Wednesday, February 22, 2012
We Are the Next Generation of NWFA
By Scott Avery
I have a real fondness for the NWFA because I’ve known it for so long. I think of all of my friends and how I can call them at anytime because they’re so smart and so friendly. Lately I’ve started popping into the forum on the Hardwood Floors magazine website, and sometimes the conversations get a little heated. In fact, one person who recently posted a topic on the forum actually apologized for stirring up a few of the regulars on the forum because they sort of got into an argument. Not long afterwards, I was in a conversation with a really good friend and great floor contractor I know named Avi. He brought to my attention that we should do our best to never have a contractor apologize like that, and I agree. We are supposed to be a warm and inviting group of folks, not an Internet gang engaged in turf wars. The NWFA is a professional resource and we should conduct ourselves in a way that makes people learn more from our discussions and want to be a part of our organization.
A number of people beyond Avi have also mentioned examples of other websites and forums in our business that have become breeding grounds for a few dominant forum members who like to bicker. It has since devalued and made a mockery of those websites and forums. The NWFA is an organization I am committed to, and I want to do all I can to have people see our forums and blogs as a hub of knowledge. Because Avi and I are young guys in our 30s who are really passionate about our peers and NWFA, I told him I would like to share with you all his thoughts on the forum and how even the “young” guys care about those who are sitting on the fence about the value of our organization and our forums on the Hardwood Floors website.
Enter Avi and his words to the readers regarding the next generation of NWFA members:
We are taking action to help shape and promote our trade for the better. We will make things better by being everywhere. We will be on the committees, on the Hardwood Floors magazine website, at the convention and at the NWFA schools. Our mission is to help all wood flooring contractors specifically and the trade in general by sharing the experience and the knowledge we have. We will promote common sense in every aspect of our professional lives. We will start by flooding the HF Forum with good contractors who will push away incorrect or misleading information. We will do so by being professional and technical. We will not engage in any back-and-forth ego competitions. We do have a code of honor that is we respect each other for trying to do the right thing. If you will use our forum to your advantage or cross the lines, we will respond. We are powerful, we are confident and we never stop learning. Who are we? We are the next generation of the NWFA. Together we stand, divided we fall.
That’s the end of his statement, but I think it should become the tipping point for all NWFA members in thinking about how we can check our feelings and ego when we use a keyboard or our mouth around other people in the business or homeowners. If we are going to grow and improve as an industry, then it only happens because we deliver value to prospective members. I’ve been in and out of several organizations, and members leave and fail to join when the organization decides to quit trying to be better and chooses “the least common denominator.” Members who have been there for a too long form a clique and stay together or act like a bunch of “fakes” in person to entice you to join so they can win the membership drive.
This post isn’t a membership drive; it’s about the readers and letting you know that everyone matters. Value comes in the form of better education, networking, and business relationships. I ask two things of those who read this blog:
- If you are going to talk, then make it helpful and not pedantic.
- Ask your questions and don’t be afraid of judgment in any way.
If you can turn on a computer and read this then… Please join the forum with your knowledge and let’s start networking and connecting. I want to hear more about the stuff that I’ve never done because I didn’t know it was possible. I want to see more photos of floors that didn’t make it to “Floor of the Year” for whatever reason even though they rock. Let’s talk about ways to do everything better and more efficiently so that we make the under-bidders and competition frustrated because they just don’t have the skills or time to step up their game to the level of this group of contractors who really care. Everyone, let me hear your thoughts.
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Monday, February 20, 2012
Dawg, Sanding This Floor Was a Huge Task!
By Wayne Lee
What can be said, I have not written a word in awhile, but we have laid and sanded more than words can express.
The yellow pine job that the horse walked on is done, but what a job it was getting the stain right. The dust would plug up the upper roller, so after each cut we had to stop and clean the unit. We found out the floor in the area where the horse walked was so thin that we could not do the best hard-plating job, and the knots were a pain in the bu--ffer. (I did not want to use bad words, sorry young readers.)
We hit the floor with every hand tool and soft plate, but there was still a roll in the floor that we could not get out. The floor is done and paper thin, so hand work was the only way to get all the scratches out. The stain was not difficult, just tough to keep even; pine is not a good one to stain, as we all know.
Here is the floor after sanding:
Here's what happened all the time with the upper roller:
Here's the floor after staining:
... and with the finish on it:
The next task was the 1,600 feet of the thermo-treated maple. We installed it and let it sit for a bit so it would do what it was going to do as far as movement. We have not sanded thermo flooring before, so in a few words... dawg, it was a huge task! The flooring cut like butter, but each and every scratch from the paper was very hard to remove. We started with the big machine and 40 grit to get the overwood gone, next we tried 60 grit, but it cut the flooring so fast and bad that we knew there was no way the scratch would come out. We made a few cuts and put it back on the trailer. I got the multi-disc sander out with 50 grit, and thank God, it worked! From that point on, we only used the multi-disc sander on the job all the way to 100 grit. We did not skip a grit, we went 50-60-80-100, and I have got to say it was flat as a tabletop.
The next task was to get the fine scratch out from the multi-disc sander, so the 12x18 orbital sander had to come out of the trailer. We used 120-grit with a thick red pad and a SPP pad to keep it flat. My fear was the floor would be so smooth that it would not take finish. Here is a photo showing where we had to do a tape line; the right part has finish and the left part is unfinished (but is so slick it looks like it has finish on it):
We had the Monocoat going on this job, so knowing that we were going to buff in the finish put my mind at rest. You can see from the photo how flat and smooth it was and the cut line we had from the hall to the bedroom. I have never got a floor this slick and hope I never have to again. The thermo flooring was one of the hardest floors we have sanded. It was like sanding plastic; you can get it smooth, but you always see a scratch. We did hand work and hand work and more hand work just to get it scratch free. I am worn out from both jobs.
I have to go back to the job and install the doors, go over the floor and make sure that we did not miss anything. I am so looking forward to a floor that is just seal and coats of poly. I start that in the morning; it will be a walk in the park compared to the last two jobs. We start a 1,100-foot resand in town—an old floor that needs to be made to look like new. It will be so sweet to just do the same-old, same-old on a floor.
