Posted by Evan Lauridsen on October 17, 19100 at 11:18:31:
In Reply to: Re: carpet seam posted by David Hunt on October 15, 19100 at 21:14:12:
: : I have been installing carpet for over 20 years and just recently a customer has refused to pay me because he thinks I should've placed a seam against a wall instead of a walkway. This would have made a 30 ft. seam instead of a 18 ft. seam. Also his seam placement would have placed it under the kitchen chairs, and it would've had the outside light shining across it. The worst part is this customer watched me for 45 minutes while I made this seam. What do you think about this?????? Help?????
: CRI 105!! If you don't have a copy...shame on you!! Get one asap!! (( 706-278-3176 )) manufactures installation specifications? get a copy!! Also, get a sample of the product and see if the manufacture recommends CRI 105 be followed and/or used as installation guidelines.
: CRI 105; Section 8.2 is very specific as to seam location. Sink or swim these are the industry standards. If you had a copy with you, like every installation professional should, all of this would have been avoided. What would that have been worth?
: Listen my friend, this message may sound harsh, but, you need to understand my firmness is in response to the seriousness of your post. If you want to not only become a better installer but a more profitable one as well, there are organizations and associations that are eager and willing to help. If you want more information send me an email and I'll get you connected.
: With my kindest regards,
: David Hunt
: vtrugco@wcvt.com
I agree with David, installers should get ahold of cri104/105 and should try to follow them to the best of their abilities. However it should be noted that while cri104/105 is an installation standard, it is by no means a blueprint as to exactly how an installation should take place.
Reason being is that you would need not just one small pamphlet but volumes of books that would take up several shelves in even the largest bookcase.
Fact is that it is virtually impossible for any organization to lay out a job for an installer in manual or book form. So what is the answer to the issue then?
The answer quite simply is to discuss seam placement not during the installation, but rather during the sales presentation. I believe that retailers have a responsibility to not only sell the right type of flooring products for the application but also to discuss and obtain authorization on seam placement.
If you think about it a moment, the salesperson is in the consumers home for maybe an hour or two, the installer maybe one or two days. But the consumer must live with the flooring for sometimes decades!
Lets consider how it feels to wear someone elses shoes for a moment: Say you are wanting to buy a new car. SO you go to the dealership and pick out a color and style of car right? I mean that is what the consumer is doing when they pick out a carpet, style and color. Now the dealer says "ok now you picked out the color and style, but we are sorry you get no choices beyond this". You react by saying "what do you mean no choices I am the customer, don't I get a say as to whether i want cloth seats as opposed to leather, or whether I want bucket seats as opposed to bench?" The dealer then states "oh, well that is up to the car manufacturer, he determines what you get after you get the choice of color and style of car".
Now do you see my point? No one would buy a car under those circumstances, so why do consumers accept such conditions with carpet installations?
Fact is consumers do not for the most part understand the mechanics of a carpet installation until after the fact. Consumers expect the seams to be invisible, after all the carpet sample in the showroom doesn't have any seams in it, now does it?
Now in defense of the installer, he gets a roll of carpet and is sent out on the job with nothing more than a work order and cod to collect in many cases.
The installer has to make a choice where to place the seams. The cri 104/105 tells the installer to avoid placing seams in traffic areas, across light, pivioting traffic and to keep seams to a minimum. Fact is that no matter what you do in some residential situations seams will go across light sources, pivoting traffic and so on. It can't be helped unless the installer decides to reposition the customers furniture for them.
Reality is that this installer may have done the job to CRI standards, we just don't know because we are not there to see the job. The installer indicates that he was trying to avoid some problem areas such as chair legs directly on the seams, etc. Should he have done the 30 foot seam instead of 18 foot seam, only God knows that for sure. Should the seam placement been discussed with the consumer prior to doing the job? YOU BET! Should the retailer (if applicable) talked with the consumer about seam placement, drawn a seam placement diagram, obtained an ok from the consumer and handed a copy of it to the installers? NO DOUBT IN MY MIND! Do we do this on a consistent basis in the trade? SELDOM!
DO WE NEED TO CHANGE THE WAY WE DO THINGS IN THIS BUSINESS? ITS NEVER TOO LATE TO CHANGE!
Evan