November-December 2020 Coverings

Coverings CANADA’S FLOORCOVERING MAGAZINE

November/December 2020

THEN-AND-NOW

Japanese pub finds a new angle

Page 30

PRE-INSTALL PLANNING PREVENTS SURPRISES NFCA SPECS TAKE OFF BUSINESS OWNERS WEIGH IN ON READER SURVEY

ADHESIVES

When MORE does not equal BETTER

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Coverings CANADA’S FLOORCOVERING MAGAZINE

November/December 2020

Features 6 Technology Adhesives: When more does not mean better.

THEN-AND-NOW

Japanese pub finds a new angle

Page 30

24 Reader survey Valuable feedback, gratefully shared.

PRE-INSTALL PLANNING PREVENTS SURPRISES NFCA SPECS TAKE OFF BUSINESS OWNERS WEIGH IN ON READER SURVEY

4 Commentary The tyranny of new influencers.

ADHESIVES

When MORE does not equal BETTER

Nov-Dec 2020 Coverings.indd 1

10 News + Letters Slave labour drives new tariff policies; Church initiative for affordable homes; LVT and SPC production up in the U.S.; Schluter centre big in Texas; Tarkett joins Material Bank.

2020-10-14 7:10 PM

November/December 2020 Vol. 45, No. 6 www.coveringscanada.ca Kerry Knudsen Editor and Publisher

kknudsen@wimediainc.ca 647-274-0507

Mike Edwards Contributing Editor medwards@wimediainc.ca

Lee Ann Knudsen Art Director

lak@wimediainc.ca

nsGraphic Design Graphics nspence@wimediainc.ca

15 Law Covid-19 reinforces need for estate planning.

18 Design Ultimately a service, design has many definitions.

20 Installation Clear the air with advanced planning and site visits.

Associations 19 Canadian Flooring, Cleaning and Restoration Association Joining forces to produce better maintenance training.

National Floor Covering Association Board brain trust expands across the country.

Omni Data Services Circulation

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Cover photo: Raphaël Thibodeau

26 Products

circulation@wimediainc.ca www.omnidataservices.com

White oak hardwoods; porcelain and ceramic tile collections; rigid core flooring; portable tool storage; epoxy grout; twisted yarn carpet; quarzite slabs.

28 Bullets 29 Events and Advertisers 30 Then-and-now 2012 ISSN 0848-8339 PUBLICATIONS MAIL SALES AGREEMENT #41203050 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: Coverings C/O 365 EVANS AVENUE, STE #L10 TORONTO, ON M8Z 1K2

Coverings is published six times annually, Jan./Feb., Mar./Apr., May/June, July/Aug., Sept./Oct. and Nov./Dec., for Canada’s floorcovering industry. Subscriptions are free to qualified participants in Canada’s floorcovering industry.

Subscribe at www.coveringscanada.ca. Readers from outside Canada may purchase subscriptons for $55 Cdn. For subscription inquiries, e-mail subscriptions@wimediainc.ca or fax 1-866-698-9061 Published by W.I. Media Inc., Box 84 Cheltenham, Caledon, ON L7C 3L7 © 2020 by W.I. Media Inc. All rights reserved.

W. I. Media Inc. and Coverings disclaim any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect to the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. The opinions of the columnists and writers are their own and are in no way influenced by or representative of the opinions of Coverings or W.I. Media Inc.

Canada’s floorcovering magazine

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COMMENTARY Do markets respond to the next bright, shiny object?

The new influencer ON OCTOBER 8, AdAge put out a “custom white paper” entitled, Podcasters are the new influencers. Pretty special, eh? “The new influencers.” It seems as though the old new influencers barely got here. Who were they, again?

Not to disparage the unveilers. Who would know that podcasters are the new influencers if the kids at AdAge didn’t tell us?

And, now that the kids at AdAge have told us, we can bet that a bunch of their classmate, wanna-be-influencers are going to their supervisors at marketingwhateverwheneverdotcom and warning them to dump the old influencers in a hurry; there’s a new influencer in town.

Kerry Knudsen We here at Coverings pay little attention to what marketing kids tell us about influencers. They say what they get paid to say. When we want to know who influences you, we ask you. This is a highly complex strategy, but one most parents know by instinct. The results of our most recent survey are on page 24.

Actually, the AdAge kids are frantic for a new revenue stream because the old revenue streams are drying up. The Globe and Mail recently announced it was going to make millions influencing stupid consumers by introducing a program “to become stronger by refining its programmatic offering and building a platform that drives multiple solutions.” What they mean is to bugger the reader.

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However, if you read deeper, you learn that the Globe and Mail, along with the rest of media, has been forced to quit using third-party cookies to track and record citizens. The reader is tired of being buggered, has complained to Parliament and Parliament has complied.

The Globe and Mail got a spanking, but, as kids will, has found a loophole.

The CBC tried the same thing. According to Media in Canada on October 9, “Less than one month after it formalized the launch of Tandem, its new branded content unit, the CBC has taken a slight step back….”

The story goes on to say that both Canadian Media Guild national president Carmel Smyth and CBC/ Radio-Canada branch president Kim Trynacity said, November/December 2020 November/December 2020

“In these critical times when fake news and misinformation are a global threat, we believe the national public broadcaster is uniquely placed to be a leader in safeguarding trust and reliability in our news services, on all platforms.”

The letter went on to say members were “very concerned” about Tandem and its impacts on the CBC’s work and reputation. The statement sought clarity on the service including what kind of safeguards and transparent monitoring processes would be put in place to ensure “unambiguous separation of news and commercial interests.”

Once again, the consumer has made his and her opinions known. The day before the Media in Canada story, the kids at AdAge promoted a new, “custom webcast” to tell advertisers, “How new privacy-compliant advertising regulations can lead to big business opportunities.” Need I say more? They lost the old revenue stream, once again because they couldn’t stop peeping into people’s windows, have to stop looking in the first-storey windows but have figured out how to get a ladder.

On October 13, the kids at AdAge reported that one of the oldest of the new influencers, Facebook, has banned ads that discourage people from getting vaccines. According to AdAge, “Facebook will reject ads that discourage people from getting vaccines, citing a new policy meant to prevent ‘harm’ to public health efforts.”

Personally, I am very pro-vaccine, but that’s not what this is about. It’s about: who the hell does Facebook think it is, and what does “harm to public health efforts” mean? Right now, we have quite a list of failed public health efforts to mock, and mocking may be harming, so I guess censorship without appeal is a new influencer.

All the above examples occurred in the space of a few days.

I get them all the time. There are two points to be made: 1) commercial speech is running amok and 2) magazines such as those that actually write for the readers are a dying breed. Instead of influencing the advertisers, we try to inform the audience.

I wonder whether common sense and civility will ever become the new influencer? Let us know and we may podcast it on Facebook without cookies as branded content: Respect.

“Digital” is not new; it is the old, back-alley bully. Except with bullies you usually have their real names. It can’t win without cheating, and apparently is not interested in trying.

Comment at www.coveringscanada.ca

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FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY

WHEN MORE IS NOT BETTER:

ADHESIVE CROSSLINKING WHAT HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY would be complete without first citing a definition of the topic at hand? “Fishing: to understand the art of fishing, we first need to define, ‘what is a fish?’”

However, high school or no, sometimes a definition is warranted — particularly when the topic is not obviously clear.

Take technology, for example. To many, technology has come to mean that busy, buzzy cloud of electrons that conveys a lie from an anonymous server to a sucker. It is what makes elementary schoolkids wax eloquent for the world on the topics of diversity, the coming ice age and how to force other people’s compliance in diet. It is a way to entice people to believe that which is not.

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November/December 2020 November/December 2020

Other technologies are more comprehensible. They deal with ways to make stuff make other stuff. Take glue, for example.

Glue has been around for at least 5,000 years, at which time it was used in what we now know as Egypt to make furniture. The ancients had figured out that chairs work better when they stick together.

Sticking together is the essence of adhesion, and adhesion is likely the most advanced and most important technology we use across the spectrum of floorcovering products in Canada.

One would think that if you had an adhesive that could stick wood together for five millennia, you could just call it “good” and move on to marketing or something. However, it didn’t work like that. In addition to sticking wood to wood, people wanted different functionality and decoration, so it became desirable to

adhere leather, metals, glass, jewels and other materials. Some products, such as spears and shields, served different functions than did chairs, and needed different properties in an adhesive.