The good news is we have a few jobs in a row, so that will help with getting the funds for the NWFA Expo in Orlando; I am still looking forward to the going to the show and getting a rest. We were lucky to get the last seven estimates approved, so we are seven-for-seven, and, no, we were not the lowest bids. It was a joy to sell the job, not bid the job. The other trades just came in, gave a flat price then said, “We can start next week.” Well, our time looking under the house, checking the subfloor and all that we do to share the skills needed to complete the job paid off. I am glad they took the time with us and very glad to see the lower price guys get the message that it is a craft we do, not a job.
Well this is getting long. I hope the photos we sent in show the work that had to go into the floors. We pulled the rabbit out of the hat on both jobs and, like I said, thank God they both look good.
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Monday, February 13, 2012
What Has Time Done for Your Attitude?
By Scott Avery
I was recently told that a person I knew only through social media had passed away. His name was Hank Wiley (aka "The Sandman"), and over the last two years he hadbecome a fan of my company on Facebook and often commented on our work and our blog. I had really become fond of Hank, and later, when messaging with him through Facebook, I found out that he had ALS, something that recently took his life. According to a few industry friends, Hank was an exceptional person and a great floor guy. Even though I had never met Hank in person, I know that by his positive comments on our fan page he was still passionate about the trade, even in the retirement years. He was someone I wished that I could have met and learned from before his passing.
In our industry the years seem to go by quickly, and I’m always interested in seeing what time does for someone’s attitude. Some people seem to use time in the field as an assumption of greatness without regard to contribution to those around them. I see the comments often posted in the forums and sometimes on the blog about the number of years people have been in the business, and yet these people are virtually unknown when you ask around at the distributor or within the industry. I don’t assume to know the answer, but when my time comes, I don’t want people standing around saying things as generic as, “He did floors for 50 years. He’s dead. Let’s go have lunch.” I want to be known for contribution and passing on information that improved a life.
I don’t claim to have 30-plue years in the business, but I do know that I have a level of knowledge that likely exceeds that of most 30-year veterans in the field who never participate in learning, and that is because I have consistently spent the last 10 years around the best mentors in the industry at NWFA. Come to think of it, the veterans who I’ve been around in the NWFA never really use their number of years in the business as a statement of credentials. They just “talk shop” a lot, and it quickly becomes apparent they still have a passion to educate and a deep base of knowledge. That is what participation in a high-quality organization does for you. It makes the learning curve disappear exponentially and accelerates the process of mastery.
If I were to determine admission to the Expo or membership in NWFA based on who I want to participate, it would be:
- Good attitude
- No experience necessary, but experience is welcome if you qualify for #1
- Be honest
- Be genuine
- Interest in meeting new people.
That’s it, that’s all.
I want people who contribute to be a part of the NWFA and be a part of my circle. Come join me at the Expo—even if you just bought your first sander—and I promise I’ll introduce you to my crew of peers and you’ll learn something cool or helpful. Maybe you’ll even win the Harley.
What I also really want to start this year is an army of passionate craftsmen (or craftswomen) who, regardless of credentials, want to raise the bar for service and return a level of pride to the business. It’s much more productive than the same old speech of how bad the economy is and how much you’re being underbid. Those people might as well stay home. There are two choices:
- Complaining about being underbid all the time and expecting jobs based on your tenure. Or…
- Differentiating yourself as a craftsman using the brain connected to your body to justify your cost.
If anyone reads this post and you are coming to Expo, then do me a favor and e-mail me or leave a comment. I want to plan an additional brainstorming and networking session after my presentation on Tuesday so I can learn from the readers. Sometimes it gets a little lonely writing, because you don’t know who is out there reading and what to talk about.
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Thursday, February 09, 2012
Easy Tech Tips to Improve Your Business
By Scott Avery
Sometimes tech evades the attention of a contractor. The brilliant side of running a company these days is that you can use technology to really identify ways to improve your business, specifically your marketing efforts. I’ll introduce you to a few key tricks and tools I’ve used very economically to help my business.
- Crowdsourcing: Typically this is an online contest or contracting resource with a reward to the winner in which you determine the payout. I’ve often used a website called Hatchwise to host online design competitions for brochures and logos. There are other websites such as 99Designs for design help. The beauty of crowdsourcing is that you are able to tap into the collective creative potential of everyone registered to the particular website. You don’t end up locked into the designs of one individual in your local community. There are also other websites such as eLance that allow you to use talent globally to get a multitude of things done such as website design, etc.
- Google Voice: I started my business years ago and originally used my personal cell phone number for the contact information. That was okay until I realized that I was getting tired of phone calls beyond business hours (whether I answered them or not). When you start growing your presence online, you will quickly see that you have to separate your personal cell phone from your business. Google Voice numbers are available free of charge. Calls to your Google Voice can be seamlessly forwarded to your cell phone whenever you want, along with tons of other options. In fact, while in Germany I used Google Voice to stay in touch free of charge with my family, employees, and customers via text without having outrageous data usage fees (which I would have had if I used my personal cell phone).
- OWLE Bubo: This little guy is amazing. Combined with your iPhone or iPod Touch, you can take some seriously good amateur photos and video. Add a microphone, light, or tripod and it can do it all. I feel that professional photography is best for your gallery on the website, but your Facebook fan page or your blog are a great place to host your basic shots. This thing can turn your smartphone (which usually produces slightly shaky video) into a pretty good filming device.
- Quickbooks Online: I started using Quickbooks years ago. At that time I was sold on Mac, and my wife was PC. I also had an office away from my house (where my wife does bookkeeping). Needing multiple copies of the software for different computing platforms and locations wasn’t going to work … enter cloud computing. For $40/month we have the most updated software, available anytime anywhere there is an Internet connection, and with a smartphone app too. I can be doing jobs locally, e-mail estimates on the spot, and ask my wife to send invoices while she is visiting family in another state once the job is sold. That’s amazing in my eyes.
