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BR-111 Asks Court to Waive Payment
BR-111 (Medley, Fla.) is fighting back in its arbitration dispute with Triangulo (Curitiba, Brazil). At stake is nearly $1.6 million dollars an arbitration tribunal has ordered BR-111 to pay Triangulo for unpaid invoices, interest on those invoices and attorney's fees. Most recently, on Dec. 9, BR-111 asked the U.S. District Court in Miami to vacate, or waive, the tribunal's award.
BR-111 said it asked the court to vacate the tribunal's award because the flooring it received from Triangulo-while the two companies were still business partners-was deficient, resulting in BR-111 paying out about $1.6 million in warranty claims. The warranty claims BR-111 paid on behalf of Triangulo have not been rectified, BR-111 said, and so BR-111 has withheld invoice payments from Triangulo.
The dispute started in October 2008. Until then, Triangulo was a private label supplier of engineered wood flooring for BR-111. In a Dec. 15 press release, BR-111 said that after the two companies severed ties, BR-111 ceased distributing any product under the Triangulo trademark. However, Doug Leigh, Triangulo's director of operations in North America, has said that even after the two companies split, BR-111 "continued branding product as Triangulo and sourcing it from other manufacturers." Leigh said this product was the one for which customers were submitting warranty claims.
The two companies agreed to engage in arbitration to resolve the dispute, and on Sept. 27 the tribunal found BR-111 owed the disputed amount. Since then, however, BR-111 has not acted on the tribunal's decision, and on Nov. 15 Triangulo asked the U.S. District Court in Miami to enforce the tribunal's award, which BR-111 has now asked the court to vacate.
"We are saddened by the fact that what was once a flourishing relationship for both parties has come to this and are eager to work with Triangulo to rectify this matter in a timely manner," said Ricardo Moraes, president of BR-111.
Whiskey Barrel Flooring Catching On
McKay Flooring Ltd. (Glasgow, Scotland) recently netted a £200,000 deal to provide Whiskey Barrel Flooring-which is made from used Scotch whiskey barrels-for the new Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow's East End, according to The Herald. The deal is worth approximately $312,000.
Richard McKay, a director at the family-owned company, says his new product has attracted interest from specifiers from around the world, including Denmark, Mexico, Malaysia, China, Russia, Japan and the U.S. Even though McKay expects 2010 sales to be around £3.3 million, down from £3.9 million it made in 2009, he's attempting to mitigate the effects of the economic downturn with innovative products like Whiskey Barrel Flooring. The product was developed in conjunction with Glasgow-based Sustainable Wood Solutions.
The flooring features occasional branding marks left by coopers and distilleries. "The range of these barrels is really quite extraordinary," McKay told The Herald. "Some are sherry barrels from the Spanish town of Jerez, others are bourbon barrels from all over the U.S., which can only be used once to mature bourbon because of American trade union agreements-so there is no shortage of them." So, the next time you're enjoying that glass of whisky, you could be contributing to an innovative flooring product.
From Forest to Incinerator
Here's another creative use of a wood manufacturing byproduct: According to The New York Times, the city of Kristianstad, Sweden, is taking scraps from wood flooring manufacturing plants and incinerating them to power its district heating grid, a system whereby heat is distributed to multiple buildings. The flooring manufacturing remnants are mixed with paper mill waste and municipal park tree trimmings and then burned. Also, many homes that are off the district heating grid have replaced their oil-burning furnaces with government-subsidized furnaces that burn wood pellets, another byproduct-derived heating source; burning pellets, the Times says, is actually more efficient and produces less carbon dioxide than burning logs does. The city's efforts are part of a comprehensive plan to wean itself off of fossil fuels by 2020.
New Hard Surface Testing Standard Released
The National Floor Safety Institute recently released a new safety standard for walkway testing. The standard, ANSI/NFSI B101.1-2009 Test Method for Measuring Wet SCOF of Common Hard-Surface Floor Materials, determines the static coefficient of friction (SCOF), or traction, of any walkway screed. The standard also provides property owners, facility managers and risk professionals a way to measure slip-and-fall risks, according to Brent Johnson, chief auditor at Traction Auditing LLC (South Lake, Texas). "Up until now, OSHA, ADA [the Americans with Disabilities Act] all required surfaces be stable, firm and slip-resistant," Johnson said. "However, they didn't give you a way to determine that. Now, there is a definition to it." Through testing, walkways are designated as having high, moderate or low traction. Floors garnering a high traction rating represent a low risk of slip and fall; floors with a moderate or low traction rating represent a higher risk of slip and fall accidents. The standard publication is available from NFSI for $59.95.
