Your clients expect the best from any contract work that you as an interior designer recommend.
A couple of these, carpet and/or floor installation, can turn into a disaster. We want to tell you about ways to avoid it.
We already covered prepping a floor for carpet installation.
So today we will discuss wood flooring and offer up a few pointers to keep your client's confidence and love for you strong.
Wood Flooring – The Slab
We believe that if you are investing in high quality, long lasting wood flooring, you must insist that the slab be leveled. This means your installer fills the valleys and shaves the humps. A good installer will take a long straight edge and pass it over the floor, marking low spots and high spots. He will then fill in the low spots and scrape away the high spots with a concrete grinder.
There are no shortcuts. Failing in this careful preparation sets you up for a call from your client when you least expect it saying that her multi-thousand-dollar floor is buckling or sagging. You will then be embroiled in a fight about the best way to fix it and who is going to pay. You, dear designer, can only lose this fight. No matter what happens, your standing with the client is going to suffer.
Better to do it right from the get-go. But that too is going to try your client's patience. You are going to need good hand-holding skills. The process is a long one.
Nail Down Flooring
Flooring installations take time. First the flooring needs to be brought to the job site and stacked near where it will be laid. This allows the wood's moisture level to adjust to its new home and should take at least two weeks. Then the floor is installed and nailed down where it must remain untouched for two-three months. Then after the air conditioning has been on for at least two weeks, your installer will measure the moisture content of the wood, and if the wood is at specified levels will, he will sand, fill and finish the floor.
Whew!
Engineered Flooring
Engineered flooring has similar requirements. Its concrete base must be absolutely smooth. In addition your installer should measure the moisture content of the cement and not lay the floor until the moisture content of both the floor and the wood are correct. Shortcuts here can mean buckling or spreading later on.
Inform and instruct your client about these essential requirements.
Unpleasant Flooring Surprises
Danny Lopez of Floors by DJL said that the number one cause of error for designers is not reading the details of the installer's quote.
“Everyone looks at the bottom line,” he said. “But it's more important that you look at estimate item by item to make sure that you are getting what you think you are getting.”
Lopez cites cheap glue as an example. “The floor will start coming loose with time, especially if the floor has not been properly leveled.”
The Bottom Line Is Every Line
So the bottom line is – don't just look at the bottom line. Get yourself familiar with the requirements for installing a modern wood floor and make sure these are met item-by-item on your estimate quote.
If an item is not specified by a vendor, ask why it's not there.
Measure Twice!
Blue prints can be wrong! Measure the site and let that be the measurement for your wood order.
Lopez said too many errors come from not allowing for removed walls causing the flooring order to be short.
No Time to Skimp
Interior design is a detail business. Many of the details are mundane, but ignored, can ruin a lot of hard work.
The expense and time investment required to install a wood floor are huge. The consequences of a disaster are devastating. This is not the time to pursue the cheapest labor or source.
If we at Addison/Dicus & Bailey can help, please call. We are happy to answer questions even if you did not buy the floor from us.
Your success is our success.