The snow is nice to look at, but brutal to drive in. We have run about 800 miles much of which was covered by snow and ice. But we chained up and pressed onward.
Idaho is beautiful in the winter, but it just keeps snowing! Still on vacation, but back to work next week.
Traveling in Idaho with lots of snow.
A close friend sent me a copy to this video recounting the "good ol" tech days. Here it is for your Christmas pleasure:
After a visit with Oakland Park I went on to Melbourne and then finished off in Orlando with a special surprise Santa bonus.
The trips were very fun and informative for me and I am extraordinarily bullish on Florida in 2008 for iFLOOR. We have a really incredible team that is focused on serving and helping folks make their home into their dream home.
Merry Christmas until I post again... (getting on another airplane.)
p.s. - kudos to Orlando airport for providing Free WI-FI access in the terminals!
Ever since the first 2008 introductions started hitting our showrooms over the past couple months the response has been overwhelming the styles are incredible, the engineering is precise and the total value is superlative. Many of the items are FSC certified as well!
The top seller is Charcoal Birch and it is really moving. I hear that the factory is having trouble keeping up with a number of the new introductions so I suggest that you ask to check stock before confirming an order.(like always orders are filled on a FIFO aka first in, first out basis.)
Here are a couple links to some hot styles and patterns:
http://www.ifloor.com/item_415239/hardwood-floors/saso/3-5-chelsea-collection/charcoal-birch.html
http://www.ifloor.com/item_415230/hardwood-floors/saso/3-5-wolfgang-collection/natural-sapele.html
Recently I was speaking with a customer who was asking about a bamboo that we carried for a competitor that was selling "the same thing" for 1.29 per foot.
I really empathize with the challenge that flooring shoppers have trying to balance getting the most for your money and also still comparing apples to apples.
Since I am short on time I am reposting a link to a video that at least demonstrates that we know what testing means vs. others who buy cheap imports and sell under seldom talked about, but often used 25 year: Forest Gump box of chocolates warranty. (You never know what you gonna get.)
Enjoy.
Although shipping times are becoming more and more tough at this time of year, if you are still needing a gift idea I suggest checking out the clearance section in the rug department for some really great values. It is very common to find rugs here not just below our cost, but WAY below cost. We would rather let our customers grab a once-in-a-lifetime deal than throw them out or toss them to a wholesaler so take a peek and good luck to one and all. (All rugs subject to first come first served order fulfillment.)
http://www.ifloor.com/brand_1632/area-rugs/clearance-rugs.html
Time to head to Florida to visit our very capable team down there. Yes, it is such hard work to leave rainy Seattle to go visit the warm and sunny Florida stores, but I will persevere! I will take one for the team. Of course another airplane ride is a nice bonus as well.
I hope to have flooring related posts for later in the week during my travels, but sometimes a connection can be a hit or miss proposition. Until then...
These photos speak for themselves. But I wanted to share a spectacular series of custom homes recently completed by our builder team specialist Gene. Great photos by our resident photo expert Jim as well. This is a fine example of a project that was delivered from top to bottom by iFLOOR by folks who really care about what they do.
The work really is awesome. So, if you are in the market for a 2 million dollar custom home in the very nice Magnolia area of Seattle I think there are 1 or 2 left - email for more info and I will connect you with the Realtor. Either way enjoy the photos:
If you haven't checked out the advancements in vinyl flooring using a floating installation system you are missing out. Vinyl planks or tiles, but with a HIGH quality and incredible patterning advancements.
The newer generation of products like Konecto are really becoming a viable alternative to other products like tile, hardwood and laminate.
The realism of the pattern, unique texture and gloss level applications combined with the ease of installation is really something interesting. I predict that in 2008 and beyond you will see this category explode. The only downside is that it is a petroleum based product which makes it a dicey pricing situation for the foreseeable future.
Keep your eyes on Metro, Konecto, Congoleum, Mannington, Armstrong and more emerging brands in this cool category - I think you will see interesting options.
http://www.ifloor.com/brand_1672/vinyl/konecto-flooring.html#
New York is finally completed with some signage for our Brooklyn location it is a great location with great people driving toward positive iFLOOR experiences. Due to the huge number of customer inquiries we have with New York City each year (around 200,000 online) we expect to have this location add another channel for customers to use if they prefer. Here are some photos below:
Flooring jobs and construction jobs in general have a common situation that arises: How much do I need and how much should I have left over?
Often when materials are estimated to anticipate waste we have to use a rule of thumb. 5%-10% is a typical waste percentage for cuts and normal job allowances. The more complex a floor layout is the more waste one should anticipate. For example laying a floor at a 45 degree angle is one of the most complex layouts especially if you have alot of doorways. (Just ask Eric in IT- our new diagonal flooring installation expert.) This type of installation can be 15% or more waste.
Regardless of the estimates ideally you should still have some materials left over at the end. Although I have written on this topic in the past it is worth a recap.
You definitely want to have some materials left over at the end of the job because if there is ever a need for a repair especially after 12-18 months your chance of finding the material is almost zero percent. Because manufacturers change their product lines every so often consumers can get caught with a big surprise when they need just a little more flooring later on for repair or expansion of an existing space.
So the moral to my story is that if you retain at least 1 or 2 cartons especially if they are unopened and easy to store it can pay off well for you. So after your flooring job be sure to have the extra materials left for you to store and be prepared.(this is my attempt to tie in the Doggie Bag theme. I realize now that it may have fallen short.)
The downtown(ish) San Francisco location has been opened recently and I was pleased to see the first of our signage getting installed recently. This will be a huge location for us since we are so strong in the Bay area. This marks the 7th store in California with many more coming. As always we ship anywhere so nobody has to miss out on the innovative products that iFLOOR offer no matter where you live!