- Wordpress App: If you have a smartphone and want to blog and generate good content, then you’re in luck. This app is amazing and allows you to use those 30 minutes before your next estimate to share your thoughts or a project on your website. You can add photos and videos on the spot also. Although I’m mentioning Wordpress only, other apps exist for Drupal and Joomla blogging platforms.
These are a few of my key favorite tech tools that I rave about lately. I have seen a real improvement in my efficiency as a business owner using these tools to get things done for a good cost. Send me an email or leave a comment if I can help you with any of these.
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Monday, February 06, 2012
How to Compete with Lowballers
By Scott Avery
We got a question from a Hardwood Floors reader about how to compete with lowballers. In this economy this is a bigger problem than ever. Here are a few thoughts I had on the topic:
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Saturday, February 04, 2012
Thoughts on Nailing the Thermo-Treated Maple
By Wayne Lee
Let’s play catch-up.
The 1,600-foot of thermo-treated maple is installed, yay. Two things: One, Boone could not make it for the install—the job he was on went so well the homeowner wanted them to take out some tile and install even more wood flooring. The tools and crew were already there, so they went on with it. Two, thermo-treated flooring was not what I had in my mind. It is very hard and easy to chip, so we had to slow down with the install so it would not chip or look beat up.
We used the 18G nails so they would not split the flooring and used something else new for me: the nail gun with wheels:
Curtis from Primatech has asked me for a long time to try the gun with wheels. Well, I have got to say it worked great, but you have to be sure that you do not over-nail the floor. We now have two guns with the wheels (both drive the 18G), so that puts us up to two guns for the 16G and two for 18G.
The two guns I will never—and I do mean never—get rid of are the Powernail manual (one 45 and one top nail). Boone got me those as my “get started and git-r-done” guns. I cannot tell you how many times we pull them off the truck for jobs. I still get a laugh when guys beat the fire out it and still cannot set the nail. “Mac” McLaughlin was a man I never got to meet, but his words of wisdom still ring true today: “Do not drive the hammer, drive the nail.”
The air guns are here to stay and, truth be told, "Daddy like!" It sure takes the pain out of the arm. So when you are working with hard flooring, look at the 18G units; we did not split one board! Just a side note: They were 1 3/4 long so the nail would not pass through the subfloor:
Think about this: If the nail is sticking out of the subfloor, what is it holding? If the nail is 100% in the subfloor, the holding power is spot-on. Let’s see what the gun folks say ... just Wayne thinking again.
Clifford and I installed the floor in four days, however, one day was prep on the subfloor. If we left that much of a mess on a job, the GC would have a cow, but the drywall mud folks can leave half a pail on the subfloor and no one says a word. We had to run the buffer on the subfloor with 36-grit paper to get it off, plus sweep a ton of cut wire from the floor. I guess Sparky cannot clean up after he puts in an outlet?
On to the next task: We are letting the 1,600 feet set for a few days and allowing the last of the trades to complete their punch list. While that is sitting, I went to the 400-foot yellow pine floor that the horse walked on. Well, he had shoes on, and the cleats left DEEEEEEP holes in the flooring. I did forget to take a photo, sorry. I was so up to get it done that it slipped my mind. I had to cut 36 on a 45 to get it flat and remove the holes. Then I followed it up with 50 and 80, then ran the edger with the same. It was a pain because the walls were hard to get as flat as the main floor. I did hand-work for all the walls to get out the scratch. Then the hard plate—I did not use my multi-disc sander. I wanted it flat because the knots were all over this floor, and the only way to get it flat and keep it flat was the old-school hard-plate on the buffer. Look at the floor and you will see the knots:
Well, I think that brings us to the week’s end; I have two more estimates today and with luck we will get them. We got the last five, so that puts us in the work for a few weeks. I am so happy to have work!
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Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Trick for Keeping Your Big Machine Balanced
By Wayne Lee
Here's my latest video blog about one of my favorite easy tricks to keep your big machine running better:
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
How Can I Help? Send Your Ideas
By Scott Avery
I have to admit that I was really close to sending out a post on Thursday, but I wasn’t 100% sure that it was that different from other posts. It may or may not have impacted the people I care about (honest and legitimate flooring contractors who are in tough times). I was coming back today from a marathon day of floor coating and it struck me that I would rather ask all of the people who are reading this exactly what could I talk about.
According to the editors at Hardwood Floors magazine, approximately 14,000 people read the HF E-News, which includes the Contractor Blog. I suspect that there must be a few thousand flooring contractors within that number who read the newsletter. My question is: How can I help you all? What is it that I might be able to share to send you on a path from doing okay to “Wow, we’re killing it”?
Before you answer, I want to fill you in on what I’m like, the company that we are and what I know well. We’re not a huge company with 20 employees. I have three employees, and we do two to three projects per week. Primarily we refinish floors and repair floors in older homes, but occasionally we install a brand-new floor. We’re not big on trying to win Floor of the Year like some of the big names in the NWFA, but we did win an NWFA Xtreme Makeover award in 2008 for a floor. I thought that win might change the rotation of the earth somehow. I was convinced that having my name in lights was going to fill my bank account. I learned six months later that was a case of delusion rather than what really happens when you win awards.
When my phone literally went dead in late 2008 six months after we won the award, I ran into a few of the right people (marketing experts) in early 2009, while in a really tough time with the family due to money problems. Given that my family matters more to me than anything, I adopted a “nothing to lose attitude” and decided to implement that advice to restore my home life and help my phone. All that I’ve learned since then through advice, reading, and implementing has turned me from just a guy with a bunch of tools into what I jokingly call “a floor guy turned into a marketer.”
I’m fascinated not by buzzwords associated with acronyms like SEO, PPC, and SEM, but rather with how elucidating what your company is like via the Internet drives the growth of a business with real results, which is why we are thriving instead of struggling.
I am 100% sure that the Internet has leveled the playing field regardless of the size of a business or the number of years in business for a flooring contractor.