For the most part, adhesives throughout the ages were basically just organic compounds of one sort or another. For example, letters were of critical importance in areas of religion, diplomacy, administration, the law and just plain-old love. It would be millennia before envelopes came with a lickable sticky part, so there was soon a need for an adhesive that would adhere to the parts of an envelope or document that would not destroy the document or envelope when it was opened, and sealing wax was born.

Fast-forward a few thousand years, and scientists and industrialists discovered that petroleum products could be modified through a heat process called “cracking,” which produced all the “thanes,” (ethane, butane, propane, hexane, octane, etc.) and left a sludge. The sludge could then be further modified into “stuff,” some of which was sticky.

One of the first industries to become interested in organic compounds as adhesives was the shoe industry.

Throughout the ages, it was always handy that boot soles could be laminated to shoe uppers with animal or plant glue, but they had a problem keeping them laminated. Polymers could be used to make a more durable bond, but they started out not being flexible, so the search was on.

The flooring sector, of course, had been in need of a suitable adhesive for as long as floors existed. Whether using huge slabs of marble or hundreds of wooden laths., bare dirt is a difficult substrate, and when people tried to get off the dirt with boards, the problems did not go away. Boards nailed to boards work free under years of traffic, and tiles or stones laid out on wood flooring had to stay in place.

So that’s the history. For over 5,000 years, basically one

technology had to be sufficient. Then polymers came along, and technology, in its most accurate sense, came into play. Most importantly for flooring adhesives, that technology deals with “crosslinking,” or a crosswise connecting part (such as an atom or group) that connects parallel chains in a complex chemical molecule (such as a polymer).

Crosslinked adhesives have given us epoxies and other multi-part options in bonding. According to Practical Adhesion Beyond JKR: Crosslinking by Prof. Steven Abbott, “Classic ‘strong’ adhesives such as epoxies make it obvious that crosslinking is a good thing for adhesion.”

However, Abbott cautions, “Unfortunately the opposite is very often the case.

Many formulators are familiar with the addition of an extra 0.5 percent of some crosslinker to provide even stronger adhesion, only to find that adhesion fails catastrophically.”

Over the years, readers of Coverings have been informed by the columns of Christopher Capobianco and Chris Maskell with the NFCA that failed adhesion remains either the top, or one of the top, reasons for job liability and loss across all flooring sectors — residential, commercial and institutional. When we hear Abbott say that the addition of ½ of one percent of a crosslinker can result in catastrophic failure, it is time to take notice.

Abbott says, “Our intuitions about how crosslinking can increase adhesion across an interface are often wrong. For example, we would think that ‘more’ is ‘better.’ In reality, a low level of crosslinks is ideal to give much-needed dissipation and a high level gives a brittle bond.”

In essence, Abbott says,

In glue, more may be better, up to a point.

There are at least two reasons why more crosslinking can make things worse. The first is the fact that chemical bonds across an interface can provide, at most, 1J/ m2 if the failure is exactly along the line of the interface.

Canada’s floorcovering magazine

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In other words, without dissipation, crosslinking is of little use and, indeed, can make a system so rigid that no dissipation is possible. The second is when a polymer, say, becomes so strongly attached to a surface through chemical bonds that it no longer is able to entangle with the rest of the polymer….

Because entanglement

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is such a powerful way to gain adhesion — any attempt to pull the entangled system apart requires many polymer bonds to be stretched to breaking point — it is worth asking what is the difference between an entangled adhesion system and a crosslinked adhesion system if the number of entangled crossings is the same as the number of crosslinks? The answer is: no difference! Magomedov’s book Structure and Properties of Crosslinked Polymers makes no distinction between the physics of polymer entanglement and “real” crosslinks such as those in epoxies. Of course, in terms of long-term creep and (perhaps) long-term chemical stability, crosslinked systems are stronger, but in terms of adhesion there is no difference. The Lake and Thomas formula of ΣNU emphasizes the importance of N — the number of chemical bonds between entanglements/crosslinks. The larger N (so the lower the % crosslinks) the stronger the adhesion for a given cross-boundary density of links Σ.

Of course you can’t go too far. By reducing the total number of crosslinks one also reduces Σ. But the dissipation effect of large N is also important. So lightly crosslinked systems often show much more practical adhesion than strongly crosslinked ones. (emphasis added — editor) In glue, more may be better, up to a point. In cross-linked polymers, not so much. Following the advice of Abbott, Capobianco and Maskell, proper use of adhesives is not simply a best practice, it is a way to stay in business. Do not mess with mixing ratios. Do not mess with application rates or times. Do not mess with standards. As Abbott points, out, you may have a mix that will provide apparently good or better adhesion, but lose chemical stability. And if your application loses its chemical stability, the first you will know of it will be from your client’s lawyer.

Comment at www.coveringscanada.ca

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November/December 2020 November/December 2020

NEWS Slave labour drives remediation program to address any Canada’s customs tariff amendments non-compliance and adverse human On July 1, 2020, amendments to Canada’s rights impacts caused by the use of Customs Tariff and the Schedforced labour in your business and its ule to the Customs Tariff took supply chains. effect, officially prohibiting from • Develop, roll-out and implement interimportation into Canada goods nal and supplier communications, stakethat are mined, manufactured holder engagement, employee training, or produced wholly or in part by supplier codes of conduct and effective forced labour. “Forced labour” procurement and contracting practices is commonly defined to be all to address the risk of forced labour in work or service which is exacted your business or its supply chains. from any person under the Further information from the federal govmenace of any penalty and for ernment and the Canadian Border Serwhich the said person has not vices Agency (CBSA) as to how this prohioffered herself or himself volunbition will be enforced is still forthcoming. tarily. “Wholly or in part” would reasonably include the presence Loferski appointed of forced labour anywhere in a Bostik director of marketing Wauwatosa, supply chain. According to the Wis.-based Bostik, international law firm Gowla specialty ing WLG, Canada now joins adhesives and the U.S., the U.K., Australia and installation many other of its other trading systems for partners that have already taken building construclegislative and regulatory steps tion, recently to combat modern slavery. announced that Canadian boards of directors Erik Loferski Eric Loferski has and CEOs must now take acjoined the tion, advises the firm. Here are company as director of marketing, five things Canadian businesses Consumer & Construction Business Unit must do, it urges: • Take steps to map your supply — North America. Loferski was most recently director of marketing at Milwauchains and understand the kee, Wis.-based commercial plumbing implications of this new proproduct supplier Zurn Industries. Prior to hibition on your operations, that, he was at Wigwam Mills of Sheboyprocurement practices and an, Wis., and Milwaukee, Wis.-based supply chains.

Briggs & Stratton.

• Conduct risk-based due diligence of your supply chains Church partnership to assess whether forced lato help create affordable homes bour is present.

Investments made by the Government • Develop and implement efof Canada and a partnership with the fective internal controls and a compliance and reporting pro- Toronto, Ont.-based United Church of Canada, means that up to 5,000 new gram to monitor and report affordable housing units will be built on whether the prohibition around the country over the next 15 against forced labour is being years. The federal government Affordable adhered to within your busiHousing Innovation Fund is providing the ness and its supply chains.

United Church of Canada’s newly formed • Develop and implement a 10 November/December 2020

United Property Resource Corporation (UPRC), with a $20 million line of credit to be accessed for pre-development and pre-construction costs as the UPRC builds affordable housing across Canada. The UPRC will develop over 200 strategic sites in the United Church of Canada’s land inventory. More than 30 projects are currently under development by the UPRC, with a minimum of LEED Gold Certification or equivalent to be pursued for each project. At least 10 percent of units in a project will meet or exceed minimum local building code requirements for accessibility.

Shaw expands U.S. SPC floor manufacturing

Shaw Industries Group is expanding its resilient manufacturing capabilities in Ringgold, Ga. The company is investing approximately $20 million US to add to its existing SPC manufacturing at Plant RP. The latest installment — part two of an anticipated three-phased expansion — will come online in Q1 2021 with an additional phase of expansion being fully realized by Q1 2022. Shaw started manufacturing LVT in the facility in 2016.

M-D welcomes Fredrik Olsson as v.p. of sales Fredrik Olsson joined the Professional division of Mississauga, Ont.-based M-D Building Products as the new v.p. of sales. Olsson initially gained his flooring experience during a tenure at Atlanta, Ga.-based The Home Depot where he

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NEWS was the product development merchant, Global Sourcing for a wide range of categories including flooring products. He then moved to North Fredrik Olsson American tile and stone distributor Emser Tile of Los Angeles, Calif., as its merchandising manager. Olsson also spent time at retailer Ikea where he gained knowledge of retail sales management and sourcing. He is based at his home office in Atlanta.

