Understanding Resinous Flooring – Made Simple.

Explaining myself to an architect recently, I discovered that I was talking in circles and still not communicating the differences between epoxy floors and urethane floors. I realized that getting through the matrix of possibilities without a guide can be overwhelming for someone who is not surrounded by all of the products on a daily basis. Like many other products on the market today, resinous flooring products are diverse, different and confusing to select. A once simple product has evolved into an endless combination of products that keep the most informed professionals on their toes.

In My Life and Work by Henry Ford in collaboration with Samuel Crowther. 1922., Henry Ford said, ‘Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.’ As we all know, you can buy a Ford in almost every color today. Like Ford, the material manufactures saw the opportunity for customization and thought it would increase their market share in the flooring industry. This change has been beneficial for the industry, but added an extra layer of confusion for the customer. While simplicity makes decision making easier, products need to be designed to maximize lifespan and performance based on their anticipated environments. For the sake of this discussion, an oversimplification of product lines will help in understanding the basics of resinous flooring.

To get started, I will focus on the major types of resinous flooring. I am going to describe four types of resins that will meet our exceed most project needs. There are many more types and sub-types of resins, but for simplification I will use the four most used resin types in this article. The most common used and recognized resin is epoxy, then urethane and then the less known polyaspartic and methyl methacrylate (MMA). Without exception, each of these products can be filled with identical decorative aggregates for a similar finished product.

EPOXY:

Epoxy materials have been used longer and more commonly than any of the other resin types. In 1936, epoxy paint was patented in Switzerland and by the late 1950’s, they were being used in military specifications. Epoxy’s are “any of various usually thermosetting resins capable of forming tight cross-linked polymer structures characterized by toughness, strong adhesion, and low shrinkage, used especially in surface coatings and adhesives.” EPOXY – The Free Dictionary

By the late 1970’s Epoxy’s were available for flooring installations in meat packing plants and heavy industrial shops, but it was not until the late 1980’s, when decorative aggregates were introduced, that epoxy materials hit the mainstream construction industry. Epoxy Products are usually two component thermosetting products that can, but often do not, contain solvents. It is simply a two part clear glue that cures to create a hard plastic like finish.

Pro’s:
- Easy to obtain
- Easy to work with (many different types available)
- Very hard finish (often up to 11,000 PSI)
- Easy to pigment and use with decorative additives
- Smooth or textured
- Available with low odor (when 100% solid)
- High build (can be used as grout or mortar)
Con’s:
- Not UV stable (amber color with UV exposure – including florescent lighting)
- Scratch-able by sharp objects. (abrasion resistance lower than urethane)
- Not resistant to high temparatures
- not moisture tolerant in most cases.

Urethane:

Urethane is a slightly more diverse resin that contains materials derived from petroleum or plant resins. This material ranges from thin high performance coatings, to heavy cement filled overlays. Most urethane’s entered the market as a solution to two major problems with epoxies. Urethane is both harder and more UV stable than epoxy in most cases. Many flooring systems that required a high build coat and an abrasion resistant finish use epoxy as the base coat and urethane as the final ware coat. Due to the superior adhesion qualities of Epoxy, the combination of these two materials expand where resinous flooring can be used. To simplify the understanding of Urethane, splitting it up into tow categories helps.

Urethane Coatings: Coatings have been around for a long time and have been utilized in conjunction with epoxy primers to create a long lasting, light stable, hard shell finishes for protecting concrete floors and walls. This process usually involves mechanically abrading the surface and applying multiple coats to achieve a thin mil system that is both cost effective and attractive. These products have been used on metal for ships and tank linings as well.
Urethane Cements: The use of Urethane cements is more recent in the timeline of resinous flooring. This material utilizes resins that create water as a byproduct during the curing process; the water is then utilized by a cement component to create a concrete like finished product that is mixed in with aggregates based on the desired thickness and performance requirements of each system. This product has become popular due to its ability to resist hydro-static pressure, handle high heat and wet environments, and its speed of installation. It has replaced epoxy in food production and commercial kitchen environments.