Over the last three years we’ve learned that:
- Content is king. The Internet is simply a portal that allows you to view what a business is like, and the post-recession consumer simply wants to evaluate the value of service providers discreetly, which the Internet allows. No content, boring content, or bad content = no phone calls.
- Marketing “experts” aren’t contractors. Despite how much you rank at the top of the Internet, if you’re bad at making a good presentation during an estimate it doesn’t matter. You have to go from A to B to C, and no skipping. If you have a lot of phone calls, stumble on your communication, or have quality issues with your floors, it doesn’t matter what your Google ranking is, you will ultimately have problems that destroy profitability.
- Increase your quality. There is simply no way to differentiate from a suffering market besides always striving to be better. On every single job you should be learning how to improve, end of story. “Good enough for government work” just doesn’t work anymore.
All that said, I want to hear from you all. I’m presenting on content marketing at the NWFA Expo in April in Orlando. (Take a look at the seminar schedule here.) What would you like to know about before then? What specific questions do you have that I could answer without you having to wait two more months? I write for you all, run a flooring business and love this industry. Write a comment with your thoughts on topics for the blog, your detailed questions about business procedure, or web marketing PLEASE. Who knows, maybe there’s a topic for a webinar in there, too (hint, hint, NWFA).
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Does Size Really Matter?
By Wayne Lee
I’m missing out on the Surfaces show this year… but wait, is that the big show?
I have not been to Surfaces in three years and I have got to say it has not been a great concern for me. The show is big but doesn't have enough of the real things I need. There is so much to see that it gets all rolled up in one ball of what to look at next. That is why I enjoy the NWFA Expo more. Yes, it is smaller, but it is driven to the needs we have as wood flooring contractors, and all the exhibitors are specifically for just us.
Okay, you are right to think that my heart is with the NWFA—yes, I have done a few training classes with them and, yes, I blog for the magazine, but I have to say the Expo is the best for the total package we need at Cardinal Hardwood. Wood, finish, fillers, nailers, sanders and just about anything from A to Z for our market. Do not get me wrong, going to Surfaces is nice—it seems to set the tone for the year in the market—but it just lacks the feeling of friends and family you get with the NWFA Expo.
I look forward to the training the most at the NWFA Expo. The way that the manufacturers jump in with demo products is great, and before I forget, let me say that they give all year-round to the NWFA training classes. I do not think any of them have refused to support the training! So when you read that a company is an NWFA Partner in Education, take the time to say “thank you,” because we all get rewards from their gifts. Thank you, Partners, we would be lost without you. The folks who give their time to do the classes are just wonderful; they share with no desire for rewards in return. From top to bottom, our members are the best and they give the best 24-7. What brightens my eyes the most is the contractors who come to teach at the classes just to share their skills and knowledge and—let me add this very important fact—without pay. They pay for it out of their own pocket, and that speaks load and clear what our contractor members are all about.
Sorry for the rabbit trail… back to the Expo: This year’s seminars are to the point and driven to help us, the flooring folks. From the dealers to the floor contractors, it is at the Expo this year. Take the time to get on the Expo website and see what they are offering this year.
I was asked to do a class about job-site machine repairs and the upkeep of the units. It is an honor to be asked. I will be doing the class, but it is my desire to make this class for you. Here is my request: Please post comments on this blog with ideas about what units or tools you feel we need to address. I could pick a few units, but the ones I pick may not be the best. The best would be the stuff you all want to see and better understand. So please write some comments so we can plan the program format now. Like all of you, my days are full of floor work, and I will need time to get it all together. We also want to contact the folks who make the tools to get the latest information, tips and insight. Here's my promo video about the seminar:
It is an honor and so very important to me; my heart is 100% floor man. The past five years living the contracting life and doing the work have blessed me and my family. If you read my blog, I think you have a feeling of the change inside my heart and life. My head wants to say that my years with the machine company were not a waste, but my heart knows that the past five years have been the greatest path for me and my family. In life we do not know what is around the corner, but when we get to the turn ... we can look back or ahead. For me, the turn was worth it, and for my family, it has given us the blessing of coming together. When the work is slow, you pray together; when times are tough, you work together; and most of all, when the rewards come, you can share them together.
Please take the time to think my request through, give us your insight via e-mail, but most of all I want to see you at the NWFA Expo in Orlando in April.
Thank you all, and be safe.
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Friday, January 20, 2012
It Went Over Like A...
By Wayne Lee
I want to start with: Please keep your prayers going up for the folks in the Pacific Northwest, I am sad to hear about the mother and one-year-old child that were taken by the waters. Also, the folks in the Reno fires they need your prayers, that is a battle with winds and flames. Thank you for keeping them in your heart.
Back to work: I am ready to coat the stairs in the multi-million-dollar home with the Dura Seal conversion varnish, truth be told, I have NEVER used any finish like this on stairs. I have used it on the floor a few times, but getting it down is easy because it will lay down all by itself. The stairs pose a concern about the finish running or not laying down. We will do the rise going up, then the stairs on the way down; this way if we get a run we can get it on the way down.
The folks that did the stairs years ago finished all the parts in the barn in the backyard. They sprayed the stain, seal coat and topcoats. I cannot spray in the house and cannot give it that look without a ton of hand-work with the stain. We already did a ton of hand-work as far as scraping the stairs:
The stain came from Sherwin Williams; it is a cabinet stain, not a flooring stain. This was a wipe stain: wipe on but not off till it sets up. Here is the point where my knowledge ends, so if a stain/finish company could help and express what makes the cabinet wipe stain different from the stains we use on floors, that would help.
Time to preach at myself one more time: the smell of the stain we are using and the spirits gave me a huge head pain. It was wrong! So even if it does not smell when you open the can, it will in time.
Look at the handprint made in the stain (the photo is not the best, so for that please forgive me):
... then look at the stain after it set and was wiped clean with the spirits:
We had to get the dark red with the hint of black and brown. The rich tone and deep color had to be in right from the start! Recall that I did not work on the skirt or detail work (and for that I am happy), but we had to nail the color.