A sampling of highlights from the Q2 report include: Q2 sales growth was down year-over-year by 11.7 percent during the quarter; Q3 forecasts are 15.4 points higher than Q2 results; full year 2020 forecasts are now up 10.3 points from Q1’s estimates; 18 percent of distributors have had retailers/ showrooms that they distribute to close in Q2 (versus 48 percent in Q1); 76 percent of distributors are still seeing issues with product delivery and sourcing; and, 100 percent of distributors had orders cancelled in the quarter due to Covid-19.

According to Kevin Gammonley, NAFCD executive vice president, “the negative impact of the shutdown has not been as severe as initially feared.”

Collaboration to provide flooring contractor tools Pasadena, Calif.-based Measure Square, a floor covering estimating platform for commercial construction, and Spec-Intel of Chicago, Ill., an automated commercial product data company, have announced the integration their software platforms.

Said to save flooring contractors time and further reduce the liability of manual data entry, the technology is designed to efficiently manage product data from bid to closeout packages, including sample ordering and product labels.

Uzin adds Nick Derr as technical manager

NAFCD distributors project Q3 sales uptick The North American Association of Floor Covering Distributors (NAFCD) of Chicago, Ill., has released the results of its NAFCD Quarterly Sales Trend Survey for the second quarter of 2020. The research and benchmarking tool collect data from industry distributors on sales results from the prior quarter along with Kevin Gammonley forecasts for the upcoming quarter.

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Aurora, Colo.-based Uzin has announced the addition of Nick Derr as technical manager, Tile & Stone. Bringing over 20 years of industry experience, Derr’s Nick Derr responsibilities will be to help guide the company in best installation practices and provide training for its sales team, distributor partners and contractor base.

Uzin offers a web-based job cost calculator, and products such as primers, vapour moisture barriers, leveling compounds, adhesives, tools and accessories.

Engineered Floors plans U.S. LVT production Dalton, Ga.-based Engineered Floors has announced its decision to commence LVT production in the company’s Seretean facility. The revitalization of the 1.2 million-square-foot facility is intended to not only drastically reduce lead times, the company says, but also allow for the necessary flexibility to expand in the future. The U.S. domestic production of LVT is said to provide opportunities for November/December 2020

research and development, design and quality assurance.

Unilin invests €11 million in Belgium site

Unilin has decided to increase its production capacity at its Vielsalm, Belgium, site to meet growing demand for laminate flooring, with increasingly higher quality requirements. The company employs 300 people at the site. The manufacturer says it is constantly striving to become a “zero harm” company and is the first and only flooring manufacturer to be awarded the European Ecolabel for its laminate products.

Schluter opens Texas distribution, office, and training centre Schluter-Systems has opened a new distribution centre, office and training facility in Dallas-Fort Worth, Tex. The 500,000 square foot centre will carry the majority of the company’s 8,000 SKUs available in North America. The facility’s warehouse management system will be used to optimize all warehouse and

distribution processes, making the picking and packing procedures considerably more efficient, the company says. The facility is also a product customer, it adds. As an

example, the company decided to install its Ditra-Heat-Duo membrane with a built-in thermal break over the concrete slab with over 15 miles of its own heating cables. The membrane system is over 25,000 square feet and managed by 140 thermostats and power modules and warms both the porcelain tile and LVT floors.

NWFA announces 2020 wood floor awards

The St. Louis, Mo.-based National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) has announced the winners of it 2020 Wood Floor of the Year Awards. For the first time since the competition was launched in 1990, nonmembers were eligible to enter their floors. Recipients of the awards included: Endurance Floor Company of Davie, Fla., in the categories of Members’ Choice and Best Circular/Curved floor (shown); Young Brothers Hardwood Floors of Westminster, Colo., for Best Color/Finish & Textured Wood; Potter’s Custom Floors of Calistoga, Calif., for Best Parquetry; Archetypal Imagery of New York, N.Y., for Best Marquetry/Inlay; Yantarnaya Pryad of Khimki, Russia, for Best Historic Restoration and Best Use of Technology; and, Peachey Hardwood Flooring of Reedsville, Penn., for Manufacturer Spotlight. The awards were developed to encourage and recognize innovative craftsmanship and design in wood flooring installations. The 2020 awards presentation can be viewed at https://youtu.be/kRQyKf_60ww. The 2021 awards will be presented during the NWFA 2021 Wood Flooring Expo, to be held April 28-30 in Baltimore, Md. I4F introduces new labelling system Hamont, Belgium-based I4F, a group of companies providing patents and technologies to the flooring industry, has launched a new labelling system. The system accompanies its offer to all I4F licensees to sign up for a specific non-assertion

agreement providing extra protection worldwide on certain patents for new materials with a locking. The development follows the separate settlement agreements I4F signed with Unilin of Wielsbeke, Belgium, and Viken, Sweden-based Välinge. Many I4F licensees have already applied for, and received, a non-assertion and will receive new sets of I4F labels as from July 1, 2020. Labels will differ according to four distinct geographical areas.

All remaining I4F licensees are eligible to sign up for this additional protection from I4F, which will include separate fees.

The new region-specific labels, based on the L2C program, are designed to protect I4F’s licensees, and their customers, from any potential infringement claims linked to those patents on new materials products including SPC, LVT and WPC with a locking system.

Material Bank adds Tarkett to partner pool Material Bank, a free online service for industry professionals in North America, has added Tarkett to it pool of partners.

With the service, architects and designers are said to be able to perform complex searches and explore new products across hundreds of brands and thousands of materials. Users can now request samples of hundreds of Tarkett’s soft surface and resilient flooring products and are able to filter materials by finish, design, colour, performance, and technical attributes on the platform.

FloorFolio awarded first E.U. patent FloorFolio Industries of Edison, N.J., has been granted its first European Union Patent, giving its EnviroQuiet LVT a total of five patents. Already protected in the U.S. and Canada, the company says, the acquisition of the European Patent for the LVT product line strengthens and extends the innovative method of manufacturing for luxury vinyl tile/plank to be permanently attached to a rubber acoustical underlayment. Its product allows end users to directly glue-down an LVT with an affixed rubber sound pad that is said to cut installation time in half. The E.U. patent certifies full protection of all EnviroQuiet products.

Kellie Ballew named Shaw v.p. of Global Sustainability Kellie Ballew has been promoted to vice president of Global Sustainability at Dalton, Ga.-based Shaw Industries Group. A 25-year company veteran, most recently Kellie Ballew serving as director of sustainability, Ballew has been focused on Shaw’s commercial business to ensure that the company’s sustainability strategy and execution helps create a competitive advantage for Shaw and its brands. Ballew will expand that role of internal consultant and subject matter expert to the enterprise.

LETTERS Re: Coverings e-letter Sixteen tons, posted on www.coveringscanada.ca

other underlining issues that affect our lives and our future. Very few have come out and pointed out all the wrongs that Hi Kerry, all cultures have participated in. I stand I don’t normally reply or comment on corrected, lots of people have come out Editor’s notes or commentaries but after and pointed out the wrongs that our govreading your commentary I was comernments have participated in our history. pelled to write to you. Thank you for such However, those behaviors were culturally an insightful article. In the current times the norm at the time and culturally acwhen we are bombarded by “black lives ceptable at the time. Yes, we have come matter” issues (not that these are not ima long way since but it’s unfortunate that portant issues), we get distracted from we can’t see the parallels of some of the Canada’s floorcovering magazine 13

LETTERS events in modern day. Just like the Americans did not learn from the mistakes of the Spanish Flu to prevent the spread of Covid 19. I am now rambling, don’t get me started on Trump.

I wish your perspective is discussed more in the mainstream media to get people thinking and questioning more about what our leaders are doing. Simply giving away money is not sustainable. My 20-year-old son is on the receiving end as he is getting his $2000/month for the last few months, so yeah, it’s great. He is among the lucky ones that live at home and are supported by his parents for school and shelter. However, the government doesn’t discriminate, so he benefits now, but what will be his price in his future? Also, I like your point about the unsuspecting victims (young kids) with credit cards who are not taught the devastating toll of credit card debt. As adults, we tend to forget how naïve kids are or

uneducated they are about credit. Talking to my son, who is 2nd year university, how apparently unexposed they are to financial education. They are not taught this in school sufficiently and most just stumble and learn as they go through life if they don’t have parents who teach them.

