By Lenny Hall, Endurance Floor Company
Two weeks ago, I picked up my crew from the airport who had just completed a weeklong project in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The team had a full schedule with sliver filling a 2,800 square foot apartment, hitting several wear patterns that were down to dirty raw wood, and removing/replacing a 280 square foot bedroom. Plus, they needed to refinish the bedroom and the office before a full pad and recoat over the floor.
The situation was compounded by restricted work hours and an owner who spent a lot of time evaluating the floor a little closer than normal.
But they did it. I am both proud and grateful that these individuals are on my team. They follow my lead by consistently performing beyond what is asked of them and I couldn’t be any more pleased.
Then a few days later, while I was in St. Louis at a member sponsored Expert Training School, I received a text that there were problems with the last coat along with several pics of scratches in the finish and a few pin holes between planks. I let the owner know my availability and scheduled my trip for the last week of November.
Harold and I left Fort Lauderdale at 7:45 a.m. Friday and arrived in San Juan at 11:30 a.m. For the next 12 hours, we busted our butts with the help of local floor guy Eugene Hemphill. We fixed scratches, retouched small runs, filled the floor and coated 2,800 square feet.
The owner saw it this morning and was happy with the results. Now we are on the way back home.
I am still proud of the crew’s initial work, which was certainly acceptable according to industry standards. Just like the Sand and Finish Guidelines state, the evaluation must be “observed from a standing position.” In this case though, the client was a perfectionist and it was our job to make him happy. In the end, he was appreciative of our efforts in both instances.
Overall, I give a big thanks to Harold, Jose and Rafael for the great work in a challenging environment, and to Harold for coming along with me and reaching the level of perfection the owner was looking for.
My main point in my story is this, if you can’t trust your guys to perform outstanding work while stranded on a remote island, let alone in your own backyard, then you need to examine why. Lacking training? Don’t have the right team in place? Are you micromanaging as a leader?
I encourage you to think about your challenge areas and what you can do to fix them. NWFA has a variety of resources available to its members that can get you on the right path. You will ultimately have less stress, greater productivity and a rock star company like mine, I promise.