A case just settled. The issue was the whether or not a contractor was responsible to fully present the features of a floor covering, This would hold for Wood flooring, stone flooring, carpet, vinyl tile, sheet vinyl, linoleum, sealers, vinyl tile and engineered glass.
Effective October 1, 2011 The Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association will only recognize the use of ASTM F 2170 (concrete relative humidity) testing. This standard disavows the use of the ASTM F 1869 (Calcium Chloride Test).
Moisture vapor emissions have been the primary cause of failure in , wood flooring, rubber flooring, linoleum, sheet vinyl, vinyl tile, cork flooring, and all other materials.
As an expert in the floors, I have been asked to identify and test for moisture in sub-floors of all types. This new standard will bring a new awareness to the potential damage caused moisture. The construction industry cannot take short-cuts, a technician schooled in the performance of F-2170 must be used. The installation contractor must be present when these test probes are read.
It will be interesting to see how the new standard is implemented by of the other materials manufacturers, such as vapor barriers, and adhesives, and vinyl.
It is the job of the floor expert to understand more than the floor covering materials. There are sundries, such as adhesives, transitions strips, moldings and tools that are relevant to the installation vinyl flooring, rubber flooring, wood flooring, ceramic tile, dimensional stone and carpet. Additionally, there are installation needs particular to hotel flooring, restaurant flooring, hospital flooring, retail store flooring, institutional flooring, and transportation flooring. This all comes under the heading of craftsmanship.
You think it’s easy to choose a floor expert, well it’s not! There are no college degrees in Flooring. The expertise is garnered over years. Niles Bore said, “An expert is someone who has made every conceivable mistake in a given field”
Designers, Specifiers, Contractors, and Lawyers make the mistake of accepting a person as an expert without fully understanding the breath of knowledge and experience needed to fully “know” floors. The expert in the Forensic Science of floors most not only know how the materials work, and acceptable industry standards for “Tradecraft”, that person must also be trained in the gathering and organizing evidence for a court. In most cases, being a flooring contractor or a materials sales representative does not qualify a person as an expert. I have sat in several depositions where a contractor or materials technician was asked a question and the objection is “the answer calls for an expert opinion”.
When looking at the qualifications of an expert in vinyl flooring, rubber flooring, wood flooring, ceramic tile, dimensional stone, slip resistance, you must also look at the experts experience in working with hotel flooring, restaurant flooring, hospital flooring, retail store flooring, institutional flooring, and transportation flooring.
The best step is to look at the individuals client list, look case involvement list. Seek referrals. Look at industry associations, and involvements in the science of floors.
The standard for safe slip resistance, whether it be for vinyl flooring, rubber flooring, wood flooring, ceramic tile or dimensional stone, are published by OSHA, ANSII, ASTMI, and The American With Disabilities Act.
As a floor safety expert (Member ASTM F-13 Committee, passageway safety), we focus on the materials used for flooring, and how they provide a safe environment for public use. Flooring used in, Hotels, Restaurants, Hospitals, Retail Stores, and Schools, have special requirements.
We get involved in slip & fall cases where the appropriateness of the floor covering is questioned. The issue revolves around the safety of the floor based on the Static Coefficient of Friction (SCOF, the amount of drag created when a shoe sole interfaces the floor). The products involved include vinyl flooring, ceramic tile, wood, stone, rubber flooring, epoxy coating, and polished concrete.
Floor covering materials are tested in a laboratory, using the James Machine, to identify the SCOF prior to sales. Polished concrete is a field application, and laboratory testing cannot be performed.
OSHA, and ANSI identify slip resistance of 0.5 as being safe.
The operative concept in a floor covering installation is that it is 3 Dimensional, not flat. When a sub-floor undulates (a rolling hill and valley) it can ruin a flooring installation. It is natural to have a certain amount of undulation in a concrete slab (either below, on, or above grade). American National Standards (ANSI), The American Institute of Architecture (A.I.A.), and each material industry association, publishes the appropriate tolerance for flatness, as a slope or level.
The damage to the floor will depend on the materials used. A resilient floor (rubber or vinyl) can wear excessively, and if it is a tile the seams will not line up.
The effect on a wood floor will depend on whether it is a glue-down or nail-down installation. In a nail-down you can have excessive flex, manifested as squeaking, or bouncing under foot. In a glue-down installation, the boards can de-bond and loosen (more likely in engineered wood than solid wood).
The floor-covering contractor is told to evaluate the site condition prior to the installation of any flooring, and prepare a plan to flatten the sub-floor, whether it be Hardwood, Sheet Vinyl, Vinyl Tile, Linoleum, Cork, Rubber, or Carpet.
Key: Hardwood, engineered wood, solid wood, Sheet Vinyl, Vinyl Tile, Linoleum, Cork flooring, Rubber flooring, Carpet, flatness, level.
Wal-Mart, the biggest and smartest supermarket chain, like most others has a procedure for keeping their floors clean. This however doesn’t mean that their floors are safe. In fact, the process of cleaning a floor can make it unsafe.
How does this happen? Complete cleaning, using detergent, and water takes place after store hours. Does this mean the floor is safe when the store opens?
Not necessarily.
Many detergents leave a viscose residue on the floor, even after rinsing. There are daily cleaning processes that change the floor surface conditions. There are environmental influences that can contaminate the floor surface. We take samples of the surface, and we analyze it. We have testimony from Wal-Mart employees that identify procedures that can make a floor unsafe.
Remember, the exclusive use of a slip meter for the evaluation of a safe floor is no longer scientifically sound.
Two words are used interchangeably, level and flatness. The American Institute of Architecture, and most materials manufacturers specify the amount of difference off of plane that is acceptable for their product. But this doesn’t account for undulations common in concrete.
An acceptable tolerance of 3/16 inch in 10 feet does not leave a lot of room. When a sub-floor slopes down ¼ inch in 2 feet and then up a gain, this represents a slope of 1-1/4 inch in 10 feet, a violation of the standard.
It must first be determined what constitutes the failure.
Once I was looking to build a wood floor that would finish to dark reddish brown. I chose Brazilian Walnut. To get added strength and resistance to indentations (high heel shoes, wheel marks), I chose wood that was quarter sawn. Little did I know that when this wood is quarter sawn it exposes a vain that when stained turns yellow. Some people think this beautiful (like Me). But, not the client I built this floor for. In their eyes the floor failed.
There was a lovely home built on the bluffs overlooking Malibu Beach. It had large glass doors the full width of the house facing southwest. The flooring contractor installed a solid oak plank floor in accordance with the industry standards. The floor cupped badly. The floor had failed. My investigation found that there was a 35º difference in the temperature of the room from ceiling to floor during the day. The sun was so strong that it was cooking the wood, causing it to expand.
As wood floor experts, it is not only our job to find out what went wrong, but, to predict what might go wrong in a future project.
Moisture vapor is the first suspect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFhzFjtI2to