Again, thank you. I used to work in the Tile industry which is why I subscribed to your magazine. Now I am in the wallcovering industry. Moving up in the world. Lol. Melody Sum Odyssey Wallcoverings Your racist and shouldn’t be putting your own racist opinion on a publication for flooring. I could debate your ideas if they were published in your magazine.

Bob Sinden C&C Flooring Hi Bob, Thanks for your time and your interest in Coverings magazine.

From my perspective, there is quite a bit to talk about in a very short space. First, to be accurate, I am definably not a racist.

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Of course, we are all entitled to our opinions, but the term “racist” is what they call in debate an ad hominem (at the man) assault and in a formal setting you would lose, as it’s a fallacy.

We have spoken many times on the importance of open discussion on current social issues in a business magazine. Business cannot function in an asocial environment, and politics determines how much you can make and how much you can keep.

Books have been written….

That said, our policy of long standing is to provide an open forum for discussion, and an open chance for anybody that has a different take on what we cover in the magazine or newsletters.

The floor is yours, and it is probable we can get your response in the current issue if it’s posted today or tomorrow. We go to press on Wednesday, so I will have to tear up a page to get you in, but I can try, or I can propose an alternative.

Please note, you said “debate” and “ideas.” I cannot promise to publish emotional name-calling.

Over to you.

Kerry Knudsen

Super SAM® 125 (Sound Abatement Membrane) 6” concrete substrate with a tile finished floor: IIC: 51 STC:54 ΔIIC: 22 6” concrete substrate with engineered hardwood finished floor: IIC: 51 STC: 52 ΔIIC: 23 Wood joist substrate with tile finished floor: IIC: 56 STC: 61 Super SAM® 125 provides up to 3/8” of crack isolation protection.

LAW Proactive tool for the future

Your estate plan The current global pandemic has brought estate planning considerations to the forefront. Many individuals are worried about their health, family and finances during this time of uncertainty.

The urgency to have appropriate estate-planning documents completed is more prevalent now than ever. It is important to be proactive.

A well-informed estate plan involves a review of all of your assets, consideration of tax minimization strategies, a review of legal obligations to dependants and others and an assessment of whether there should be an outright or delayed distribution of assets. An estate plan is also dependent on personal and family circumstances as Kiran Gill well as the nature and extent of assets.

It sets out your wishes, aims to preserve your wealth and ensures a smooth transition of your wealth to your beneficiaries.

Despite the importance of estate planning, many Canadians do not have a Will or Powers of Attorney.

Wills A properly drafted Will is paramount to an estate plan.

A Will is a legal document in which you appoint someone, known as the executor or estate trustee to manage and administer your estate when you die. It sets out who will benefit from your estate, the timing of any distributions to those beneficiaries, and addresses contingencies, such as one of your beneficiaries predeceasing you.

By failing to have an adequate Will in place you are at risk of suffering undesired consequences, such as having an unknown person assuming authority to distribute and manage your estate, having unintended distributions of property from your estate, or failing to honour your obligations to your dependents.

Powers of Attorney Where a Will applies to the administration of your assets following your death, Powers of Attorney apply while you are alive.

You may appoint one or more substitute decision makers to manage your property (Power of Attorney for Property) and a decision maker for your personal care (Power of Attorney for Personal Care).

If you were to become legally incapacitated and

as such, unable to manage your own assets or make your own personal care or healthcare decisions, the court would need to appoint a person who is called a Guardian of Property or Guardian of Personal Care. This could be a family member or a provincial guardian known as the Public Guardian and Trustee.

There may also be instances where you are legally capable of managing your own affairs, however, you may simply not be available to do so, for example, if you are quarantined. We have heard of the COVID-19 virus causing sudden and rapid deterioration of health and capacity, as such there may not be sufficient time to put these arrangements in place then, so it should be done now.

Trusts An estate plan may also include trusts. Trusts can be established during your lifetime (living trust) or in your Will (testamentary trusts).

The goal of a living trust may be to minimize taxes or preserve assets.

Trusts are commonly established in Wills for the benefit of minor children. The trustee is given discretion on the distribution of the capital and income to the minor to ensure that assets are available for education and living expenses and that the capital is paid to the child over a period of years or at a specified age.

Other instances in which trusts may be implemented are for business succession planning or for the preservation of government benefits (for example, Ontario Disability Support Program) received by an individual with special needs.

Business succession The smooth transfer of business interests on death is essential to ensuring little disruption to the surviving business partners or shareholders. An estate freeze may be implemented for estate planning purposes. This would involve capping the value of the business for the existing shareholders so that any future growth in value is passed to the next generation either by a distribution of shares to family members or a family trust where the family members are beneficiaries.

Additional estate planning considerations A Will is only one channel through which assets can pass when you die. Other channels include, beneficiary designations (for example, RRSPs or TFSAs), insurance designations, the right of survivorship on joint assets, inter vivos gifts (gifting assets during your lifetime), or corporation re-organizations.

Kiran Gill is an estate and trust planner and litigator at Brampton, Ont.,-based Lawrences law firm.

Canada’s floorcovering magazine

15

PROMA offers numerous online and mobile tools to assist product selection and the reduction of waste to help save you valuable time and money.

w Product Selectors Choose from various conditions to see a list of suitable products that are ideal for a job's specific requirements.

w Surface Preparation Guidelines Detailed information is provided that offers expert advice on how to properly prepare nearly any surface for an installation.

w Grout Calculator Find out how much grout is needed for a job by entering in specific measurements to generate a list of units required of a particular product.

w Coverage Calculators Nearly every product has a convenient coverage calculator taking the guesswork out of knowing how much material is needed for any given job.

w Product Quick Reference PROMA provides quick access to important product information and documentation, including warranties, videos, and technical and safety data.

At PROMA, we conduct business with a goal in mind: ‘Always offer the best products, services, and value.’ It’s at the heart of everything we do, from product development to customer service, and everything in between. When you take all of what PROMA has to offer and add to that competitive pricing and unmatched dependability, you receive one of the best values available for flooring installation.

Contact PROMA at 1.866.51.PROMA (77662) or visit www.proma.ca for additional information.

The Ultimate Mobile Assistant.

DESIGN The service of seeking and deciding

Design?

What is design? A dictionary will advise us that it is related to intention. This may take the form of both material and immaterial aspirations. As an example, I may have designs on my neighbour’s property, in which case I want to acquire it.

Or I may have designs for my neighbour’s property, in which case I may have been retained by him to make a bench for his yard. It’s a bit confusing but the former usage is now less common. Currently, when we speak of design we are usually referring to something that has been realized according to the intentions of a designer, or at least their plans to do so. In this case the plans are actually referred to as a design as well, whether they are drawings or another form of documenPaul Epp tation. So, the intention is a design, as is the tangible communication of it and also the final result.

That’s a lot of design and it implies a process.

What actually goes on? There are a lot of people that have defined this, with fairly broad agreement, allowing for a bit of pedantic self-importance. I’ll add my contribution by observing that it’s my conclusion, after many years of practise, that there are principally two activities.

One I will refer to as exploration. This is the creative part and is mostly about a search for new ideas.

The more ideas a designer finds, or the more that are considered, the better are the chances of finding a superior one. That just makes sense and it is what designers are trained to do. Non-designers sometimes consider ideas to be a free resource and in the public domain, so to speak, arriving as they seem to do out of the air, not realizing the combination of talent, skill and discipline that are required to be good at this.

The second component is decisiveness. Decisions are made as to what the design will be. The word Design is from the Latin Designare (to designate). So, you can see the connection. Design is ultimately about making a decision as to what will be done and how the designers’ intentions will be realized. They must prepare

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November/December 2020

themselves for this task and this is by formulating a test, whether mental or physical, for evaluating their ideas. It either fits or it doesn’t, fulfilling the challenge, or not. This second part of the design process is quite unlike the first, in that it is restrictive, rather than free, and rational rather than reflexive. It is left brain versus right. It is sometimes critical to separate these activities, as the restrictive can prematurely constrain the creative. But sometimes these actions take place simultaneously, with new ideas being scrutinized as they appear and either rejected or retained. It may not matter to an experienced designer. But the consideration of many possibilities is usually still important.

What kind of people are designers? One description is that they are dreamers. They dream with the intention of making their dreams come true. Another description would be that they are progressive (seeking change), rather than conservative (avoiding it). One wouldn’t bother to dream up new versions or configurations, if there wasn’t the belief that improvements could be realized. The old may not be adequate for new conditions. This is a major part of why I consider designers to be valuable. They seek improvements. Leaving well enough alone isn’t how designers operate. That doesn’t mean that designers are always right and that their contributions are actual improvements.