While there are many other uses for urethane’s, the two above are the most common in the flooring industry. One more other common use for urethane’s that cross over into the flooring industry would be in flexible track systems and permeable overlays. Most of these systems use moisture cured urethane’s to achieve a flexible system in combination with rubber or gravel to produce an attractive usable surface that is much more resilient than concrete. It is important to note that most urethane systems utilized on floors and walls are in combination with epoxy to utilize there maximum benefit. Urethanes are also commonly used for waterproofing parking decks and mechanical rooms.

History of Polyurethanes

Methyl Methacrylate (MMA):

I am not gong to spend much time on MMA’s because their use is more limited but easily explained. This is a product that has some very good qualities and some that are less than desirable. It is very hard to find a more chemical resistant product that sets up as fast as MMA and is light stable. These products are often used where speed, temperature and chemical attack are of high importance. These products can set up in very cold conditions and stand up under the suns rays with little to no discoloration over time. One of the problems with this resin is the overwhelming oder that comes with the curing process, and the rapid installation rate takes a trained installer to achieve a good finished product. While the product performs well in many environments, its installation requirements limits its use in many areas. Even though the odor contains acceptable rates of VOC’s (volatile organic compounds), it can still get into food products and cause negative effects on people exposed to the fumes.

MMA information

PolyAspartics:

For the scientists and enthusiasts:

Polyaspartics

Polyaspartics have evolved as the a perfect blend between polyurethane’s and mma’s; they have the high gloss of polyurethanes and the fast setting light stable qualities of mma’s. Polyaspartics are very chemical resistant and remain slightly flexible while achieving a hard protective shell. While mma’s will only bond well to themselves, Polyaspartics can be used with epoxy systems like polyurethanes to create successful hybrid systems for varying environments. These products are very durable and very clear; they work well with decorative quartz and Flake.

Moral:

Like always, I like to finish with a “moral”. It is important to know the difference between many of the materials on the market. Even though I have highlighted a few, there are many more that can be utilized for each individual projects. It is important to get advise from a knowledgeable trustworthy professional to plan the best product for each project. If you have questions or need advice please contact resin adviser for your next project.

resinadvisor

February 6, 2018 0

Rethink Your Materials and Skills

It has been a while since I posted anything, so I decided that a quick note would be better than nothing at all. I have been involved in several projects lately that utilize materials in unique ways or in new areas that expand the use of resinous materials. It is important to continually search out new ways to utilize materials so that possible business opportunities don’t pass you by. The expansion of resinous materials into more areas of each project helps the industry as a whole. The more innovative a contractor can get with details and specialty applications the more they set themselves apart from other finishes. When the “skill” of a particular application is unique, it gives that contractor a competitive edge and elevates the industry as a whole.

My challenge goes out to both customers and contractors alike; don’t accept average work, but constantly strive for the best finish and detail for each project. It is important to realize that one size does not fit all, and even though it may cost a little more, hiring a contractor that has a mastery of their trade is more important than hiring the low bidder…especially if you expect the exceptional.

Moral: Be the best that you can be at what every skill you work at and you will be rewarded with respect and repeat business!

January 31, 2018 0

Sheet Vinyl Beware – There is a Better Option for Healthcare

For many decades the medical industry has used Terrazzo for most of their facilities due to its seamless finish and decorative qualities. Several decades ago, ergonomics and budgets drove healthcare designers to look at vinyl as an alternative to expensive Terrazzo finishes. Throughout the evolution of healthcare design, professionals have been looking for alternatives that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional for a bacteria free environment. The older Terrazzo technology was originally cement with decorative aggregates, and finished with a sealer or wax. This product if not sealed correctly or maintained, can harbor bacteria; Terrazzo also cracks and crumbles at expansion joints and is difficult and expensive to repair. More recent Terrazzo installations utilize epoxy resins as a binder and perform much better from a sanitary perspective, but are still expensive and hard to repair. Vinyl has become the most commonly used materiel in healthcare due to its relatively inexpensive price and ease of repair, but this product is far from perfect in an abusive healthcare environment.

