Las Vegas—No matter how great the flooring product is, if something goes wrong with the installation, all is for naught. How many times have you heard this before? At the industry’s major markets and conventions, the installation segment is being covered from all angles—whether it be education or new product. During Surfaces, Jim Walker, CEO of the International Certified Floor Coverers Association (CFI), noted, “The people who have come by have been very interested in finding out more about us. “I like to see the installers in a hands-on situation, such as the Installation Showcase we have been putting on,” he said of the series of seminars CFI held at the show.

“I like this concept a lot. It seems to be in line with what other shows are doing. “I’ve heard nothing but positive comments on the demos done in the Installation Showcase, whether it concerned seminars for vinyl, ceramic or carpeting,” Walker explained. “The people who have come by have been asking for the materials and setting up appointments with us regarding certification. Everyone that we have spoken to has been sincerely interested in what we have to offer.”

INSTALL (the International Standards and Training Alliance), was another installation organization that experienced a positive reaction during the shows. “Our booth is being geared, more so than in the past, toward the needs of the specifiers, architects and facility managers,” said Jim Schmid, international director, “for them to learn about the quality and skill of the people we represent who install the products. “If you are going to spend all this money on beautiful floor coverings,” he added, “why not have the best install them? Our logo now reads, ‘Specify quality. Specify INSTALL.’ Next time it should probably read, ‘Specify quality. Specify INSTALL. Specify satisfaction.’ That’s why our apprentices go through a three- to four-plus-year training program.”

Simpler to use than hot messy irons, Sinch Technology now makes carpet seams and repairs 100% reversible, noted Bill Mann, Nexicor’s director of sales. “After months of field use and testing by major carpet manufacturers, the Sinch system is now ready for introduction. The field acceptance has been overwhelming. Half of our test sites have given up using hot irons altogether.” The Sinch system, which will be distributed by Seam Master Industries among others, he noted, results in significant savings in materials and labor. “Repairs and rework are so simple the system quickly pays for itself. Retailers who have worked with the Sinch system quickly identify with its ability to reduce recalls. Glue clean-up is now a thing of the past.”

TEC’s Tom Plaskota was extremely pleased with the response to his company’s new products. “Our Double-Duty Plus mastic has gotten a lot of interest so far, as well as our new technology in our care and maintenance lines. Those are the two product groups we are providing demonstrations on.” Double-Duty Plus is described “as the only all-white, non-slip mastic that quickly and securely bonds large, heavy wall tiles and natural stone to a variety of substrates.” TEC has also introduced new and improved tile and stone care system products designed to simplify the care and maintenance category so that distributors and dealers can provide more value with fewer SKUs; a 12-year system warranty designed to help retailers and wholesalers up-sell customers to higher profit tile and stone floor systems, and Crack Isolation Membrane, which cuts 25 days off the normal waiting period for tile installation to begin, allowing contractors to install ceramic, stone and terrazzo floor systems over green concrete.

Ben Toews, vice president of Bullet Tools said traffic at this year’s markets was very impressive. “We’ve probably had more traffic through our booth than in any past year, maybe double. There’s a lot of interest in our products. We’ve talked to many international customers who we’ll be taking on.” Bullet Tools is a company that takes ideas from installers, develops them and brings them to market. “All the tools we have are invented by installers,” he said, “as well as our owner, Dalen Gunn. The cutting tools we have solve a lot of industry problems. They cut down tremendously on the amount of dust at the job site. We also offer strapless knee pads as well as a new device which uses cutting-edge technology to draw the heat out of the carpet seam. “We offer anything to make it easier for the installer,” Toews explained. “That’s what we specialize in. We give mechanics what we feel they deserve for their ideas and we promise to treat them fairly. Because we are getting that reputation, we’re having distributors sending the installers with ideas to us.”