But sometimes they are and aren’t we better off as a result?

Design is ultimately a service. People other than the designer are served. Their wellbeing is considered. They are presented with something new that may be beneficial. Their needs are being met. The benefits may be financial, through new technologies, new materials, new processes, greater efficiencies and so on. They may be aesthetic, through more pleasing conformations, more evocative imagery, more harmonious presentation or even the choice of something refreshingly different. Another benefit is ease-of-use and this is now occupying more and more designers. In our digital world, as things threaten to become more complex we must have the right tools to accommodate these changes. So, considering the user’s experience is a broad social benefit.

Design is a pervasive activity, and I’m pleased to see that it is increasingly understood and valued.

Paul Epp is a professor emeritus at OCAD University, and former chair of its Industrial Design department.

CFCRA CFCRA to try and join forces with others

Training partnerships At the time of writing this column the area I live in has been locked down and it’s Thanksgiving weekend.

The kids are here from Hamilton and Edmonton. The streets are almost empty, the airplanes and airports are almost empty. Everything is very clean. Is there anything to worry about?

The CFCRA has reached out to the ISSA-Canada group and the ISSA itself to bring their curriculum to Canada. The first education program we would like to bring in is the GBAC (Glogal Biorisk Advisory Council) Star Facility Accreditation. From the GBAC website: GBAC STAR is the cleaning industry’s only outbreak prevention, response Lee Senter, and recovery accreditation for facilities.

CFCRA President GBAC STAR is the gold standard of prepared facilities. This accreditation means that a facility has: • Established and maintained a cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention program to minimize risks associated with infectious agents like the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

• The proper cleaning protocols, disinfection techniques, and work practices in place to combat biohazards and infectious disease.

• Highly informed cleaning professionals who are trained for outbreak and infectious disease preparation and response.

We hope to spin this into a “dos and don’ts” when it comes to maintaining flooring.

It is still quite perturbing that we are specifying sanitizers and disinfectants on moisture-sensitive flooring and such chemical-sensitive carpeting as printed nylons and the protective coatings they are treated with. Many vinyls will also yellow from overuse of quats (quaternary ammonium compounds).

training solutions to students at its facility and campus located in Georgina, Ont. For some background on the GTTI Skilled Trades Institute, the GTTI is currently in the process of establishing tuition-free, 26-week skilled trades pre-apprenticeship programs in eight residential construction trades, (with classes scheduled to commence on January 5th, 2021). These programs are being designed to promote the skilled trades and construction industry as a first-choice career opportunity. The goal is to help prepare people for rewarding careers in the trades, while simultaneously helping our communities grow and thrive. At the end of each semester, the students will have constructed and serviced four to six modular homes to be transported to designated tracts of land and sold as affordable housing. We are hoping that the CFCRA can lend its expertise in installing flooring in these different types of homes. There are many little things that go wrong when installing flooring into modular homes. Hopefully we can get everyone on board as to why flooring installation specifications are so important.

The CFCRA will also be holding our WHMIS certifications, and our IICRC certified CCT, UFT and RRT classes via virtual streaming. (These streaming classes make me feel like a video disc jockey or something.) They are being very well received by the registrants.

If you have some ideas or seminars you would like to make available to the public feel free to reach out to me at leesenter@hotmail.com.

The Canadian Flooring Cleaning and Restoration Association (CFCRA) was preceded by the Flooring Institute of Ontario (FIO), a not-for-profit organization which proudly served the needs of flooring industry professionals in Ontario since 1962. www.cfcra.ca

The CFCRA is also collaborating with the GTTI (Georgina Trades Training Inc.). The GTTI Skilled Trades Institute is a non-profit organization providing innovative

Canada’s floorcovering magazine

19

INSTALLATION Advance planning and site visits help clear the air

Setting expectations I recently did a pre-installation walk-through representing two different flooring manufacturers on a hospital project and it was worthwhile for everyone involved. These conversations about how the job goes down help to set expectations for the floor covering team, the owner, architect and/or the general contractor. Any specific concerns are best addressed in advance of the installation and, if nothing else, it’s a good thing for people to get to know each other.

So, if you get called for a preinstallation meeting, what should you do? First, confirm the agenda with Christopher whomever is asking for the meeting.

Capobianco Is it just a routine walkthrough or are there specific aspects of the project that the owner or the architect wants to make sure are done a certain way? It would be good to know in advance what those concerns are so that you can do some homework and be ready to have an informed discussion.

Is it ever necessary for the flooring contractor to ask for a meeting? If you have seen the job site and have concerns about conditions, or if it is a particularly complex installation process, it might be a good idea to ask for a meeting so that you can review what needs to be done with the owner and/ or construction team. If you can have a representative from the flooring manufacturer or distributor with you, that can help you to reinforce the proper procedures for installing materials. Again, it’s about setting expectations.

In all cases, the installation manager should review the different products that are being installed.

Put together installation guidelines and samples and meet with your lead installer to determine their familiarity with the products. If there are materials that you have not worked with before, contact the manufacturer’s technical department and review the procedures for substrate preparation and installation. If time permits, ask if they can put on a small installation clinic for the team, either in advance of the job in the dealer warehouse or “a job start” review on

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November/December 2020

the job. If you cannot have an installation demonstration, get your hands on some of the products that you will be installing, especially if there are unique procedures for installing these materials. To do a small mockup, either at your facility or on the job site, can give the installers some practice with the materials and adhesive so there are no surprises on the day of the installation.

Prior to the walk through, get there early so that you can walk the entire space and see what the conditions are. Most, if not all, floor covering products have specific requirements for the temperature and humidity of the space, so be ready with those requirements in writing. Often, jobsites don’t have climate control systems running when they want to put flooring down, so you need to be prepared to discuss that. If you are going to be asked to work under those conditions, it can present serious warranty issues for your company and for the floor covering products and adhesives. The same is true for concrete moisture issues, as you have read in my columns before. The potential liability for moisture related floor covering failures makes it imperative that conversations about moisture testing happen prior to even signing a contract do the job. The industry Standard, ASTM F710*, states that “all concrete slab shall be tested for moisture regardless of age or grade level,” so it needs to be clear who is responsible for that testing. A few days or even two weeks before the installation is too late to be discussing this, so do this early. If there is a high moisture issue on site, mitigation procedures can often become a last-minute change

order that is expensive for the owner, so it is better that this is clarified from the very beginning.

Once you are walking through the job site with the construction team, it’s a good time to talk about the schedule and pacing of your part of the project. Having the space available with no other trades should be part of any discussion, and protection of the floor after installation is just as important.

Another discussion is transitions between different flooring materials. With such a focus on safety in recent years, any potential tripping hazards can present problems and liabilities on floor covering installations. Architects often go to great lengths to design the flooring systems so the different materials meet flush to each other without any type of molding or change of height. For this reason, it’s good to have samples of the materials that you are installing when you go through the space. Too often the floor covering installer bears responsibility for making sure a new carpet or resilient floor meets an existing flooring such as tile without any transition issues. This is especially challenging when the new flooring is higher than the existing

flooring. Having these discussions prior to the beginning of the installation can give everyone a chance to look at options.

Seaming and layout should be discussed as well; for broadloom or resilient sheet goods, seeming diagrams are very important. I encourage installers to make sure that they are supplied with a seaming diagram prior to installation. If the seaming plan was designed as part of the estimating process, make sure it is approved so everyone knows where seams are going to be. For tile products, direction is a decision that needs to be made as well. For square tile (resilient, carpet, or hard tile) there is almost always a choice of whether to install tiles running in the same direction, often called monolithic, or quarter turn each tile so that they run at right angles to each other. The owner or designer needs to make that call. Another tile layout discussion regards rectangular tiles, and where will the end joints lineup? Often a 50 percent stagger or “brick” design is preferred, and this is fine for carpet or resilient flooring.

However, in the case of tile and stone, any rectangular tile with a length of 15 inches or more can only be installed with a maxi-

Installation demonstrations by manufacturer technical specialists can help the installation team become familiar with new products and be prepared for installing them.

Canada’s floorcovering magazine

21

INSTALLATION

mum 1/3 stagger according to TCNA (Tile Council of North America) guidelines. Make sure this is clear before the job starts and also clarify the spacing of the grout joints.