The rational progression of utilizing different types of vinyl flooring for healthcare is easy to understand; now technology has given designers much better options that function better for long term use in healthcare facilities. Vinyl comes in almost any color combination, texture and thickness, making it a designers best weapon for covering almost every floor surface. Since its inception, vinyl has been able to morph itself into almost any product; appearing like wood, concrete, and even stone, vinyl is quite the chameleon. Vinyl can stretch long distances without many joints and can be rolled up the cove to create a base. For all of its good qualities, there are many bad ones. Vinyl has to be jointed and those joints often fail. Vinyl is resilient, therefore it gouges and shows traffic patterns over time. It must to be stripped and waxed to maintain a sheen and extend its life, creating constant maintenance. Due to its “sheet” installation, cove base can be messy and often seams are created on critical corners making sanitation a problem. Repairs can be easy and fast, however they often stand out and require adding additional seems in a floor that needs to be seamless.

The Transformation:

Resinous flooring has been used for many years in medical research. Resins, especially Epoxies, were brought into the US market from Europe between the 1950’s and 1970’s, and by the 1980’s, the resin market in the US was growing at a rapid pace. The first place resins were utilized in the healthcare market was in medical research because of the need for sanitation in holding rooms for animal research. Designers found that a seamless system that could take constant wash-down and high chemical attack was a perfect match for the abuse that research facilities rendered. As technology advanced in resins, different materials made their way into research facilities, but all of these products were originally thought of as functional, not architectural. In the late 1980’s, color quartz was beginning to gain popularity as a texture and color for resinous flooring systems. These types of floors were first utilized in restaurant kitchens and locker rooms, but rapidly became standard issue in research facilities. Many pharmaceutical manufactures began to use quartz flooring in their facilities because the were easy to sanitize and were less expensive than terrazzo. As manufactures started experimenting with new and more aesthetically pleasing aggregates and chips, the floors started getting the attention of designers that were seeking out a better solution for Operating rooms and Emergency rooms in healthcare facilities.

After over a decade of utilizing resin systems in OR environments, it has been proven as an over performer. The one variable that has kept it out of some designs has little to do with the material and everything to do with the installer. Unlike most finished flooring products, resinous flooring is “manufactured” on site and in place. It takes skilled labor and many man-hours to create a successful job. If the proper vetting is done prior to installation, this product is the BEST product for any OR, ER or Trauma area.

In short, this product is seamless, antimicrobial, sanitize-able, repairable, decorative, customizable, and long lasting. Even when you have to make an expansion joint, it is effectively seamless. The cove base can be any height, is a seamless part of the floor, and bonds to the wall surface (the walls can even be coated for a seamless BSL room). Many manufactures add anti-microbial additives even though bacterial has no place to grow on the surface of these products. As a designer it is important to note that not all resinous flooring systems are not created equal; do your research and make sure that the right resins are being used for the environment that they are being specified for. In all cases, these systems will out perform Vinyl flooring and should be utilized in all areas of healthcare. Hopefully there will be a day when resinous systems will be used throughout a hospital, from the OR’s and ER’s to the patient rooms and corridors. The use of these products would significantly reduce the cost of maintaining a healthcare facility due to their longevity and maintenance free finishes.

Moral:

Resinous products are superior to vinyl in almost every way. If you need help selecting the right products for your project, please email or message me. If you spend a little time up front selecting the right product, utilizing resinous products over vinyl will benefit your customer both now and over the lifetime of any healthcare design.

November 3, 2017 0

An Ounce of Prevention…

The lack of planning in the construction industry amazes me; with all of the meetings and scheduling software used, people still don’t talk to each another to solve problems before they occur. This industry is plagued with a reactionary cycle of dealing with issues one emergency at a time. I have done internal research and discovered that working with the same General Contractors on the same type of job is much more profitable than working with new teams on different types of projects. I have used this information to help promote a better profit model for the future. The problem with our industry, is that we are drawn out of our comfort zone to chase work to feed the “machine”. It is necessary to build up a backlog, and that sometimes leads contractors into uncharted territory. While it is not always controllable, working on jobs that are consistent and predictable can add to productivity; when consistency is not possible, planning ahead is necessary.