I took a stain brush and put on the stain, then let that set up overnight. I came in the next day and took spirits with a soft rag and pulled the color into the wood and the extra off. I hope you can see the before and after; it was hard to keep the uniform color with the rags but, like I said, we could not spray in the house. I think we have a full day just working the stain into the step, clean off the rise and getting the look it needs. (Sorry if the photos are poor—I was under the influence of the smell!)
I should have the job done Saturday mid-day and will get you a photo of the finished look. I will take the time to put on the safety this time; I DO NOT want a head pain like that again! It was BC powder and a boatload of fresh air for me; do not do as I do...do as you are told to! I sound like my Daddy, but Daddy is a smart guy when it comes to doing what is right.
I start the heat-treated maple Monday. And oh yes, good news: Clifford is coming back to work with us! He went to work for a remodel guy but that guy started holding funds and telling them that he did not make the money on the job so they had to help make up the lost funds. Let’s see, a pay cut because the boss dropped the price to get the job and now he wants to make the crews eat his mistake… yes, that went over like a fart in church. So, Clifford called and asked if I could use him again—oh yeah! He is a good worker and he has the install skills. He does not sand and finish but wants to learn the craft now. I hope to bring him to an NWFA class this year. I enjoyed working with him and hated that he left, but that is okay because at the time we were slow.
On our last five estimates so far we got four of them, and I am going to call the last one and help them pick us. We ARE the highest price on the bid and we ARE the longest out for the timeline. But we ARE the right folks to do the job. It is not my pride or that I think more of our skills; it is knowing that we will work our best for them and their home.
I have got to hit the road and coat the stairs. You all be safe, and see you at the NWFA Expo in Orlando in April! I am looking forward to it.
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Monday, January 16, 2012
The Sparks Went Flying
By Wayne Lee
 I have to say “I told you so” to who else but ... me. For years I have told folks to always look over the units for wear and to just keep the preventive maintenance up to date. My vac just died, and I mean sparks flying! I forgot to look at the brushes on the motors and, sure enough, they were done. So, note to self: take time to check the units over, down time kills your ability to make money and “git r done” on time. I do have an extra unit and was able to use that one, but it was a drag to change them out in the middle of the job. I ordered the parts and cleaned up the unit, so it will be back up and running in no time.
I have four estimates to get done today; I am so glad to have jobs in the works. If all goes well, we will get all four of them!
I am not sure if this is good or bad, but two of the companies that we have been competing with went under. They did good work but never charged enough funds for the work, sounds like the same old thing: work for less and get less in the bank. The price of supplies have not gone down, so why should our price? Both were small companies like me, but they were doing things for $.75 to $1.00 less than we were. And, most of all, they did not have the workers comp, insurance or state paperwork on file. Tennessee put the hammer down on contractors, and they were not able to keep the under-the-radar attitude any more. Once more, I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. I never liked the government putting their hand in the pie, but this time, it helped. I hope to pick up some work, but truth be told, no one can do all the work, and some of the work I do not want to do. We all have jobs that we know will never make folks happy and jobs that won’t go right no matter what you do. Those are the ones I bid high just in case we get it—so we either have extra funds for it or they tell me “no.”
There is one guy is trying to start up in the area; if you recall I let him use my gun to do a job. He is still up in the air—I spoke with him after his install, and he asked, "How do you work that hard every day?" So time will tell if he is ready to work like a floor person. (I almost said “floorman,” but we have some wonderful women working side by side with the men in this trade.) This is not a trade for the lazy. Dog if your body does not take a beating doing this for a living. My gut tells me that he will not make it. He was told that it was easy money—just bang in a few nails and you get a big payday...NOT!
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Sunday, January 15, 2012
Three Things to Think About for 2012
By Scott Avery
Sorry I’ve been out of touch for a little while, folks. It was a really laid-back holiday season and I spent that time enjoying the family as well as wrapping up a couple of flooring projects. I enjoy the holidays and I really enjoy the beginning of a new year. Culturally we tend to embrace and encourage new starts and planning for the year ahead. I thought I would offer some thoughts for anyone in the middle of their planning that might help.
1) Make your company exactly what you want. There seems to be a convention that bigger is better, or that if you don’t do all the work yourself that you’re selling out the quality of your work. If you feel like you have too many employees or if you’re burned out doing all the work yourself, then adjust accordingly this year. If you currently have four employees and feel like all you spend your day doing is bidding or cutting prices to keep them employed, then why not drop down to two employees and start relaxing? This is your business and you make the rules. If you’re tired of working for remodelers or installing bamboo, then stop doing it. I’m certain that most companies that will thrive going forward are going to focus on being better within a niche market rather than expanding service offerings into markets that are not their specialty. The Internet has made quality of service more and more transparent, and being a specialist in a profitable segment of the market will make good service a turnkey process.
2) Make your health a priority. Whether it’s mental or physical health, I would make it priority No. 1 this year. The demands of business have never been more difficult regarding taxes, homeowner expectations, and costs to run a business. Couple this with all of the electronic noise coming our way through e-mail, social media, etc., and I almost admire the people who live completely off the grid. To stay ahead of all these things and keep a strong confident business, nothing is more important than keeping yourself mental and physically healthy. It doesn’t mean a big overhaul, just start small by making one meal of the day more healthy (if don’t eat that great currently). Another hidden change for the good is to quit watching the news too much. Politics, death, and fear generate ratings for media companies but are a distraction if you have a company to run.
3) Video is going to be huge this year. With Roku, AppleTV, etc., video searching on a TV is here, and I encourage you to get a presence. You can’t reach through and touch stuff through a computer screen, but you can get a good idea of a person and their personality watching a video a lot better than reading stuff. I would have probably made this a video post, but I have a Rudolph-sized zit on my nose right now that wouldn’t help my on-screen presence. Maybe next week… Don’t overcomplicate things if you do make a video, because people are interested in real, not polished. I’ve seen all sorts of manicured videos for other companies done by Yellow Pages that just show sanders going back and forth. This still doesn’t offer a window into what kind of a good person you are. Just pretend that you are explaining a project like the guys on This Old House. Even if you don’t have a website, you can set up a YouTube channel in about three minutes with a Google e-mail account.
