Lägler's 2013 Fly and Sand

Jeff Fairbanks called me a few months ago. He wanted to let me know I won a slot on the annual Fly and Sand trip to Germany. Lägler sends a small group of people every year to their factory in Germany. Complimentary, on the house, and yes, all expenses paid. Seriously? Yes, seriously. I had registered on their website a while ago thinking that it would be nice to go, but let's just say my expectations were low. Imagine my surprise when I got the news.

Before I go on, I'll let Jeff and Mark Schultz from Lägler explain the Fly and Sand program and the company's Professional Sanding Training:

I spent the few weeks before the trip wrapping up jobs and getting ready to leave the country. Between working floors hands-on and two small kids at home I don't travel much. A short trip to Germany was very exciting.

I set up my voicemail and email to let everyone know I was not going to be available. The fact that I was not obligated to pay attention to anyone gave me a sense of freedom, even if it were just for a week. Before I knew it I was on my way to the San Francisco airport. I could not believe it, finally, I was sitting down having my eggs benedict with crab (it is San Francisco) enjoying a decent cappuccino. I put on my head phones and blasted some good old Pearl Jam in my ears.

Jeff emailed us a list of the people in the group going to Germany. I recognized three of them: Kendra Griffin and Shawn Gahagan from the Hardwood Floors magazine and Joshua Crossman, a flooring contractor. The other seven I never met before. So, now I'm at Dulles airport walking towards the Lufthansa check in area which was still closed. In the meantime I scan the people and the surrounding areas. Sure enough my eyes lock on a gentleman sitting in a waiting area for the check in. He wore somewhat clean boots, worn jeans, t-shirt, and a hat with sun glasses resting on them. I also noticed some stains under his finger nails. I approached him to ask if he was with the Lägler group. He said yes (surprise!) and was amazed by how I assumed that he was a floor guy. Sure enough, I just met Reid Miller. He is Brett's brother. Before we knew it Kendra, Shawn and the rest of the group got together.

The flight was a breeze and we landed in Germany at 5:30 a.m. Karl Lagler and Jeff met us at the airport and after a short exchange of hellos we were off to explore. Karl was quiet, serious, generous and modest. I cannot say enough good things about him and I'm sure the rest of the group would agree. The first couple of days were pure sightseeing:

The last two days consisted of seminars and a factory tour at Lägler. What an experience that was. The morning of the factory tour we were welcomed outside the entrance by Karl, Jeff, and the Lägler staff. They were aligned in a row, guys and girls all wearing Lägler uniforms, shirts tucked in, and smiles on their faces. After brief hand shaking and hellos we walked into the lobby which was a roomy, clean, and air conditioned space (it was 85F 70% RH outside) with sitting areas and Lägler displays. The staff aligned behind a long counter offered us coffee and beverages. The counter and the beverage cooler were filled with juices and water (sparkling because we are in Germany). All the bottles were set in a symmetrical order. The only thing that was out of order was us. We were roaming randomly in the lobby soaking in the sights. The classroom next to the lobby had rows of tables waiting for us. On the tables, in front of each chair were a notebook, pen, Lägler binder, and other gadgets. You guessed again, all were like soldiers in a row. I felt like we just entered a museum it was so quiet, clean and organized. Accompanied by some of the staff, Karl took us inside. Finally we were going to see how they were making the Hummel! The second we walked in I got a stupid smile on my face. Like the average guy in a tool shop. Everywhere I looked I saw tools, and more tools, and then tools that made other tools! It was heaven. Karl, Jeff, and the staff walked us through the repair center, the display of their first machines, and finally the production zone. I expected the factory to be amazing but I was blown away by the cleanliness, the detailed operation, the quiet, the size, the automated stations, and of course the so focused employees. You need to remember we were probably a group of twenty or so walking around watching people at work. The employees (other than a brief smile) were working like we were not there. They didn't stop, check their phones every minute or anything else for that matter. The factory seemed like it was miles and miles long. It was so big it took us a while to walk through it. It was like magic. You wandered in a circle, your eyes trying to grasp all the sights and before you knew it you were standing if front of dozens of Hummels, trios, edgers and buffers lined up in rows ready to be shipped.

Karl, walking us through a state of the art factory was very humble, to the point and very generous in sharing information. He did not brag about anything and certainly did not talk negatively about other companies. He was not marketing his tools. It was refreshing watching someone just deliver information. Jeff helped us understand a lot of things we were not aware of here in the U.S. For example, why we have an emergency shut off on American machines. They don't have them in Europe. It was weird looking at a Hummel without an emergency shut off. We also asked Karl and Jeff why they didn't change some details in the machines and the answer was: American laws. They simply had to modify their machines (which I think were perfect) to accommodate our laws here in the U.S.

Me with Karl Lagler (left) and Jeff Fairbanks (right).

Next was the sanding seminar. It was a Lägler presentation of how to sand floors. If you think you had been trained before think again. Talk about systemized, efficient way of looking at floor sanding. Charts and numbers, lines and tables made floor sanding look so easy. No clocking the buffer talk or scratch pattern talk. Lägler is way far beyond that. It was very impressive to watch and listen to their lead instructor Marc.

On the second day we sanded parquet floors. We split into two groups. One went with Jeff, the other with Karl. They showed us how to follow their written procedure for sanding floors: which tools to use, when, and how to use which grits. The beautiful thing was that the recipe was adjustable. You could change it to accommodate the floor conditions. Some of the things I learned (can't share it all, there were too many) were very impressive. One was that I needed their new Hummel bag which had a special weave in it making it dust free without attaching a vacuum. Another was how their edger (with just a dust bag) had a better dust pick up than mine and I have a HEPA filtered vacuum! I guess I have to buy more tools.

At the end of the last day Karl and Jeff took us on a nice dinner (like every other night) at a small dreamy village. The skies were a dark blue with some white clouds in the horizon. We walked down the center of town which was paved with stones laid in different patterns. Small shops were everywhere and it was drizzling on and off. Before we would have known it the trip was going to end. I had a lot of fun and met some cool people.

Funny thing is I don't eat junk food here at all. I don't remember the last time I went to McDonald's First thing we did when we got to the gate in Frankfurt was have a quarter pounder with cheese and fries! When I got to San Francisco I stood in line for a half hour waiting for my Starbucks cappuccino. It's good to be home. Thank you Karl, Jeff and the Lagler staff.

It was an honor.