Don’t fall pray to the usual pitfalls! It is easy to get stuck in the rut of business as usual during the inertia of a busy schedule; however, when you have to retool and move to a different job, you must look at it with a fresh perspective. In our industry, one of the common issues on many of our jobs is the floor slope; as a flooring contractor, we do not bid sloping a floor into the price of a job because it is the responsibility of the concrete contractor. Unfortunately, the slope usually does not get checked until we arrive on the job-site. I am amazed at how many concrete contractors are not held accountable for slopes that are clearly marked on project plans. Flooring contractors usually get the undeserved privilege of breaking the bad news about how much it will cost to correct the problem to the General Contractor. Why is a floor with a drain not inspected for slopes? Because the construction industry is still operating on a reactionary production model rather than a preventative model. This is just one example of how communication and planning can save a projects budget one solved problem at a time.

There is hope. Many projects today are being planned with “pull planning” meetings, where subcontractors get together and work out the details of there scopes by using sticky notes on a white board. This process sounds archaic, but the process works well and helps subcontractors react to possible conflicts before they happen. In projects that utilize this type of communication, many pitfalls are avoided. If the concrete contractor and the flooring contractor talk about the floor drains and slopes prior to construction, the costly slope repairs can be avoided. Unfortunately, subcontractors are not always in control of the schedule and get trapped installing their products at the wrong time, or get their products damaged by other workers due to poor planning. There is a solution…

Pull Planning

What Can You do?

You can plan ahead, when everybody else does not: Even thought the companies around you don’t plan ahead, you can stand out to your customers by showing up when you are expected and planning pre-construction site visits to make sure that you have all of the details covered before you begin a job – even if (especially if) they do not ask for you to visit the site prior to beginning.
Keep a list – if you cannot remember it in your head: No matter what your trade, you have some important things that need to be completed before you arrive on a job. If you are not the type of person that can remember it all, keep a list. Do you need permanent lights? Do you need HVAC running? What are your power requirements? What does your trade require? If you make sure the job is ready, you will save yourself money and the General Contractor wasted time.
Don’t compromise: When it comes to providing a superior service for a reasonable price, you cannot compromise on your requirements. Many contractors find themselves in trouble when they are convinced to start a project to early, or perform work that was outside of the original scope without proper approval. Even the best Superintendent will sometimes get their backs up against a wall and approve something that is unauthorized to get a project moving or finished on time. Don’t fall victim to compromising on something that is going to negatively effect your finished product or bottom line.
Hold your ground: When it comes to change orders and pre-project planning, hold your ground. You are the pro at what you do; do not let a General Contractor or another sub convince you that they know your products or service better than you do.
Ask for a meeting: This is different from #1; beyond utilizing per-construction site visits, ask to meet with other sub contractors that might have an impact on your work. If you are not working on a job with “pull planning”, do your own planning. Ultimately, you are responsible for your finished product.

Moral: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” In the resinous flooring industry, like many other trades in construction, we are faced with enough problems internally; we do not need to let outside influences compromise our work quality. If you give into the pressure of a rushed schedule or a poorly planned project, your final product will be compromised. Be uncompromising and deliver consistent quality, and all of your customers will appreciate it when the project is closed out. In the end you are only as good as your finished product.

October 31, 2017 0

Death of Creative Thinking?

To run a business or team of any type, you have to master the art of creative thinking. In the flooring business like many other businesses, we are often faced with problems that are so far past the realm of obvious thinking that the usual thought processes take you nowhere. Calculated organized thinking is necessary for daily survival, however there is a shrinking availability of people who have a truly unique thinking process. Many of us have grown up in a drive through society of speed eating, speed dating and scheduled workouts. Gone are the days of retreating into the backyard to a hidden world of pirates and maidens. To navigate business problems today, you cannot relay on problem solving by the book. You have to look outside the cover and discover a new way of thinking; a way of thinking that cannot be achieved without clearing your head and relaxing. We are at a place in time, where “relaxing” is not relaxing. Between rushing to a dinner date, driving kids to a soccer game and logging into Netflix, when does anybody today have a chance to relax. The inability to declutter our brains and unplug has a direct impact on our daily lives and on our children’s creativity and problem solving.