Just two weeks into 2012, I can tell you that business is going to improve around my area based on the phone calls and how early people are planning projects. I really hope that is the case nationwide, because I really do care about all the people who take the time to read the blogs at Hardwood Floors. I also want everyone who reads this post to have an advantage over the competition if they are interested in improving their business. Even though calls are up, the number of lowballers seems to also be up, so give yourself an edge this year with whatever it takes.
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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Stairs on the $3 Million House
By Wayne Lee
So here we go… I have been offline for a time—we have been dealing with a few family matters and year-end jobs that had to be done. My mother-in-law passed away just before Christmas. That was not fun around the time of year when being with family should be enjoyable.
I got behind on a few small jobs during the time away; once we got home it was work, work and work to get ready for New Year’s plans we had with family. My sister, brother, nephew and his lady friend all came for the new year hunt and to welcome in 2012. They were with us for the week, so I had to take time to be with them, but that got me behind on the stair job (the one at the $3 million house where the horse dented the wood floor).
I am working on them now and wow, to say they are a ton of work is putting it mildly. They were the worst set I have done in a long time. The large dogs had them eat up like a soup sandwich—there are deep cuts, the nosing is no longer round and the steps were walnut per everyone, but they are not! They are oak with a dark red/brown stain to make them look "rich." Getting the color matched was a job—I went to Sherwin Williams four times to add a little red, a little black, a little brown and a ton of luck. Mrs. Diane there was a huge help with getting this right. We did it all from a photo off my cellular phone and my eye, and I am colorblind as anyone can be. Thank you, Mrs. Diane, for taking so much time with me. The reason for the color match? Because I am not sanding the skirt, just the stairs and very glad of it. Here are some pics from the job:
I did pick up a 1,600-foot install, sand & finish job with thermo-treated maple that looks awesome. I have never sanded thermo flooring before, so it was time to call in the big gun. My friend Daniel Boone is going to come work with me on this job if we can work out the timeline. Most of you know that we are the best of friends and when we get together, stuff gets done. The trouble is that between stuff getting done we have more fun pulling jokes on each other. Now, it has been some time since my boots were nailed to the subfloor, so who knows what will happen next.
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
Maintaining Your Pneumatic Nailers
By Wayne Lee
Here's my next video blog - this one is about things to keep in mind when you're working with pneumatic nailers so they keep working for you.
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Tuesday, December 20, 2011
My Red Flags for Clients
By Scott Avery
It only really takes one bad client to really upset your day. Everyone has them no matter what people say about being perfect. I wasn’t sure that I would make this post in time for Wednesday, but I thought a lot about one client who sort of grated on my nerves for a long time.
Once or twice a year we all seem to get a bad client no matter how experienced we think we are in reading people. I know there have been a lot of articles written about the topic, but I want to chime in on what I use as red flags for bad clients.
- They want you to meet them for an estimate outside of normal business hours. This point is a HUGE one for me. Every time I do an estimate and someone says to me, “The other contractor who met me on Sunday said….”, I generally know something is looking bad. Religious beliefs aside, the week has to have some order and Sunday is supposed to be about relaxing, family time, etc. … Clients who expect you to show up on a weekend or after 6 p.m. generally want only what they want and don’t care about your time at all.
- They have no children and their dogs are their “children.” These people generally have the belief that life is perfect and floors don’t scratch, especially when the floor is subject to a 150-pound black Lab and they live on a houseboat. I’m not judging people without children at all. I’m saying that people who love their dog as much as a child and have never experienced the miracle of a child are likely to have some pretty intense expectations for how a floor should be done.
- They’re panicked about dust. I know that there is a lot of money being made right now while marketing the term “dustless.” I’ve witnessed a lot of contractors strike fear into the hearts of homeowners about dust. Just the process of hand-sanding your corners can make dust unless you have a vacuum attached to your hand. Leaving a clean house with whatever it takes is more important than hooking up a vacuum and assuming that’s all it takes. If the hose falls off your edger while it’s running, you are no longer “dustless.” Let’s all man up and ditch this term in 2012 and use the more accurate phrase “dust collection.”
- You’re estimating the job without them present. I’ve done estimates that get forwarded to the homeowner by the realtor, etc. If you are not meeting with the homeowner in person, you have absolutely NO WAY of asking about their personal expectations for the floor until it is too late. The homeowner may be focused on price over quality or vice versa, but you will never know until after they accept the estimate, you are signing a contract, or are in the process of doing the job. I recommend you be VERY careful about this unless you really trust the Realtor, designer, etc.
This is the bulk of my list for red flags in clients. Let me tell you the important part; if you’re an honorable and ethical contractor, then you have a bigger cheering squad than you know. We serve probably 100 or more clients per year and if out of that only one or two are upset, then I say we’ve done our best to be a great company—and that’s something about which we can be proud. Just like a politician, I cannot make everyone happy. It’s easy to let your bad clients make you forget about your good accomplishments. If you have really good clients, then use that to your advantage, which I will address in the next blog.
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Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Tricky Electrical Hookup at an Old House
By Wayne Lee
Now, this job was a pain to get hooked up. It’s an older home that has never been updated with the breakers or 3-wire ground outlets. I could not plug the vac, buffer or edger to the wall outlets because it had no ground. What to do? The house was getting a new kitchen with a 220 stovetop and oven, so the easy way was to pull off that line. Well, it was a good idea but they were using the earth ground as a neutral, and that is unsafe.
 So I took two lines and pulled off those for my 220, making sure that each fuse was the same size. I hooked up a ground wire to make the dryer plug code and, Ta-Da, the 220 was no longer any trouble. The two wire plugs were the next task. I found the wires going to the kitchen, and they had the room to pull wires and get new outlets. So the homeowner put in new wires and is happy to have GFI outlets in the kitchen. I had to run the buffer/edger on one line and the vacuum on the other line. It was tough to run cords from one end to the other end and not trip over them or work around them with the buffer and edger. In the long run it was much safer than not having an earth ground. I have not run over a cord in some time and do not want that to happen again. I recall the first time I hit the cord on the big machine...it made me jump back about 3 feet and watch the sparks fly! (Just a note, do NOT mess around with the wiring unless you know what you are doing; take a look at the article the magazine did about it.)
The floor was a mess; there was glue from the carpet backing and someone used paint remover thinking it would remove the glue:
I had to start with open paper and finish up with 100 grit to get it all off, but the edger work was not so bad—I got to start with 36 and run through the grits to 100. I worked the wall line four times with the edger to get it right and flat. It was one ugly floor but it looks great now, the lady who is going to live in the house came by to pick up some mail and looked at the floors, and she was very happy to see the wood:
I am using the water-based finish that Janet with Lenmar let me have after the NWFA open house; the color is nice and the smell is nothing. This is the job where the lady has some lung issue and needed to have little or no odor left in the house. It is nice not to have to wear the mask; yes I know, it is not the right thing to not wear it, but the stink was nothing. I will wear the mask for the next coats; I just wanted to see if it would smell. Water cleans up nice and is easy to work with, and having no smell is real nice. I am going to put on the last coat with a roller, not the T-bar, as my skills with a bar are weak... it has been some time for me. We roll the finish so much that my skills with a T-bar, well, they suck.
I have two more jobs to go look at this week and estimate. One is an install, sand and finish, and the other is sand and finish. One of the jobs is heat-treated wood that I will use Monocoat finish on. They had some folks try samples with poly and water-based finishes, but nothing looked good on the heat-treated wood. I got the call and the only question was, "Can you find something that makes the wood look rich?" Monocoat will, so I did a sample for them, and bingo! They love the rich look; it looks pure and clean. The install will be a task because the treated wood splits easily when the cleat hits the tongue, but my friends at Primatech have the thin nails, so that is the gun I will use. We have the 16G and 18G guns just for this type of stuff. It also helps with maple, hickory and the hard imported woods that split. It’s going to be a fun job, and I cannot wait to see the finish on the job. The wood is elm, but after they heat-treat it, it looks like black walnut.
Truth be told, I haven’t got much to write about this week; next week we start the stairs and resand job where the horse walked on the floor inside the house. I will take a photo of the floor so you can see it, but it is just beat up, thank God he did not have shoes on! The stairs will take me some time to make right—the dogs cut them up like a chain saw with attitude.
So, you all take care and keep in mind that I will be slow with the blog because of the time spent on the stairs—but keep an eye out for the next video blog. Be safe and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year just in case I do not get to write anything before then.
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Wednesday, December 07, 2011
How Much Do You Really Cost?
By Scott Avery
How much does your belt machine weigh? How about if you add the weight of the buffer or edger? How many trips do you make between the van and the job site to set up an average sanding job? The numbers don’t change whether it is a 200-square-foot kitchen or a 1,600-square-foot whole house refinish. The time to set up and the weight of the equipment is generally the same no matter the job. Then why wouldn’t you have a minimum job cost on small jobs instead of just using the same price-per-square-foot model? Sounds simple, but let me tell you about a scenario I just witnessed.
I did an estimate a few weeks ago for a homeowner who needed to refinish a 145-square-foot kitchen. I normally would quote a job like that with a minimum over the phone, but I was doing an estimate a mile away that day at the same time, so I figured I would stop by just to validate my thoughts. I walked in and saw a competitor’s bid lying on the table and the price almost made my jaw hit the floor. I’m going to walk you through the bid, which was $710.
The estimate included:
- Sand and refinish hardwood floors with dustless equipment
- Apply stain (customer to provide)
- Apply two coats of oil-based polyurethane
- Apply one coat of Bona Traffic waterborne finish
Let me explain a few other factors:
- The contractor owns the business and does the work himself
- He has a good reputation and is actively licensed and bonded
- He drives a gas-powered box truck (approximately 10-12 mpg)
- He lives about 12 miles from the job (I verified this with his business address and Google Maps)
Let’s hard-cost the job:
- Cost to drive to the home and provide an estimate (minimum 1 gallon fuel @$3.67, 30 minutes)
- Time to set up equipment (45 minutes)
- Time to properly sand, fill, and stain the floor (4 hours minimum)
- Drive home and allow stain to dry overnight ($3.67 fuel, 30 minutes with traffic)
- Return to apply first coat of polyurethane ($3.67 fuel, 30-minute drive, 30 minutes to coat)
- Drive home while finish dries ($3.67 fuel, 30 minutes traffic)
- Return to apply second coat of polyurethane ($3.67 fuel, 30-minute drive, 1 hour for intercoat abrasion, vacuum, and coat)
- Drive home while finish dries ($3.67 fuel, 30 minutes traffic)
- Return to job to apply final coat ($3.67 fuel, 30-minute drive, 1 hour for intercoat abrasion, vacuum, and coat)
- Time to repack tools (45 minutes)
- Abrasives/filler/finish:
- 2 belts @ $8.50=$17
- 10 edger discs @ $0.80=$8.00
- Filler @ $10
- Buffer paper, screens, and maroon pads ($20)
- 1 gallon polyurethane for two coats ($25)
- 1 gallon of Bona Traffic ($95)
Total man-hours on job: 11.5 hours total
Total materials cost, including fuel: $200.69
Total profit = $509.31
Right? WRONG!
I ran some other quick calculations based on the cost to be insured, licensed, and bonded based on my own rates and I figured it’s about $15 for the duration of the job.
$509.31 - 15.00 = $494.31
Taxes (state and federal averaged @ 20%) $494.31 x 0.2 = $98.862
Now what’s left is a realistic total = $395.45
You ready for the real shocker?
$395.45 / 11.5 hours = $34.39/hour
Now I know that sounds good, but consider the following:
- I didn’t factor the cost of health insurance.
