absolutely should be providing the correct supplies. But I feel it’s the installers responsibility to know what the heck is going on and to say something if the incorrect materials and supplies are being provided. This is where the shop and installer have a ‘partnership’. Any more it’s the buying and selling of responsibility. The last person that touched it is the one who eats it. Eating a few jobs is the quickest way to learn to speak up and say no to something that is incorrect. Knowingly pushing the rules is one thing, not knowing what you’re doing is another.

I worked for a company (as an employee) that had a salesperson that didn’t know **** about **** and was always creating ‘situations’ that I was expected to fix. One evening after I had a few drinks I told her that her jobs were always ****** up and I didn’t want to do her jobs anymore. She was seriously offended and had a major hissy fit. This led to a meeting with the owner of the company and I told him the same thing and cited multiple examples to back up my statement. Needles to say she didn’t last long after that meeting. There’s only so much I can take.

My thinking is about the days when interflex was first created. If it had been out and being sold for 6 months, and a shop handed you your first job with that material and gave you the adhesive for that material, they supplied materials and you supplied labor.
They, being in contact with their distributors should know what adhesive is used. The installer has no reason to not believe what the shop owner says. If he sends you out onto a job with materials and adhesive, he should know what he's selling.
Myself, I think differently. I think upside down and sideways and very often at 48.27° left of center.
The first time I saw this material, I immediately questioned the adhesive. The material looked odd and red flags were coming up like the 4th of July fireworks.
.....That's just me.

 

[highup]

The mentality is insanity

That rhymes with stupid idiot.

 

[C.J.]

My thinking is about the days when interflex was first created. If it had been out and being sold for 6 months, and a shop handed you your first job with that material and gave you the adhesive for that material, they supplied materials and you supplied labor.
They, being in contact with their distributors should know what adhesive is used. The installer has no reason to not believe what the shop owner says. If he sends you out onto a job with materials and adhesive, he should know what he's selling.
Myself, I think differently. I think upside down and sideways and very often at 48.27° left of center.
The first time I saw this material, I immediately questioned the adhesive. The material looked odd and red flags were coming up like the 4th of July fireworks.
.....That's just me.

While I do agree with your thinking I’ve also been licensed by the CCB and I know exactly how that cookie crumbles if push comes to shove and I can already hear the words coming out of the judges mouth... New product or not, as a licensed contractor it is ultimately your responsibility to know better. You are the professional.

This is where the details come into play. Where are you located in the country. What shop are you working for. What kind of relationship do you have with that shop. Will they step up and own their side of the mistake.

 

[Floorist]

As I remember, the store said the vinyl rep who sold them the stuff never told them. And we are in the middle of nowhere.

 

[highup]

While I do agree with your thinking I’ve also been licensed by the CCB and I know exactly how that cookie crumbles if push comes to shove and I can already hear the words coming out of the judges mouth... New product or not, as a licensed contractor it is ultimately your responsibility to know better. You are the professional.

This is where the details come into play. Where are you located in the country. What shop are you working for. What kind of relationship do you have with that shop. Will they step up and own their side of the mistake.

I've been working out of the shop since 1975 when I was starting out with my grandfather. I went on my own and 1987 and I think I have two minor complaints that I had to repair.
Actually, one of those was a 12x12 kitchen replacement in designer solarian. Their cabinets were not in yet. Being an interflex product, I prepped the floor out to put the seam through the middle of the room. When I laid the two pieces in place the lady asked if I can give it a quarter turn because of where the sink was located. It was late in the day. The customer had installed their own plywood and he did a really good job of setting the nails.
The way I had initially laid out, I had prepped the area where the seam was to be glued. In this new configuration I didn't have time to skim coat the area where the adhesive would be. Like I said the nails were set very nicely, not smacked in leaving a big dent.
I put the floor in and 2 weeks later when I stopped at the shop, the owner said he didn't have anything set up for me today but I needed to go look at that job because the customer had a complaint.
The cabinets were in and everything looked fantastic. Their complaint was too tiny divots next to the seam. It was 6 in out from the toe kick and you literally had to get down on the floor with the light hitting just right to see them. did he see the head shrunk pulling the vinyl down into the tiny dents. It actually took a minute for the customer to find them and point them out. I simply told him that if they weren't happy I'd replace the floor. They commented, the shop pays for that right. I said no, ...I do.
I went ahead and replaced the floor and afterwards they had me back three times to do additional work.
So it paid off even though I shouldn't have replaced the floor. It looked fantastic and the seams were invisible. They are extremely finicky people. I think during a bathroom remodel they rejected five full size one piece, tub/shower units because I'm an electron microscope that they own different see scratches.
I simply refuse to screw up my work.

 

[highup]

...and yes, this shop would back me.

 

[C.J.]

Aside from your vote not counting you have a good thing going for you, High. I recall it being like that when I started in the 90’s. Then things slowly started to change and one day it wasn’t like that anymore and the people that were decent were being replaced because they weren’t turning numbers. I finally got fed up with the way the industry became there and moved. Funny thing is that after years of having customers like yours, literally crawling around and inspecting your work, I’m the guy with attention to detail that doesn’t have problems on his job.

 

[highup]

Most of my work is from return or repeat customers or recommendations from my previous customers. That and one of the shops asking me to fix everybody else's stuff.

 

[Floorist]

Most of my work is from return or repeat customers or recommendations from my previous customers. That and one of the shops asking me to fix everybody else's stuff.

I have done the repair thing, made more money that way.

 

[MikeAntonetti]

I liked repair work for a little while, no picking up whole rolls, limited materials supplies needed, you just need a lot of repairs to stay busy.

 

[Floorist]

I liked repair work for a little while, no picking up whole rolls, limited materials supplies needed, you just need a lot of repairs to stay busy.

or you charge a lot to do them.

 

[highup]

I have done the repair thing, made more money that way.

= less hours = minimum charge = less wear and tear.