According to an article written for Fast Company Magazine, ” U.S. creativity is dropping: the average Torrance score of U.S. children had been rising steadily until 1990. But for the past 20 years it has been in decline.” ( death-creativity-death-innovation ) There is a connection between technological advances in problem solving and the dropping of creativity in our society. If you look at the computer history timeline published by computerhistory.org ( timeline/computers/ ), 1989 was the year that the microprocessor was released by Intel and the Palm Pilot was released in 1996. As computers have become smarter, our youth have become more dependent on them, letting the computers (phones) do the thinking for them. In 1993, I had the option to take hand drafting or CAD class while I was enrolled for an Environmental Design Degree from Texas A&M University; I opted for the hand drafting and missed out on the future of design but gained a wealth of hands on problem solving experience. Most of the graduates today will never lean the art of working through a problem with a pencil and eraser. When a designer uses copy and paste to create designs, many organic ideas are circumvented. While efficiency cannot be ignored, the art of creative problem solving needs to be preserved. From the invention of the microprocessor, that allowed for less expensive smaller technology to exist on every desk, to modern day handheld computers, there has been a loss of processing difficult problems in new and inventive ways. Solutions have become less human, and more predictable; much more efficient but less interesting and beautiful.

I had a very influential college dean who would take his freshman design class through breathing exercises while we sprawled out over the top of our drafting tables staring at the florescent lights above. He would tell us that we were at our most creative when we were relaxed and our minds were free of outside chatter. We all liked the extra time we had at the beginning of class, but I don’t think we appreciated the simple lesson that he was teaching us. Problem solving is tough work, and if you are thinking about who is going to take the dog to the vet this week, it makes it harder to figure out the logistics of completing whatever complicated task your job is throwing at you. Distractions can derail the creative mind in most cases, however many children today diagnosed with ADD or ADHD find that they can function better with background clutter. Weather this is a result of their surroundings, or a function of brain activity is an argument for the scientists, but their ability to hyper focus can still be achieved more efficiently in an unstressed relaxed state of mind.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS A HUGE TIME THIEF! I have witnessed first hand a loss of productivity directly related to social media. Most of the people working in our office are nearing middle age, and are not as influenced by their “social media image” as younger people, but as the younger generation enter the workforce, there has to be more attention given to reduce the distractions caused by the constant use of social media. Filling your brain with scrolling colorful images does nothing to boost personal creativity and problem solving. Moving forward, businesses are going to have to be proactive in including media in a way that is not only promotional for their business but also restrictive in personal promotion for their employees. This is a challenge that creative thinkers can use to benefit employees if channeled in a responsible way. Businesses are also going to have to strive to hold on to creative ways of problem solving without loosing relevance in the ever charging climate that we are living in.

Moral: I always try to end with a positive note or message, this one is easy: Work very hard and relax completely to recharge. Never let your teem or yourself get so berried that you cannot see a way out. Part of the fun in what we do everyday is finding creative ways to solve problems. If you take the time to relax your mind and take in some beautiful scenery now and then, you will find that you can solve any complex problem one piece at a time.

Interesting take on Creative designing.

October 23, 2017 0

Do You Need This Technology?

As a business owner, there are tools that we need and tools that people try to sell us; sometimes they are one and the same, but often, they are not. If you are registered with your State or if you have every filled out any paperwork with your company information listed on it, you have most likely received sales calls about an endless number of products that you, “cannot live without”. You “need” a consultant to tell you how your industry works, or the latest tracker, or new insurance, or telephone system; the relentless sales call is the entrepreneur’s time-sucking nemesis.

As a flooring contractor there are specific technologies that we need to make our business more productive, but we don’t need people calling dozens of times per week to set up a forced meeting. Time is important to all of us, and no matter what industry you are in, productivity drives your success. Along with new technology, we all should adapt to new sales techniques that don’t waste our customers time. I would not be successful pounding my customers with wasted calls to sell my services to an uninterested prospect.

It is important for new businesses with good ideas to get the news out about their products, but we live in an enlightened world that can access new products and information by searching on Google or Amazon. Most business owners today have a LinkedIn account or get some amount of information about what they need with online searches. The challenge today is dealing with a growing impatient customer base that is not willing to listen to a personal meeting or phone call, but will read a post about a product online. The challenge is to reach the people you need to reach without offending them or taking to much of their valuable time.