Finally, it’s very important to be clear on what happens to the new floor covering immediately after installation. Protecting the floor after installation is critical when construction will be continuing after the floors go down. The importance of keeping traffic off of new floors cannot be understated, and I’ve seen countless complaints related to premature traffic being allowed on the floor. That is another written guideline that would be good to have in hand when you do a walk-through. I was recently on a job site where they were preparing to install terrazzo tile, and they already had a plan in place to cover the floor with brown paper and hardboard panels after the tile was installed.

Often times, the floor covering installation team will be hired to do floor protection.

Moisture testing is a topic that should be reviewed well in advance Last but not least, initial maintenance is of flooring installations over concrete. something that often gets done incorrectly or not done at all on new floor covering jobs because it’s not clearly spelled out who will be doing the work. For example, many resilient and tile floors require of the size of a job its good policy to be clear on the procesome type of a sealer or finish be applied to the new floor. It is dures for installation so there are no surprises for anyone. often assumed that the floor covering installer will be doing Christopher Capobianco has been in the floor covering that work, but not all flooring companies do maintenance, so industry since the 1970s in various roles including retail and be sure not to miss this detail. I get asked all the time by arcommercial sales, technical support, consulting, journalism, chitects and general contractors who is responsible for initial maintenance, and its widely assumed that’s part of the flooring education and volunteer work. He currently is part of the sales contractor’s scope. I prefer that those responsible for maintain- team for Spartan Surfaces in New York City. You can reach him via christopher@SpartanSurfaces.com. ing the floor during its life also do the initial maintenance. If the building maintenance company or the custodial staff has *ASTM F710, Standard Practice for Preparing Concrete that responsibility, they “own the floor” from the start. This is Floors to Receive Resilient Flooring. Available at ASTM.org or also a good opportunity for the flooring contractor and manu610.832.9500 facturer’s rep to meet with that staff to discuss how the maintenance should be done. Establishing that relationship can also present some opportunities in the future for additional work as needed for new floors in other parts of the building.

Again, whether you do a walkthrough or not, regardless

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November/December 2020

NFCA A brain trust connecting us across the country:

NFCA Board

Canada is a big country, and to talk to itself our industry needs strong connections between people across the land. Since NFCA was repurposed in 2015, it has experienced tremendous growth and support from construction professionals across Canada. This growth has been made possible due to several factors including: • A long-standing frustration within the floor covering industry regarding poor site conditions.

• An underlying desire from many in our industry, and related industries, to improve floor covering standards.

• The cost of construction delays.

• Timing and tools available to affect change.

• The power of social media to bring Chris Maskell, people and ideas together.

• Having a strong core from which to NFCA c.e.o.

communicate out from.

And that last point, leads me to our Board.

NFCA’s newly formed Board of Directors started with a group of 10 flooring professionals representing both manufacturers and flooring contractors, primarily out of Western Canada. This group helped assemble the tools that previous boards had worked hard to produce, and then packaged them under the new NFCA banner for presentation to the larger construction community. This effort included loading the original hard copy Floor Covering Reference Manual online, talking with architects, specification writers, general contractors, building owner groups, health authorities and city municipalities about these updated floor covering specifications and how they would benefit from including the manual and the NFCA Quality Assurance Program (independent inspection service) on their projects.

Board members across the country Since then, more board members have been added to represent other provinces. Candace Hahn of Centura in Saskatchewan, Brent Johnsen of Mapei in Alberta and Jordan Vogt of Steinbach Flooring in Manitoba - each able to reach out and talk to people in their communities. More nominees are waiting in the wings.

Don Styka (Tarkett), is leading our Education Committee and working to form a library of valuable content that will eventually be available for industry to take advantage of. Bob Hunter (Milliken) is heading up the Membership Committee to ensure the application process and criteria maintain quality and meaning to applicants. Other ongoing work includes updates to the Floor Covering Reference Manual, supported by Fred Rabiner, past NFCA president and current president, Rick Wagner (Maxwell Floors).

Eric Klaassen (Atmosphere Floors), Dean Stamper (Shaw Industries), Brent Coleman (Beatty Floors) and Jason Parachnowitsch (Mohawk Industries) round out an impressive group of influencers and fine colleagues.

Member work will continue, especially around sharing and resharing basic information that answer questions including: • What are acceptable conditions and why do we need them?

• What is flat concrete and who should provide it?

• What is the Floor Covering Installers Trade Scope-of-Work relative to surface preparation, moisture testing slabs, and protection of installed flooring?

• What is the Quality Assurance Program? How does it work?

How does is help?

Our work is paying off Architects are more aware of the NFCA specification as is evidenced by specifications showing up in multiple provinces.

• A Winnipeg flooring contractor called recently to let me know that an NFCA Quality Assurance Program specification was included in a local hospital renovation — the first QAP project in Manitoba.

• A project manager with the Windsor Ontario Community Housing Corporation contacted me in September to advise me that they now include the NFCA manual in all their flooring work.

• A general contractor from Ontario called requesting information about the Quality Assurance Program specification that was included in a North Bay Ontario school renovation he was bidding on.

The National Floor Covering Association (NFCA) promotes industry standards for resilient, carpet, hardwood, laminate, cork and bamboo floor covering installations. www.nfca.ca

Canada’s floorcovering magazine

23

Anyway, I can’t express my gratitude enough to those that responded to the survey. Without feedback, a magazine is just an editor talking to himself in a mirror and trying to garner approval from suppliers. Your comments are invaluable. They give us the “proof” you exist.

I noted that 75 percent of you are concerned about cyber security. We address yet another aspect of the digital world on page 4 of this issue in our editorial, so ‘nuff said. You are concerned, and you have cause. In addition, 13 percent of you have had losses related to cyber crimes. We expected less, but are

not surprised. It is what it is.

One thing you should know about yourselves is that 60 percent of you identify yourselves as business owners. We have addressed the import of this before, but it bears repeating. You know what it means to sign each week the front of a cheque while your employees and vendors all get to sign the back. However, it’s so much more than that. C.E.O.s, presidents, labour officials, government employees and safety committees are all employees. They sign the back. It is you that is bearing the brunt of stupid decisions by government and labour to comply with this or finance that, and it is you that has to figure out how that happens.

It’s as if the world has gone through the Looking Glass and logic has reversed. “We want more,” they say, so you have to figure how.

One of our commentors remarked that I am “so 1995.” I’m not sure what that means. I hope it’s flattering, since there has never been a successful society that let its children decide the finances.

In any event, he or she is wrong. If being born in 1995 is old, then I beat that by nearly another 40 years. If graduating university in 1995 is old, then I beat that by a mile and added a master’s degree. If it matters, I have been “digital” since my first CompuServe e-address (70713.300@compuserve.com) in 1983. My attitude toward digital is not sour grapes. It’s money.

Anyway, here’s what you had to say, good and bad.

Comment at www.coveringscanada.ca

Yes

Cyber losses suffered by readers

Have you ever hired a business consultant?

Lost access to saved files Loss of information

Have you suffered a loss due to cyber breaches?

No

!"#$%&'()*+,-.)-/

0(

1$*

4

THERE WERE NO BIG SURPRISES in this year’s survey. We kept it short to be respectful, but it’s tough. We continue to get demands from advertisers that we “prove” that you exist by posting digital stuff and then counting it in front of them. I keep pointing out that this exercise proves nothing. That reader response is direct and relates to valuable content.

Torlys is a good example. For over 12 years, Torlys had demanded that we introduce this or promote that or notify this or announce that, yet never once has Torlys wanted to address you according to the rules. To me, this indicates an arrogant disdain for you as customers, and I would buy direct from China before using somebody that despises me. Torlys has had the idea that I would be afraid to report its attitude, which I’m not. I probably have just been too patient. Advertise or not, but don’t be pushy.

Seriously, of what value is a publisher that is afraid of a manipulative supplier?

No

Yes

Our systems got hacked through our phone line Email got hacked Attachment had ransom ware embedded Hack all my photos from computer Data encryption for cyber security Ransom payout

24

November/December 2020 November/December 2020

4 /1

Here’s what you had to say

. 44

Coverings annual reader survey:

20 1/

How many employees at your company?

25-99

500+

100-500

)* Production manager

'(% %&

1-4

$ !"#

3 /3 21

5-24

Owner

What is your job function?

Administrative Sales

Yes

Would you pay $60/year for Coverings?

No

Comments from readers

What can we do better?

Nothing needs improving, I just think that digital is the way to go given the amount of glossy paper required for the top quality printing to show the photography.

