Happy new year to all our customers, and we hope you had a fun festive season.
Our Handley’s TV promotion was run and won before Christmas. Congratulations to Ralph from Abbis Homestead and Deano from James Dean Floors. They both took home a snazzy Samsung LCD HD TV just in time to watch Australia thrash India in the summer test series.
Posted in Industry News & Views
After this DIY Floor Sanding project which went horribly wrong in Geelong, it might be timely to drop a reminder about the inciendiary nature of sawdust and coating residue.
When you’re all quite done having a little snicker at the suffering of a DIY floor sander (and we know you are…), it’s not just DIYers who have this problem…
It’s happened to us. An inexperienced floor sander doing a “love job” for a friend/customer borrowed our buffing machine. After using the machine and filling the dustbag with fine dust and oil modified residue, they decided to give the machine a break by letting it sun itself outside on the nice open decking on a 30+ degree day.
The resulting inferno left a neat hole in the $6,000 Merbau deck. The hole was shaped just like a buffing machine, as in those cartoon scenarios where the cartoon character runs through a wall leaving a hole shaped like them.
The sad part was that our buffer, which plunged two metres to its death, was only a week away from retirement.
Another contractor was brave enough to confess that he once left his finishing machine, in like manner, in his van. Miraculously, the machine and van survived.
Don’t let it happen to you! Empty your bags. If neccessary, soak the contents with water. Summer is meant to be fun…
Incorporating a new design to cater for the needs of you the contractor, as well as architects and homeowners, it will be packed with new information and downloads to help you to better support your customers.
Posted in Industry News & Views
Yes you heard right. Until the end of the calendar year*, take part in our NOVEMBER-DECEMBER SPECIAL on HANDLEY’S UNISTICK and VAPOUR STOP, and you could win a bee-yoo-di-ful SAMSUNG 40″ HD LCD Telly to stick in the man cave.
Not only will you save some coin on HANDLEY’S innovative flooring adhesive and vapour membrane product, but you could be relaxing in front of quality shows like Better Homes and Gardens, The Renovators and NASCAR in full hi-def glory!
There are two tellys to be won, one at each LAGLER branch, and conditions apply. So get into it.
*Entries drawn Dec 19th prior to branch closures.
Yet again the Americans, who have done it all before, offer up some good advice. From Hardwood Floors Magazine written by Scott Avery:
…Something I want to talk about with my peers: the scare of working for too little money. Everyone reading this post knows two things:
I know A LOT of contractors who assume that after they pay their materials and employees, the rest is their money and they spend accordingly. So, here’s the golden question: What if you have to pay someone to go back and fix a floor?
Re-work that is not created by a homeowner or another contractor is your liability, and it does cost you money, even if you do the fix yourself as the owner. Fuel, screens, sandpaper, stain, finish, and applicator costs can add up. A secondary cost is that, as an owner, when you’re fixing problems you are not working on filling the pipeline of your business with new work. I have witnessed these two factors working like a cancer to destroy the operating cash flow of businesses in my area and even affect my own business years ago.
(Abridged version, from articles published in SPEC-NET NEWS LOUNGE and the ATFA MAGAZINE)
New products seem to be hitting the market weekly. If you try to keep up with all of them it can make you dizzy. We’ll attempt to outline the main types of stains, as well as the pros and cons each type.
SOLVENT/ SPIRIT BASED
Spirit/ethanol based dye stains have been quite popular for a number of years. With these stains, the sanding needs to be very even and fine. Originally these stains were used for “tint” staining where the contractor would put up to 10% stain in his second coat of solvent based poly. This method served its purpose at the time but with more advanced products on the market, it is well and truly outdated now. “Tinting” simply darkens the timber slightly to the colour of choice. Direct staining, or “wipe-on, wipe-off”, gives a far more dramatic tone and colour change. They are, at least, easy to use and can be thinned for more working time.
OIL BASED (PIGMENT) STAINS
With these stains you have to be very careful and fine with the finish sanding. “Popping” the grain, using water and methylated spirit, allows more pigment to penetrate the grain for a darker end result. The main pitfalls of these stains can be highly visible. For example, any drops of water or sweat during the application will stand out in the finished job. Drag marks or scratches will easily show because they may close the grain and cause a different effect. Oil pigmented stains generally take longer to dry, especially in wet, humid or cold conditions. Some can take up to 48 – 72 hours. They do, however, produce a very natural- looking result.
WATER BASED STAIN
Water based stains can be dye stains, pigment stains or a mixture of the two. The sanding requirements for these water based stains are much more forgiving than the previous two. Application methods differ between products, but most will require the wipe on/ wipe off process. Drying times are much quicker with these stains with most of them being able to be coated over within 2 – 4 hours.
There are not many pitfalls with water based stains. For the contractor, it may seem like a more time-consuming process than the easy “tinting” or simple roll-on methods of the solvent-based stains. However, the reality is that the more involved the application process, the better the result for the customer. These stains are environmentally-friendly, usually come in a wide range, and their colours have real depth (their blacks are really black!). The end result is extremely natural and genuine.
Architects, contractors and homeowners should all be aware of the staining choices available. For more information, call one of Lagler Australia’s two Melbourne branches.
Posted in Coating stuff and general advice
Well hello there.
Our October Newsletter is out, packed with useful information as always.
This time around we talk to George Villars of Handley Industries. He’s a Kiwi, but don’t hold that against him, especially since they creamed us in the Ruggers WC. Handleys manufacture a low-foaming flooring adhesive and vapour barrier, and they consult very closely with industry in the development of their products. We like dealing with them, and their products are world class.
As the Timber Flooring industry becomes more efficient and self-regulating, competency and technical standards are being tightened. One such standard is that of moisture/ vapour barriers and the testing required to be as proactive as possible in warding post-installation problems. George was in town to make a presentation to another ATFA trade evening (put on with no small amount of help from Lagler) on the subject of glue-down to concrete.
Moisture testing methods, parameters and the correct use of vapour retardants and other moisture mitigation systems were discussed, and our newsletter goes into more detail. To put it bluntly, these things are not going to get any easier so it’s time to get clued up.
Click on this text here to download the PDF !
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