Manufacturer News
Appalachian Flooring Ltd. (Cowansville, Québec) received the Contech Coup de Cœur award for its ½-inch engineered flooring product at the Contech Architect and Designer Trade Show, held Nov. 25 in Montreal. The award is given to the tradeshow's most innovative new product.
Dealer News
Mohawk Industries (Dallas) has named Joe Montemagni of Baystate Rug and Flooring (Chicopee, Mass.) its 2010 Mohawk Floorscapes National Dealer of the Year, and Todd Wenner and Renne Wenner of Lima Carpet Corp. and Design Center (Avon, N.Y.) its 2010 Mohawk ColorCenter National Dealer of The Year. To learn more about Mohawk's aligned marketing programs, e-mail [email protected].
By the Numbers
December Builder Confidence Flat
Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes in December is unchanged from 16, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The seasonally adjusted index shows a reading over 50 when more builders view conditions as good than poor, which hasn't been the case since April 2006.
"While the HMI is adjusted for seasonal factors, the typical cold-weather slowdown in sales activity is being accentuated by ongoing weakness in the job market, the rising number of foreclosures and short-sales, and very challenging credit conditions for both builders and buyers," said NAHB Chairman Bob Jones.
The HMI comprises three components, and two out of three components remained unchanged from November, including the component gauging current sales conditions (which remained at 16) and the component gauging sales expectations in the next six months (which was flat at 25). The component gauging traffic of prospective buyers fell a single point to 11.
November Housing Starts Up
For the first time since August, housing starts saw a month-over-month gain in November, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Single-family, privately owned housing starts were at an annual rate of 465,000, up 6.9 percent over the revised October figure of 435,000. Overall, privately owned housing starts increased 3.9 percent to a rate of 555,000 in November from 534,000 in October; however, this figure is 5.8 percent below the November 2009 rate of 589,000.
"Builders are very cautiously adding to their diminished inventories in preparation for the spring buying season and an anticipated modest revival in buyer demand when the economy shows more signs of improvement," said Bob Jones, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). "That said, we are still looking at a very low level of housing production, due largely to builders' inability to obtain construction financing."
Trade Show News
About 28,000 people from 114 countries attended Greenbuild 2010, according to a release from the here.
Organizers of Domotex Hannover have posted an exhibitor and product search online. Users must register to use the search to plan their visit to Domotex Hannover, which will be held Jan. 15-18 in Hannover, Germany.
Post Your Thoughts, Win 3M Products
Every week, someone who posts on the Hardwood Floors Forum wins handy 3M products. This week, Genia Smith wins a box of blue tape for her input on "sticky board syndrome." To add your input to the forum or start a new discussion, go to www.woodfloorbusiness.com/forum. The next winner will receive a box of 3M's epoxy wood floor repair kit.
This Week on the HF Blogs & Forum
Contractor Blog: Wayne has a great idea for seeing your jobs in a new light.
Green Blog: Elizabeth shares some useful wood-related resources.
cupped bamboo floor.
HF Forum: What to use for a low-VOC finish?
NWFA Member Services
The NWFA Pavilion is nearly full for the Domotex Germany show to be held Jan. 15-18 in Hannover, Germany. Space remains for one 12-square-meter booth within the Pavilion. Other participating NWFA members include Advantage Trim & Lumber, Basic Coatings, Diversified Industries/The Floor Muffler, Graf Brothers Lumber & Flooring, Great Lake Veneer, Mullican Flooring, Robinson Lumber Co., Shamrock Plank Flooring, Tresca Exotic Hardwood Flooring, Wagner Electronics, and W.D. Flooring. Domotex Germany brings together major flooring suppliers from throughout the world to showcase their products. The 2010 show boasted more than 1,400 exhibitors in 13 halls, and more than 38,000 attendees from 82 countries. For more information, contact NWFA's Jan Landon at [email protected].