Neighborhood: SOMA
540 9th St
(between Brannan St & Bryant St)
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 814-6964
www.ifloor.com
Finally made it to our destination and time to get to work. More posts soon. Here are a couple photos to share from a Dinner with some of the brightest talent in the world at a star studded dinner party:
After a series of long delays I have been held over in Japan. Hopefully more progress tomorrow. Already behind schedule!
Here are a couple snapshots I grabbed randomly:
Luckily the airline felt guilty enough to pay for a hotel and dinner at a nice place. There's always a silver lining!
Time to go visit my partners, colleagues and friends in the Philippines, but since my schedule is so tight I will only have a few days there so I plan to make the most of it. It will be an action packed several days! Ideally not as much action as last week...
As some may know there was a "mini" coup about 1 week ago in the city of Manila (in the Makati area). Since I have followed southeast Asia for a number of years coup attempts are not that uncommon. Therefore I developed a proprietary coup grading scale:
Full Coup (Successful)
Middle Coup (Unsuccessful - but lasts for longer than 24 hours)
Mini Coup (Unsuccessful and you try to handle over a long 2 martini lunch)
Lil' Coup (Unsuccessful attempt to get a free "supersize" at McDonalds)
Chicken Coup (Big plans to take over the world, but too busy playing video games like Halo 3 and Wii Bowling.)
This as you can see from the scale above was a mini-coup. One key to an enjoyable mini-coup is location, location, location. After all if you are going to throw a party, why not do it at a nice place? And a nice plus is that the Peninsula in Manila is a very nice place and the service is spectacular.
Now on a serious note, I certainly wish the stability of the Philippines would increase to advance the agenda of the incredible people there. The Philippine people are a culture of service and genuine caring for one another that is virtually unmatched elsewhere in the world. I routinely am inspired by the greatness of the Filipino people.
That is of course until politics comes around to put a taint on the whole operation. Although I won't bore you with political talk I will say that the people power that exists in the Philippines can be best expressed at the voting booth. Yes I am aware of the controversy about past elections and so forth, but my overall message is that a long term commitment to changing through the system and under the rule of law will yield the best long term results for the children and grandchildren of the Filipino people. My hope for my friends there is that stability and leadership will bring progress and a prosperous future for the Philippines. They deserve continued greatness!
Photos courtesy: Ranoco
I will try to post while on the road, but it can be tough to find a internet connection and time!
p.s. - Yes - in case you were wondering - I am staying at the Peninsula and we are having all of our meetings and iFLOOR events there too! Since that Armored Personnel Carrier(APC) smashed through the foyer to put an end to the event I am assuming there will be a nice new "open air" styled entry way. ;-)
Brighter Sunrises Lay Ahead
As many of you have heard the great Northwest has been very wet recently. As a side effect shipments from Seattle are suffering 1-2 day delays. Obviously east coast weather is having an impact too in the severe weather regions. This is normal for the winter, but just wanted to put a heads up out there that delays are common during the heavy weather.
We know thousands of houses have been flooded, but the good news is our giant 60,000 foot warehouse is packed to the ceiling with lots of flooring for quick delivery once you get dried out! We're here to help put you back together.
Alot folks start the floor buying process without arming themselves with a critical piece of information. What is that piece of information?
How big is the area you plan on covering? (by the way this leads to other good questions like, how many doorways, what is the layout like, how many linear feet of molding do you need, etc... etc...)
So iFLOOR teamed up with a company calling Floor Covering Soft to work on an online tool that allows you to draw your areas and the computer will help you calculate what you need. Due to the online application limitations I will admit that the interface for the tool is basic, but it is remarkably powerful!
I have been led to believe that the application works best in Internet Explorer, but I tested it in Firefox too and it seemed to work fine for me. To use this diagramming tool just be sure you are a registered user at www.ifloor.com and then goto FLOORLINK to make a diagram.
Best of all when you call or come into an iFLOOR location our staff can view your diagram(s) and edit it as needed in the event new information comes to pass. You can also save a JPG version of the diagram to print or say and you can print out a nice summary of your report for your shopping process. (Although I can't imagine why you would shop anywhere for flooring besides iFLOOR!)
Another great feature is that you can have multiple drawings which can be helpful for multiple projects. This can be a great resource for flooring contractors, architects, designers and general contractors too.
The tool will tell you how many square feet you have and if you "switch" materials you can even lay out carpeting and vinyl including cut lists with ease. I talked to a major builder who used this to compare the carpet quantities to what they were paying their current supplier and they found that they were being overcharged by about 9% for carpet, pad and installation. In the past when they complained about why a 2000 foot house had 230 yards of carpet, they were given a story about waste and cuts and how gravity and the rotation of the earth really justified the excess materials. When the builder took the cut sheet to them using this tool that was that. No room to argue when you have the facts. And yes the tool will calculate a waste ratio even on roll materials. It automatically calculated 10% waste on carton materials.
Anyway - check it out. I think it is a great tool and another online first from iFLOOR and our drawing technology partner Floor Covering Soft!
Here is a quick diagram that combines both carpet and hardwood in 1 drawing:
TWO FINAL TIPS:
1) You must be registered at iFLOOR to use the tool which enables you to save your projects.
2) Click around using both left clicks and right clicks in the diagram itself to see more options and some of the power of this application. It is really awesome!
Not alot of time at the moment, so here are more shots of exotic floors which take my breath away. When people think about exotic hardwood, tigerwood, brazilian cherry and more they really get excited. The tough part is making sure the supply is not slash and burn rainforest plunder, but rather managed sustainable sources. Frankly that is easier to say than it is to do.
Here are some photos of a bamboo forest that was freshly culled. Of course culling a forest is better than clear cutting so I thought I would share some of these photos:
