Hardwood Floors August/September 2017

By Kjell Nymark

job site properly. If the installer has determined the job site is ready for installation and he/she has documented proof that the conditions were acceptable, then the flooring contractor will not be held responsible for a failure as he/she cannot be held accountable for the environmental conditions after he/she has left the job site. Flooring contractors succumb to the pressure that GCs put on them for fear of losing the job to another flooring contractor that will either take the risk or doesn’t understand the consequences of starting an installation before the job is ready. Educating the GCs of the site requirements should be done at the time when the bid is submitted, and it should be clearly stated in the contract that these conditions must be met before delivery of the wood flooring. Starting a job where these conditions haven’t been met is risky, and sometimes the job you walk away from can be the most lucrative move you can make. Working for GCs who continually set you up for failure is not worth the risk. Failures damage your reputation, which directly affects the amount of money you’re able to charge.

Some flooring contractors believe that having all the conditions listed previously is unrealistic and GCs will never change the way they schedule their jobs; however, it is important to recognize that a flooring failure affects the GCs reputation as well. If the GC continually builds homes with a long punch list after completion, it will limit what he/she can charge as well. We are all in this business to earn money. Doing the job correctly the first time will increase profitability because you don’t have to come back to do repairs or replace the floor. It will also give you a better reputation that will allow you to charge what you’re worth. Kjell Nymark is Technical Advisor at the National Wood Flooring Association in St. Louis. He can be reached at kjell.nymark@nwfa.org.

Subfloor materials are exposed to high levels of moisture throughout the construction process.

Close-up of the standing water shows the subfloor is completely saturated.

During the construction process, subfloors are often exposed to high levels of moisture. A rushed construction schedule does not allow this moisture to adequately escape prior to wood installation.

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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