As a business owner, I have some advice to vendors trying to break through the baracade surrounding every small business owner. Do not pester, but make contact; it is all about timing. Give your prospect the option to read up on you and respond later; do not force an immediate answer. Have links and literature ready with contact information easy to access. If someone needs your service, they will reach out to you….if they do not, then you can try again later, but don’t pester them. If you start with a negative interaction, then the odds of selling your product are low.

Moral: “Do You Need This Technology?” is up to you, but don’t be pestered by a vendor. It is better to move on to a vendor that is wiling to deal with you on your terms and time table. Don’t let someone you don’t know tell you what is best for your business. Don’t let fear force you into purchasing a service; make an educated and reasoned decision on any purchases.

October 16, 2017 0

Problem Solving for the Resinous Flooring (and Wall) Industry!

October 11, 2017

Friends and Colleagues,

I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce a new service that I am developing to serve our industry due to its complexity and difficulty. Most of you know my history in the Resinous Flooring Industry; I was literally raised on a jobsite. As a young man, I struggled to find a career path that would not lead me to weekends on jobsites fighting with emergency issues that inevitably arise. I grew up with floors being the main topic of every family meal, including Christmas and Thanksgiving. Apparently, I did not venture far enough away from the industry when I received a degree in Environmental Design, with an emphasis on Construction Science, from Texas A&M. I found myself working in the family business less than a year out of college and trapped in what my dad referred to as a “tar baby”; he would say that if you ever get into this business you can never get it off.

After years of running my own company (17 so far), I realized that a person cannot know everything about resinous flooring. There are so many variables that can change the outcome of a job and it is impossible to anticipate all of them. Any combination of situations can lead to a perfect job or a catastrophic failure. As an applicator, you have to develop a very creative perspective to solve many of the problems that can arise in this industry. The combination of my education and experience have led me down a path of creative solutions to difficult problems both on existing projects and in planning future projects.

My goal is to have a two-pronged solution oriented consulting service that can help either installers or contractors that find themselves in a difficult situation and need a solution based opinion either for legal reasons, or for completing a problematic job. The second long-term goal, is to seek out owners and Architects that need assistance in planning the correct products and specifications for their projects that meet both budget and use criteria. Our industry will be much better served and stronger if the right types of products are specified in the correct locations. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to solve a problem; my goal is to be the creative outside perspective that can give a value-added solution to a wide variety of problems within the Resinous Flooring Industry.

My services will be better suited to areas outside of my existing companies reach except for Owner/Architect consulting; the goal is to help others without the pressure of competition. Please spread the word about this service and have anybody interested contact me by the email below and check out my blog to get familiar with my unique perspective in this industry.

Sincerely,

Rafe Gibson

resinadviser@gmail.com

www. resinadviser.blog

October 11, 2017 0

A Slave to Social Media

This is a short post about social media and how companies today are enslaved by its power to open doors and shut them equally as fast. In construction we act like we are cutting edge when we are truly a decade behind in the technology department. I would guess that most construction companies still have fax machines in their offices and use them regularly, we do.

Light Reading on the Subject

This post is more for conversation than information; how are you using social media to promote your company? Here are a few thoughts to get the conversation started. You need to pay attention to how you look online to your customers.

Use it or lose it: If you don’t grab your company name or an account that has a clever title in it, then someone else in your industry will. If you do not positively promote your company or service, then you will look out of touch to your customers.
Company identity is important: If you do not take the time to show who you are online, a customer will move on to someone who does. You have to strive to connect to a customer in a few clever words or interesting pictures because the upcoming generation of consumers do not communicate directly by phone (in the traditional way), they look you up and get a feel for who you are before they decide who to engage. If you don’t stand out, they will move on.
Left Unchecked, It can Destroy you: If you bury your head in the sand and don’t look out for your social image, you are likely to find some negative comments or worse. It is not unusual to find someone else using your name that may not have the same quality of work or reputation as you do.
Not for me: If you have decided that you want to market your services to the commercial industry and not to individuals, you still cannot ignore social media. Remember that individuals run the companies that you work for and relationship building is much different now than it was just a few years ago. Even purchasers at large companies look you up online if they don’t already know who you are, and you never know who is out there looking for your service.
Do it Quickly: I will end this sort post on that – “do it quickly”. Most people don’t have the time to read something they aren’t interested in or have some preconceived need for. Make your point, make it stand out, and move on.

If you have any advice or stories to share about promoting construction companies on social media, please comment; if you have the time, read my other posts about the construction industry and resinous products. If you need consulting work surrounding any resinous products for any reason or you any ideas about future post subjects, please feel free to contact me.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

October 10, 2017 0

It is an unfortunate fact that construction contractors, especially subcontractors do not get paid in a way that is conducive for the growth of their businesses. Both residential and commercial contractors have unique challenges that most other types of businesses don’t have to deal with. Contractors have many complex issues that they must worry with like, customer satisfaction, vendor payments, personnel issues, and rent to name a few. The complexity of problems that arise on the simplest of projects is impossible to imagine unless you have experienced them first hand. With the complexity of problems they face, getting paid is the most important, and often the most difficult.

Residential Construction has very specific challenges tied directly to a homeowner’s opinion and satisfaction; while lien laws can serve as protection for contractors, they do not speed up the rate of payment if there are conflicts. Most subcontractors that do good work will get paid either weekly or bi-monthly to keep cash flow moving, and while this is a much better rate than the average commercial contractor, money is held from one project to entice contractors to the next project. There is very little regulation protecting subcontractors from general contractors. Payment can also be tied to customer satisfaction; if a homeowner doesn’t like the work, no matter how good or complete it is, the payment is often held for long periods of time. In many ways, residential constitution is like the wild west of construction. It is very hard to get predictable and fast paying customers because of how volatile the housing market is. One wrong move and a Home Builder can get stuck with unmovable inventory and no money to pay subcontractors. If a good relationship is formed between the contractor and the subcontractor, residential construction has the potential to pay much faster than commercial projects, however the rates for work are often lower.

Commercial Contractors have a whole different set of problems to deal with. Most of my experience is with commercial construction (not all), so I have a more comprehensive description of the problems that plague commercial contractors, especially subcontractors. To understand the billing and payment challenge I need to go through the billing – payment process for most contracts. When a job is complete, a subcontractor is required to bill a project on a specific date (usually on the 15th, 20th, or 25th). A contractor can bill through the end of the month (projected) but if the estimate is not accurate, the entire pay application can be denied and the billing can be pushed to the next month. Once a pay application is received (and let’s assume that all the “i’s” are dotted and the “t’s” are crossed), then the General Contractor turns in their pay applications to the owner. When the owner pays, and that is usually 60 days, the General Contractor has 10 days to pay the subcontractor. If you do the math on this time table, most subcontractors can expect to get paid anywhere from 45-90 days from the beginning of their work on a project. Retainage is the money that is held until the job is 100% complete by all contractors involved; this is money that can take up to a year to collect on most jobs and it is usually between 5% and 10% of the total contract. In many cases, the retainage makes up a subcontractor’s profit.

Most of us make a paycheck weekly or biweekly; as you can see, this is not the case for most contractors. They must find a way to function 90 days ahead of their money. Payroll is commonly weekly and suppliers hold firm at 30-day payment terms in most cases. Larger subcontractors find themselves heavy on receivables with suppliers breathing down their necks for payment, while smaller subcontractors struggle to meet payroll pressure weekly as they wait to get paid. It is common for profits to be held up for up to a year on some projects.

The Question: Is this problem fixable? Is there a way to promote good work and speed up funding for responsible contractors and still protect owners from the pitfalls of poor workmanship and warranty issues?

There is no short answer to the question, but the prospect of success is not impossible. When good partnerships form between Contractors and Subcontractors much of the red tape can be avoided. Major contracts have hurdles that still must be leaped, but a good working relationship can keep costly mistakes from holding payments up in both residential and commercial construction. With a relationship based on trust and experience, good contractors make construction finance problems almost bearable, but to build a quality company in the current environment, a contractor must be patient and responsible. In short, relationships rule the day and partnering with the right contractor and subcontractor can make a huge difference even when their bids may not be the lowest.

