Back to the basics: Today we worked on a small install. It was factory-finished 3¼ x ¾ from a company that I had never heard of before. The homeowner asked us to install it for them and we found out it is from a big box store ... Well, that explains a lot.
We tore out the carpet, pulled the tack strip, and the worst part of all was the staples! I think we had to pull a box of staples; man, do the carpet guys get paid by the pound of staples or by the yard? Once we got the demo done we had to do the layout. It was very basic and one to just bag out, right? Not! The pieces of wood were all the same. Not putting in an H joint was next to impossible. We are making it look great, but the racking takes more time to get right, plus, if we both are racking and do not have a watchful eye out for each other, it does get ugly. We installed 400 feet in 3 hours, so the day went okay, but we should have had this done in one day.
I did four estimates last week and got called on three; it's good to get the work and once more, we did not come in as the lowest price. I sold the jobs on knowledge: what to do with subfloor problems, doing the best layout and all the information the NWFA schools have to offer. I tell folks about the Hardwood Floors magazine online and about the NWFA's website for consumers at the end of every estimate so they can feel good about the information presented to them. My line of sales is not a line of junk; they can go online and prove me right or wrong. That is one more tool in the box that helps get the job without lowering the price. Folks like to check up on the company they want to hire, and our company being an NWFA member helps give them the comfort they want.