- This doesn’t include workers compensation (which a business owner can waive)
- I didn’t factor for any 401K or retirement planning
Are you willing to give up that much of your life to make less than $400 for all of the liability and stress that comes with business ownership? What if the check bounced and you didn’t get paid? What happens if there is a hair in the finish or a missed spot? What happens if the homeowner is neurotic and decides to make you resand the floor; or they’ll make your life a living hell on the Internet on places like Angie’s List?
Stand tall if you’re a flooring contractor reading this and have the confidence to price accordingly on small jobs. A number of contractors have been so panicked by the media over the doom and gloom of our economy that they have forgotten how to make a profit that will build a good future when people want a small job done. Time is not infinite and there are a limited number of jobs that you can do in your lifetime.
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Tuesday, December 06, 2011
You Will Think I Am Pulling Your Leg
By Wayne Lee
It is true, the best job maybe the one you do not get. I spent a better part of last week doing samples for a job that was going to be hard. The GC just was bent on doing things so off that I can only say they were WRONG.
It was a gray look with some white in the grain, I called and got the correct stuff, and nailed the look, but the GC just knew that deck stain is better. So to make a long tale short, it is better to walk away. Now the hard part is to make up the lost time and funds. So I started a nasty resand today—36, 50 and 80, hand-rub and soft-plate the fire out of it. Here’s a “before”:
I am going to stain this with a medium brown when it is all done.
The big machine went well, but the edger was somewhat of a task. I needed to cut it twice, and knowing that the floor is going to have stain, I took it to 80 grit but with the flex pad on the edger. Take a look at the wall lines:
In the morning the hand-rubbing and the hand-work starts, so it should be a good day and, if all goes well, stain and the first coat by 5.
I also picked up a remodel job just under 600, so while I wait for this job to dry between coats I will run over and start this job to get both done this week; I’ll have to push hard to get both done this week. The only hang-up is the homeowner has some type of lung trouble and asked if we can find a finish that would not smell up the house. Well that is easy: water-base. During the NWFA open house Janet Sullivan let me have the water-base finish Lenmar offers. I am going to give it a run and see how it works. I have used Dura Seal water many times and some Basic, but this should be fun. The more I learn about finish, the better we can fit all the needs of each job. I do also have a factory-finish job that I want the use the Nano finish on again. It worked so great last time that I have just got to use it again. Nathan Shaw came down to help me with that one and dog, it was just nice.
I got a call for a set of stairs and I was thinking no big deal, right? It’s 22 steps 8 foot long and just the nicest set of stairs to look at. The dogs killed the finish with deep cuts and the finish is coming off in areas. I will take a photo for you next week so you can see what I mean. I also have a bedroom to re-sand at the same house. Now, you will think I am pulling your leg, but the horse walked all over it, not the dogs. They loved the horse so much that the stall is just off the bedroom and they let him in the house a few times. This is the largest house in the area, 15,000 under one roof. It took $3 million and about three years to build it. It’s sitting on a hill just as sweet as any home could be for the size and look it has to show off. The house is huge, with great wood work all around the home.
The sad part is that the folks that had it built made some dumb money moves and had to give it back to the bank. The bank sold it to cover the loss; the price was under $1 million to the new owners. Great deal, right? I should have got it for that price, LOL, a 3 million dollar home—the heat bill would kill me. They plan to flip it, yeah, flip it like a row house in the city. And you know what, they have folks from New York already asking about it. The idea is to have a home away from home for the winter time in New York. It is sad folks have to live like that and become snow birds from the nasty winters in upstate New York.
My video blog is up and running so not only do you have to read what I say, but you’ve got to hear me talk like a redneck ... Hope it is fun for all y’all because it was fun to make. We hope to do more as time goes on and if you have anything you would like to see, just let the folks at Hardwood Floors know so we can get it in the works. I am being honest when I say thank you all for reading the blog and putting up with me, I do enjoy the work and cannot think of a better way to help others. Well it is way past my bedtime, so good night and be safe.
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Friday, December 02, 2011
Heading to Cold Job Sites
By Wayne Lee
Well, here it is—my first video blog of me "Thinking Out Loud"—scary, I know. This one is about things to think about now that some of us are dealing with cold weather as we head to our wood floor jobs.
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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Chemicals Don’t Care
By Scott Avery
I watch the Hardwood Floors forum occasionally and what I notice is that people love to discuss installation specs and product a lot, but sometimes there is less activity on the finishing side. One area in which we need a lot more discussion and education in the wood floor industry is floor finishes—their compatibility and what finishes are a good fit for which species of wood.
One of my friends called me recently because some weird stuff was happening with a floor he installed and sanded. The finish crawled back and the job needed to be resanded. There were five coats applied by three different manufacturers, with sufficient dry time between coats. I have also mixed products from different manufacturers, so I’m guilty occasionally, too. It’s all a matter of preference, and you have to do what works best for your floors and keeps your company running smoothly.
A manufacturers rep I know very well always says the phrase, “Chemicals don’t care,” and it sums up a big problem I’ve seen: pressure on the flooring contractor to finish jobs sooner and sooner. When a problem happens with a floor because you stepped out of line regarding manufacturer instructions, then you are going to find out how lonely it can be in the business. Homeowners and GCs are rarely going to be sympathetic when flooring contractors have a problem, and I’ve seen some finish manufacturers wash their hands of problems at the drop of a dime. If you’re doing a floor that’s not your normal floor, then call a finish rep and ask for a referral to a contractor who’s been down that road before to save time and problems. Better yet, post it on the forum before you do the floor.
You get where I’m heading with this post, I think. If you are going to test a new system or mix product lines, then do it on a small floor first. Re-sanding 200 feet is easier than 2,000 feet. My other thought is to always give realistic timelines for finish to dry prior to applying the next coat. Most of the times when I’ve pushed a little too much on dry time between coats, it has come back on me in a bad way. My thought is that even though this stuff may not be covered in a class, the real golden nuggets are in the relationships with the really good finish reps from schools and conventions. I’ve called reps from “competing” companies to discuss problems and they have helped. Those are the guys you want to know. Come to the NWFA convention in Orlando next April, and I will introduce you to them, because they’re really genuine and a great resource.
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