Moral: No matter what business you are in, don’t think that contractors have it made; it takes hard work, patients and a little luck to be successful in Residential or Commercial construction. We are a rough around the edges, rag-tag group of hard working people trying to navigate our trade. All contractors are not created equal and low bidders are not always the lest expensive way to go. If you are a contractor, look for good relationships and do quality work for a reasonable price; if you are a customer, do your homework and don’t always choose the low bidder.

October 4, 2017 1

Quick Common Sense Guide to Moisture Vapor Transmission

This is a common sense guide to get the basic understanding of vapor transmission. This, short, to the point, article is to open the door of understanding about an issue that not only plagues resinous flooring but any sheet-good or barrier type flooring installed over concrete. To grasp a general understanding about this problem, you have to travel back in time (at least in the resinous flooring industry). This “problem” is a relatively new one to the industry and did not become a “common” problem until about 10 – 15 years ago. While I am sure there is science to explain why this problem did not become better known, my opinion is two-fold. First, the advances in admixtures for concrete that allowed for placement quickly and easier with less cracking, also affected the internal makeup of the concrete matrix, creating capillaries where moisture can either get trapped, or transfer through the slab more easily. The second, is the regulations on resin manufactures by the EPA; the reduction of solvents does not allow for the products to penetrate as deep into the concrete for a proper mechanical bond. Another probable reason added on top of these two, is the increased speed of construction and the inability of a slab to properly cure before being put into service.

While there are easy to understand reasons for this problem, like the lack of a vapor barrier under the slab, underground water, or leaching from improper drainage. The most common problems seem to be on new construction with a vapor barrier, and on concrete that has cured more than 28 days. Most contractors follow the specifications, yet are still unable to achieve the low reading of 3 pounds of pressure required by most resinous flooring manufacturers. This very low threshold is somewhat arbitrary, and most of us that have been in the industry for a while know that it is unusually low to cover the liability of the manufacturers. To confuse the subject more, nobody can decide on a testing method.

Off the top of my head, there are four arguable tests to measure vapor transmission:

The sheet Test: This is an actual ASTM test used where you tape a sheet of plastic on the concrete and measure the amount of moisture that accumulates under the plastic over a period of time. This test works, but has no actual quantitative value. While it can identify a problem, it cannot identify the severity of the problem.
Surface Test: Tramex is a popular manufacturer of a surface test that measures the % moisture content of the slab; this test is used by many wood flooring installers.
RH (Relative Humidity) Test: This test us the newest of the tests, and it measures the relative humidity 3/4 through the slab; it gives a good reading of the curing process of the concrete, but does not give a picture of moisture movement.
Calcium Chloride Test: This test is very common among flooring contractors and was originally used by roofers to measure moisture movement. This test measures the amount of movement over a period of time but does not measure the % of moisture in the concrete; this test tells you nothing about the curing process, but gives a good picture of moisture migration over time.

If you are confused, then welcome to the club. Most of these tests cost more in time than effort, because they can take unto 60 hours to complete. You can quickly see that it would be hard to do every test, and that any one test might not give you a complete picture of what is happening in the slab. As a contractor, you learn the signs to look for and complete the test that will give you the highest chance of success unless you are required to do specific testing by the job specifications. Many contractors have added vapor control primers to their bids to cover possible problems and eliminate some of the risk involved with moisture problems.

This information is a very brief summary of the testing methods and problems associated with vapor transmission. To properly tackle this subject would take books of technical data that often contradict themselves. There are some very important things to consider when faced with this problem.

Always test if you are using epoxy, MMA, or any other resin-based system. Use a vapor primer whenever you are aware of possible problems, including accelerated schedules. For the most fail-safe solutions, switch to urethane concrete motor systems. Urethane Mortars will not only resist up to 14 pounds of pressure, they can also cure and bond to concrete that has a higher % moisture and in most cases can be installed on concrete that is 7-14 days old.

Moral: Be aware of the issue and plan accordingly; if you don’t want to spend the money now, you might be replacing your floor later. If readings are low when you install a floor, that does not mean that they will stay low; problems can develope and there are no guarantees.

September 28, 2017 0

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