10/1/2008
11:12:07 PM 

yea,
I know, I remember discussing that with Tim Smith, and a few
years later, Fred ,,,,suddenly, as always with Fred, two to three
months later, he had a "GREAT IDEA", and told everyone about
it....

I had to learn my lessons the hard way about "sharing
ideas",,,,Stephen, you know how many times I have been burned
over the years,,,,

One of the latest was just within the last 18 months by another
instructor,,,,
nope, if I ever do anything, you can be sure, I will not discuss it
on line or with anyone associated within the flooring industry....

One thing I have learned about the biz I am in, only maybe five
to seven inspectors, trainers, instructors, whatever, are honest
and honorable.

Hey, talk tomorrow,

10/4/2008
5:32:42 PM 

Yes,
I agree, sad.
What is more sad, is if I was to continue to help those guys.

In the Inspection Trade, there is a lot of egos from "wanna bes",
and people who failed in installation or retail trades,,,,or carpet
cleaning,,

for some reason, they think inspectors gives them credibility or
authority,,,,it does not, and it does not make the special and a
one week course does not make an expert,,,,

So, I agree, it is sad,,,,

and frankly, some of them, are really, just pitiful.

10/7/2008
10:11:31 PM 

Roland,
to be frank, it is beginning to change, slowly.

Let me give examples,

I was asked to re-inspect a carpet. The first inspector called it
roll crush. When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was a brown
ban of
foreign yarn 20 inches wide running down the length of the
carpet. The first inspector called it "end of roll crush
marks",,,,roll crush, or
end of roll crush runs across the width, not down the length.

I was asked to re-inspect a laminate claim. The inspector said
the end joint peaking was from a lack of expansion space but,
then he
also stated in the next paragraph he could not check for
expansion space due to the wall base. I slid thin wire under the
wall base in
many locations finding expansion space. The construction, the
contractor removed some wall base, was the wall did not reach
the
subfloor, so the laminate had lots of room.

I was asked to re-inspect a carpet reported to have not been
power stretched. I found evidence of power stretching but, the
wrong
tackless strips and wrong size gully.

I was asked to re-inspect a wood job where one of the FITS
inspectors had missed completely the cause of the problem,
won't go into
details about this one, but, bad, very bad inspection.

After each one of these, sales representatives from the mills
asked me why I was not there first. After each one, the store
owners/managers asked the same question. Yet, since each one
of those, and that is less than 1/3 of re-inspects I did last
month, the
analyst sent the same inspectors more work.

The change? I could go into so much and we all know how long
winded I can get! The simple answer is that slowly they are
being
exposed; slowly, as the cost of re-inspections rise, the
accountants are beginning to notice. At first, they tried to get
the claims
departments and lawyers to say the mills/manufacturers would
not, should not, accept our reports even if we had solid evidence
the first
inspection was wrong.

However, legally, they could not do this. Many of us now are
beginning to make a good living doing less work charging more
going
behind these guys. Now, these guys, who used unethical
practices to get the work from us, now, want to do re-inspects.
Now, they want
to do direct work like we do for consumer, retailers, and
installers. I did one today in Charleston for two installers helping
them with a
GC.

That is just a small not complete answer to you. It is much more
complex and I would have to make an outline to cover it all,
then fill it
in.

But! I was talking about something, halfway, different when I
said they were pitiful.
We have, in inspections, people who failed as retailers, installers,
sales reps, so, suddenly, they became inspectors. Then, it is
ego, they want everyone to have to look up to and worship
them, so, they become, "industry leaders and instructors". They
have schools. One West Coast "plastic instructor" promised all
kinds of promotion if inspectors would attend his school. He
never promoted. Others, claim to be experts with no experience
in the field.

A few years ago, I took a man who has several degrees in related
fields, and had many research grants from the EPA for Air
Quality, to a conference being held in Greensboro, NC. It was an
eye opener to him to hear and talk to the instructors and
inspectors. He later asked me, how these people could call
themselves experts and actually do work in these fields they
have not knowledge or accredited degrees or certification. I told
him, it is the way it is, "Certify me as an expert, and I will certify
you as an expert", now, lets go charge lots of
money for stupidity.

Example, at that conference, the instruct told the class that
houses built in front of hills or have hills around them, the floor
are below grade if they are built on foundations with crawl
spaces. That is, just stupid. We sat, with our mouths and eyes
open, and Roland! not one person in the class but me and my
buddy knew how bad the had just messed up! WE looked
around, and all were writing it down in their notes!


Lets take classes about carpet fiber. Yes, I am sure Lew can do a
good job, and describe the qualities and characteristics of each,
but, but, is he a textile engineer? No. I consulted with one from
NCSU a few years ago, and, he was at fist alarmed, then amused,
the frighten by the "literature" I showed me written by some,
"industry leaders and instructors". Is it fair to compare Lew to
PhD textile engineer? NO! but, for our purposes, Lew teaches a
good class and it is the type of information we need. Have any
of you ever seen him say, in print, he is a fiber textile expert
such as a PhD textile engineer? NO, he is too smart for that, But,
what about, people who do make claims similar to that, and
write articles about subjects they have no knowledge or training
that adversely affects all of us in the trade? That happened a
few years ago about some construction material used where the
author blamed it for some wood issues.

Or, after you have read all this, guess what, (I got you! ),
inspections and inspectors need a reality check!

10/8/2008
8:36:36 AM 

This industry is about to get a reality check. The economy has a way of eliminating those that are undesirable from any industry. The government isn't going to bail out inspectors or installers, or dealers for that matter. Over the next couple of years the landscape will change dramatically. Hang on boys were in for a bumpy ride.

Mike

10/8/2008
4:53:08 PM 

Mike, since we are in for a bumpy ride, could you, or would you start a topic for us as to what we can do to weather the storm!

Hopefully between us all we could help each other with suggestions so that we could be among the survivors.

OK, I'll start the topic.

10/8/2008
7:21:54 PM 

quote:

---

I truly believe good honest knowledgeable people will win out
and survive the coming two years.

---

10/13/2008
9:49:47 PM 

John, its called the burn test. Wool, for one smells like burnt hair .

10/16/2008
9:32:25 PM 

Chlorine bleach will dissolve wool within a minute or so. Just in case you have a severe cold like myself and can't smell a thing.

10/20/2008
9:09:37 PM 

just look at the inspection request.

Mike

10/20/2008
11:07:48 PM 

Darin,
a little "jab" never hurts any of us,,,,
John head is still intact I can assure you!
Right John?