Less for the recycle bin. And as a by the way, I really enjoy the thoughtful opinion pieces by Kerry Knudsen.

He makes logical arguments and applies a great deal of common sense to his pieces. We aren’t seeing that many other places. Bravo!

I really enjoy the editorials and the magazine, especially the column where someone addresses problems and how to solve them.

New creative products ... more training for installation As a designer I enjoy reading Kerry’s ‘note from publisher,’ some very interesting perspectives on what is happening in our world and in the industry. I also like to read about Installation standards, Law, Design, sales, learning about what is driving business is knowledge.

I use this magazine as a source for finding products that have been tried, and tested with confidence in our industry. I would like to see a little more on design in flooring, (that’s the designer in me asking) but overall I’m happy with the content. Very realistic publication. I like the fact that it is not fussy with overkill on ad’s. I don’t think it needs to be any bigger. Regarding the subscription price, most mag subscriptions are between $19 to $29 Canadian, so this price point would be more suitable. Hope this helps.

Keep technical articles as well as the concepts carried in Paul Epp’s articles.

Choose a product category for each issue, ie SPC , carpet tile etc, and do an in-depth feature on it I enjoy your magazine especially your opinion pieces.

GO DIGITAL! I’ve been waiting for a long time...Too much paper piling up in magazines!

Both

Manufacturer

Where do you buy your products?

Distributor/ Dealer

I don’t agree with many of the right wing views of the editor, he is so 1995 We need more info on installing products like how to prep a floor and what product do we prep with when we are installing various floors. It seems like we have to re-invent every time we start a job. I have been in flooring over 30 years.

Add new apps and technical info to better serve customers and grow my business

Canada’s floorcovering magazine

25

PRODUCTS

White oak hardwood floor collections

to one another and to the company’s Sortainers and CT Dust Extractors. www.festoolcanada.com Porcelain tile collection

TimberBrushed Collections by Hartco are offered in three white oak collections with on-trend colours and textures, the company says. The Platinum collection is a premium wire-brushed wood featuring an 8.6 in. width in a matte, low gloss finish with a unique staining process. The Gold collection is the wire-brushed texture in a 7-1/2 in. width in a matte, low gloss finish with a crafted and refined look, the company says. The Silver collection is said to offer distinctive style and value in a modern wire-brushed look in a 6-1/2 in. width with a matte, low gloss finish and natural colour inspiration. www.hartco.com Job site tool storage system

The Systainer Installer‘s Set from Festool is a portable tool system suitable for job sites. The SYS-StorageBox SYS-SB is said to offer an easy to grab and go with a large bale-style handle and full Systainer system integration. The SYS-Toolbox SYS-TB-2 provides the accessible design of the SYS-Toolbox to allow installers to keep what they need within easy reach. The SYSMFT brings worktable functionality to a portable surface and also provides storage for clamps and hand tools. The empty SYS 1 Blue is designed to seamlessly connect 26

in increased product hardness and protection from moisture. The precision milling of the lock simplifies and speeds installation, the company adds. Fourteen natural wood looks are said to offer dramatic grain patterns and pale, subtle looks as well as darker hues. www.ahfproducts.com Ceramic tiles inspired by landscape

Ege Seramik has introduced the Quarzite Collection. Available in 12 x 24 and 24 x 24 in. sizes, the rectified porcelain tile collection is available in four colours with a matte finish. The tiles feature a unique sparkle, the company says, much like crystalline effects found in true quartzite. The tile combines durability with what is said to be a stylish appearance, and is suitable for indoor wall or floor applications. The company’s manufacturing equipment is also said to allow it to produce variations in hues, tones and overall appearance to ensure a natural look. www.egeseramik.com Rigid core flooring Robbins Pro-Tekt, a line of rigid core products, has been launched by AHF Products. The introduction addresses customer demand for a wood floor alternative, the company says. The line provides waterproof protection, impact

and stain resistance, dimensional stability for high traffic areas and combats fading from sunlight. The core construction is said to eliminate air pockets, which results

November/December 2020

The New California collection of ceramic tiles from clé expands the company’s Guild offerings. Cool greys, warm earth and variegated greens are said to echo the natural landscape of California’s beaches, headlands and woods. The collection was named for the native flora that inhabit the region, such as Dogwood, Willow, Yarrow, Fennel, Cardoon, Salvia, Bracken and Manzanita. As is the case with the company’s prior Fundamentals collection, the clay used in New California is minimally processed. When fired, the unrefined minerals interact, giving every tile a unique expression of the earth from which it is made. The glazes are formulated of natural stone powders and oxides, melting together concurrently and harmoniously, resulting in deeper and more varied surfaces, the company says. www.cletile.com Artistic collection of commercial LVT LG Hausys Floors has introduced a luxury vinyl tile collection with realistic visuals and textures said to create a dramatic artistic statement for commercial interior spaces. The Artistry Collection, featuring six plank and six tile visuals, is an addition to the company’s PRESTG line

of SPC flooring products. The latest collection employs proprietary Multigloss Embossed-in-Register (M-EIR) technology. An innovation to resilient flooring, M-EIR utilizes an engraving process that generates varying gloss effects, the company says. Gloss effects ranging from matte to high luster in wood and stone looks. All products in the collection come with a 20 mil wear layer and are available in either a click or glue-down option. The six plank visuals come in a 9 x 60 in. size. The six tile visuals are available in a 12 x 24 in. size with click option, or a 24 x 24 in. size for the glue-down option. Both the click and the glue-down option come with the company’s Transfer Guard technology, which prevents the visual transferring of scrape marks and floor curling that can occur after installation. They also come with the company’s Stone Shield surface coating for anti-scratch performance. www.lghausysusa.com Epoxy grout employs 100 percent solids

CEG-IG is an industrial grade, water cleanable, 100 percent solids epoxy grout from Custom Building Products said to have high chemical, temperature and stain resistance. It is formulated for harsh

environments such as commercial kitchens and food processing facilities.

The grout is a two component epoxy system that combines a pigmented hardener with epoxy resins and recycled aggregates to fill joint widths from 1/16 to ½ in. and is said not to shrink or sag.

The product is compatible with both CEG-Lite Part A and CEG Part A epoxy grout colour pigment and hardener products. It can be used as both a grout and as a setting mortar, and be used with vitreous, semi-vitreous or impervious tile including ceramic, mosaic, quarry, pavers, porcelain, brick, mini-brick and green marble. The grout is suitable for interior and exterior applications, as well as on walls or floors. When used as a grout on exterior applications, colour variations may occur over time. www.custombuildingproducts.com Twisted yarn textured carpet series

Finishing and care product guide

Proma has published a 26-page pocket-size guide, Finishing and Care Products for Tile, Stone and Floor Coverings, that describes a wide variety of flooring materials. Included in the guide are products created to maintain and clean tile, stone and other flooring installations. The company offers cleaners, strippers and removers that are said to ease the cleaning process, while providing good results and long-lasting performance. The guide is organized to illustrate product features and benefits, displays selection charts and is pocket-sized for easy reference, the company says. www.proma.ca Quarzite collection offers veining

Soft Intrigue II carpet from Mohawk comes in 12-foot rolls and is available in 10 colours. Pile height is 0.79 in. and the twisted yarn texture is said to create a casual feel. Colours are called Destiny, Gray Dew, Arctic Ivory, New Light, Canvas, Slate Tile, Brown Sugar, Sand Sweep, Stellar and Seastone. Rated CRI Green Label Plus for sustainability, the carpet’s EverStrand technology fibres represent 63 reclaimed plastic bottles for every square yard via the company’s Continuum program of waterway and landfill diversion. The carpet also includes Forever Fresh Ultrasoft odor-reducing technology. www.mohawkflooring.com

Quarzite Colonnata, a quartzite collection from Antonlini, is said to combine a solid appearance with minimal accent to create an elegant and essential design. The discontinuous indigo-coloured veins of the material reveal a mysterious surface where a warm, smooth layer is tinted with creams, taupes and navy nuances, the company says. www.antolini.com

Canada’s floorcovering magazine

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BULLETS Current business highlights The total value of building permits in Canada rose 1.7 percent in July to $8.1 billion in August, driven by an increase in the residential sector in Ontario and Quebec. Permits issued for single family homes rose 9.9 percent to $2.5 billion, continuing the upward trend observed since May. —Statistics Canada Total investment in Canadian building construction increased 1.8 percent to $15.1 billion in July. Residential sector investment increased 4.9 percent to $9.9 billion, while non-residential investment decreased 3.7 percent to $5.3 billion. —Statistics Canada August marked the second consecutive month of revenue growth for U.S. interior design firms. The Interior Design Billings Index (IDBI) score of 52.3 was the highest since October 2019. —ASID Canada’s Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) reached 56 in August, a 25-month high. Any score above 50 indicates positive buying intentions. —IHS Markit U.S. ceramic tile exports through 2Q 2020 rose 2.5 percent by volume from 2Q 2019 year-to-date (YTD). Most of the exports were to Canada (71.9 percent) and Mexico (13.0 percent). —TCNA Inquiries into new U.S. architectural projects increased to an ABI (Architectural Billings Index) score of 46.0 in August from 41.7 in July. —AIA The top 10 games apps on the Apple mobile OS in the U.S. recorded an estimated 190,385 cumulative daily installs in September. Clash of Clans ranks top with about 21,667 daily installs. Pokémon GO has the second-highest installs at 21,346 followed by Coin Master with 20,824. Among Us and Candy Crush Saga occupy the fourth and fifth spots at 19,890 and 18,898 respectively. —Stock Apps This year, people in the Netherlands will drink the most coffee. According to an estimate, per capita consumption of coffee is set to be 8.3 kilograms in the European country.

