Contractors

Flat and dry are conditions, not preferences.

Every warranty on this card assumes a substrate brought to spec, which makes preparation the single biggest predictor of a floor that stays put. Get this part right and the rest of the job follows.

Moisture first

Confirming the slab has released is quick, inexpensive, and the single best thing you can do for a bond that is still sound months after you have demobilized.

Flatness, in raking light

Flatness is what lets a thin-gauge resilient floor read clean under raking light on day one and keep reading that way for the life of the floor.

One system down the stack

Primer, patch, leveler, adhesive and finish floor all have to agree with each other. Keeping every layer inside one system is what keeps the warranty behind all of them.

The sequence, written out

Floor Prep sets out the whole package: what goes where, in what order, and what has to cure before the next thing lands on it.

One card that covers every layer.

Schönox for subfloor preparation. Sika for primers, patches and leveling compounds. Base King for adhesives and accessories, including EnviroSTIX. Because those sit on the same card as the finish floors, one person can confirm the whole stack is compatible, instead of three suppliers each vouching for their own layer and nobody owning the interface between them.

Printable, and not behind a form.

Installation instructions and maintenance charts are published openly on the product pages, per line, from the manufacturer, in their own document rather than paraphrased by a rep. Gauge, wear layer, format and test references are stated on the product page itself. Hand the maintenance documents over at closeout so the client's crew does not undo your work in year one.

Getting the order right the first time.

Requests route by the project's county to the account executive who covers it, so a lead time you are quoted comes from somebody who knows the distributor rather than a national average. If a specified product will not land in time, the card is deep enough that an alternate at the same performance can usually be found and put in writing for the architect, instead of swapped on site.

Order to the pattern

Square footage is not the order. Diagonal lays, feature bands, small rooms and short runs all raise the offcut, and the difference shows up as a second delivery.

Site conditions before delivery

Manufacturers state the temperature and humidity a floor is conditioned and installed in. Those figures sit in the installation document, and a warranty leans on them.

Attic stock on the same order

Replacement material bought with the job matches. Bought two years later it is a different run, which is worth putting in front of the client while the order is still open.

Check the delivery

Shade variation between cartons, transit damage, a short count: a quick look before anything goes down keeps a simple fix simple.

One account executive, for the whole stack.

Finish floor, adhesive, leveling compound and accessories from a single source, and one person accountable for the fact that they work together.