Advice
SAVE MONEY! LEARN FROM OTHER INSTALLERS MISTAKES
Richard Renouf, Furniture & Floorcoverings Consultant
When he peeled back the masking tape it left light coloured marks everywhere it had been in contact with the flooring. It looked terrible. He didn’t wait for the customer to discover it, he told her straight away. He’d get it fixed. He had a friend who ‘did floors’ and he was sure it could all be sanded out.
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The kitchen wasn’t the problem, but it had caused it – or rather, the installer had whilst he was putting the units in position. He’d arrived at the customer’s home to find a parquet floor had been installed throughout the ground floor – the hall, lounge, dining room and kitchen. The smell of the oil finish was still lingering in the air, so the flooring was brand new. He couldn’t risk damaging the parquet to he covered as much of it as he could with corrugated cardboard and taped it in place so it wouldn’t move while he was working. Then he used dust sheets to add further protection. The fridge and freezer were both full height but he managed to part-walk and part-shuffle them into place. The rest of the units were easy enough for a oneman job and by the end of the week the job was done and it was time to clear up and clear off. He loaded up his tools before gathering up the dust sheets. To his horror there were marks on the flooring. Some dents and scratches from the units and appliances which showed white against the medium oak finish of the flooring. Worse still, when he peeled back the masking tape it left light coloured marks
everywhere it had been in contact with the flooring. It looked terrible. He didn’t wait for the customer to discover it, he told her straight away. He’d get it fixed. He had a friend who ‘did floors’ and he was sure it could all be sanded out. Three days later he met his friend at the house. The sander was set up, started, and turned off within seconds. The sander created more scratches and made things look a whole lot worse. ‘It’s the flooring, it must be faulty.’ His friend said and walked off the job.