Nordic countries Finland, Sweden and Norway are grouped together behind the Netherlands, followed by Canada at 5 kg per capita. —Statista Consumer Market Outlook U.S. housing starts in the second quarter were up 21.6 percent over the same period last year. —National Association of Realtors 28

November/December 2020

Six European Union countries make up the top ten nations with a highest national debt-to-GDP ratio. From the research, Japan has the highest ratio at 268.21 percent.

Greece is second with a ratio of 214.29 percent while the Italy is third at 156.92 percent. The U.S. has the fifth highest debt-to-GDP ratio at 136.69 percent while the U.K. is tenth at 100.87 percent. —Buy Shares Between the period 2010-2014 and 2015-2019, the total value invested in outer space companies has approximately tripled. From 2015 to last year, nearly $17 billion US of investment was recorded in the sector, compared to the $6 billion US invested between 2000 and 2014. —Tauri Group According to recent estimates, the U.S. trade show market alone will see exhibition spending drop by $10 billion US this year, a 64-percent decline compared to 2019. Forecasts expect the trade show market to return to 2019 levels by 2024, about $14.5 billion US, despite predictions a steady rebound in exhibition spending will start in 2021. —PwC The latest edition of the Migrant Acceptance Index has found that several EU countries are among the least accepting countries of migrants globally including Hungary, Croatia, Latvia and Slovakia. Canada was at the top with a score of 8.46 out of a highest-possible value of 9.0. Iceland was named the world’s second most accepting country of migrants with a score of 8.41 while New Zealand rounded off the top-three. The U.S. came in sixth at 7.95. —Gallup Driven by the Covid-19 baking boom, U.S. demand for egg cartons is forecast to increase 3.6 percent per year to $612 million US (equivalent to 4.7 billion units) in 2024.

—Freedonia The September update the NKBA 2020 Market Outlook revealed that homeowners were giving kitchen and bathroom remodeling a second look, although there was a shift in the price points and methods used to get there. Nearly 1 in 5 (18 percent) of remodels relied solely on family members or friends to get the job done, compared to 6 percent in Q1. An additional 35 percent made exclusive use of DIY, well above the 25 percent for Q1 projects. —NKBA The global ceramic tiles market size is expected to reach $582.7 billion US by 2027, expanding at a revenue-based CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 6.7 percent, according to a new report. —Grand View Research

EVENTS

Dec. 2 – 4 The Buildings Show Toronto, Ont. www.thebuildingsshow.com Dec. 9 – 11 CFI Convention and Expo Orlando, Fla. http://cfiinstallers.org/events/ Jan. 15 – 18 Domotex Hanover, Germany www.domotex.de/en/

ADVERTISERS

Ardex Canada

Schluter Systems Canada

www.ardexamericas.com. . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Mapei www.mapei.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Melmart Distributors, Inc. www.melmart.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 NAC Products Inc. www.nacproducts.com.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Proma

www.schluter.ca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Shnier (Gesco LLP) www.shnier.ca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Tarkett USA Inc. www.tarkettna.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 TEC (HB Fuller) www.tecspecialty.com.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

www.proma.ca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17

Feb. 9 – 11 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show Orlando, Fla. www.kbis.com Apr. 28 – 30 NWFA Expo Baltimore, Md. www.nwfaexpo.org/ NWFA2021/Public/Enter.aspx May 13 – 16 Interior Design Show Toronto, Ont. www.interiordesignshow.com June 14 – 16 Neocon Chicago, Ill. www.neocon.com June 15 – 18 TISE: The International Surface Event Las Vegas, Nev. www.intlsurfaceevent.com Oct. 12 – 15 SICAM Pordenone, Italy www.exposicam.it/en/

Need to promote your brand?

Our lights are ON Kerry Knudsen | 647-274-0507 | kknudsen@wimediainc.ca

Canada’s floorcovering magazine

29

THEN-AND-NOW Montréal restaurant amplifies Japanese vibe

Polygonal space study FOR THE NEW ISAKAYA KINOYA pub restaurant, the Jean de Lessard — Designers Créatifs design firm chose to explore the orthogonality and the verticality of space. The morphology of the narrow two-story premises located on Bishop Street, in Montreal, Que., lends itself perfectly to it.

Principal designer Jean de Lessard wasn’t given a big budget, so imaginatively playing with the interior’s volume required re-using or sourcing inexpensive materials. His Montreal-based firm had worked with the client several times in the past, including the same Kinoya restaurant in 2015, so de Lessard had a good rapport. “We kind of brought back some ideas that we used there,” while introducing new ones.

The 115-seat restaurant ground floor occupies 1,500 square feet, with 905 square feet on the first floor. Materials employed throughout include local barn timber, concrete, metal, vinyl, existing tile and existing masonry painted grey.

The layout of the two levels offer a different dinThe old isakaya (Japanese pub) look was functional, but tired looking. The economical refresh did reuse certain materials such as the hardwood floors and some barnwood elements.

ing experience, says de Lessard. “Customers can go on the first floor for the first time and then the second floor next time. Even on the second floor it is not the same feeling everywhere.”

If the function and aesthetics are in line with the first Kinoya, this time the tunnel effect is amplified, on the ground floor and first floor, thanks to the assembly of polygons that are partially concealing the original masonry that was preserved for its rough appearance and for the sake of material economy.

Encroaching on the circulation axes, the wooden geometries dictate a zigzag path along which basic furniture and platforms are organized. Furthermore, they unfurl in the remodeled kitchen on the ground floor and around the bar counter upstairs, forming nooks and crannies that seem to confine the diners while the alternation of materials of different opacity offers entertaining points of view.

The key element of the project is an imposing scaffolding of made to order metal grids. This stalagmite painted in yellow that rises to the top of the floor hides the staircase from view. Its unrefined workmanship enhances the “rough” plasticity typical of an izakaya (a Japanese bar with inexpensive meals).

According to de Lessard, the complicated metal grid structure design was output on a 3D printer to verify the its setting in the space before sending detail drawings to a metal fabricator.

“They built it in the shop and installed it later.”

The 50,000 stickers that adorn the structure add a dynamic irreverent note — one that befits a shabby café at the end of a dark alleyway.

“The project probably took around four months,” says de Lessard, noting that the pandemic hit along the way, but that the client was satisfied with the results. “He would have loved to open but he was happy with the feeling.”

Partially hidden from the street, the restaurant faces a natural challenge to attracting customers, many of whom are of Asian descent from the downtown area, but de Lessard went with some friends one night since the renovation and the place was jam packed. “Like every restaurant, it has to be open for some months before people know the space and then they go there,” he adds. “It is a good meal, so the restaurant will probably survive the pandemic.

“It is a weird time of the year or even the century.”

The finished Then-and-Now project is featured on each issue’s cover.

Please submit project suggestions to news@wimediainc.ca.

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November/December 2020 November/December 2020

FORGET THOSE SUPER GREAT, SUPERFICIAL ADJECTIVES. They mean nothing in the real world. What you need are proven products that save you time and money. Like TECÂŽ Ultimate 6 Plus Mortar. It offers extended open time and rapid setting features that allow grouting in 6 hours. And, it can be used on 98% of tile jobs. So, you can handle your tile installations with more ease. No stress. No sag. No slump. No bull. Contact your local sales rep to request a demo.

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