Recently, I met a long-time friend for lunch. He is the owner of a local, successful, 12-year-old company in a service-related industry.

When he walked up to our table about 10 minutes late, I could see he was angry, agitated, and red-faced. “It looks like you are going to have a stroke. What’s up?” I asked.

“I’m sorry I’m late, but just as I was leaving to meet you, I got a call from a good customer. One of my employees, Steve, went into her house smoking a cigarette. I can’t believe it!”

He went on to explain that this customer, a fastidious homeowner — like most — doesn’t allow anyone to smoke in the house. She was, to put it mildly, quite upset.

My friend kept venting, “Steve knows that smoking on the job is not up to our standards, but he knows his stuff, is a good worker, and I don’t want to fire him. I don’t know what to do about this.”

Be the policy enforcer

I suggested that he should be able to retain both the good customer and employee, but he would have to work at it by becoming a better leader, and as such, he would have to be “the enforcer.”

He had already handled the first issue by not charging the angry customer and promising it would never happen again. But more importantly, if he worked on the “standards” issue, he should be able to take care of the entire issue permanently.

I asked him one question: “Why do people do ‘below-standard’ work?” Since he was stumped, I answered it for him. “The answer is, because they can!” I worked to impress upon him the need to be a better leader instead of allowing staff to disregard standards and policies.

It isn’t enough to set performance standards like “No smoking.” The standards must be enforced. It takes leadership to create standards and enforce them without having your blood pressure skyrocket with possible negative health ramifications or verbally exploding and screaming, causing an otherwise valued employee to leave. It would be much better to have a firm — but calm — private conversation designed to modify Steve’s bad behavior.

If my friend were a great leader, he would frequently hold staff meetings where he could discuss company standards, inspire everyone to exceed them, and reinforce them… instead of just having those standards written in the policy manual where they are looked at one time and then forgotten.

Create a plan

Over lunch, we discussed ways he could enforce this standard and then work to forcefully reestablish the company standards to his entire staff.

He’s enforcing the “No Smoking” policy by having Steve hand-write a letter of apology and forfit his commission on that job. Once the letter has been sent to the customer, he will hold a staff meeting to discuss this issue and then hold a series of brief weekly meetings where, over time, he will discuss every company policy and standard of performance.

The goal of all this effort is to raise the company culture among all staff members and to then keep everyone continually aware of the way they are expected to perform.

It is so easy to forget core principles when management doesn’t reinforce them — until they are neglected.

I’ll bet the price of our next lunch that, if he works at becoming a better leader, he won’t have to take on the role of “The Enforcer” very often.

Larry Galler has been creating marketing and management breakthroughs for owners of small and mid-size businesses for more than 20 years.For a free telephone strategy session, emaillarry@larrygaller.com. Subscribe to his weekly newspaper column and newsletter at.

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There are more four- and five-syllable terms in the technical papers on drying rates than I’d care to count — from psychrometry to thermodynamics, and hygroscopicity to sorption isotherms. The truth is, although these terms and the principles they describe are critical to understanding the drying process on a specific and molecular level, you don’t need to memorize the Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology to master accelerated drying.

The principles you need are actually pretty simple, and you likely already have the gear you need. The most important thing to understand is there are three things you control that affect drying rates and three stages in the drying process. Learn to identify the drying stage correctly and adjust your conditions to match, and presto — you’ll maximize the drying rate for the given condition.

Three stages of the drying process

During the drying process, there are three general stages. Each has a significant difference in both the methods of drying that are most efficient and the manner in which water moves through and exits the material. There are several ways these stages are described depending on the document or expert you refer to. In simple terms, they are best understood by using the type of water present.

Stage 1: Surface water

The first stage in the drying process is the “surface water” phase. Water is present at the surface of the material where your drying resources have direct access and uninhibited impact on the drying process. It can be identified easily because surfaces are extremely cool and possibly even sensibly damp to the touch, especially in the presence of airflow. During surface water stage, there are several things that are critical to consider:

Airmovers are most important in the first stage of the drying process.

Water on the surface is not only being evaporated, it is also continuing to absorb into the material. Any delay in removing this water will result in a greater degree of absorption and will increase the time and energy required in the latter phases of drying.

Evaporation rates during the surface water stage will be extremely high. It is important to closely monitor the resulting humidity in the space to ensure conditions are not supporting secondary damage to otherwise unaffected materials.

During this initial stage, the most impactful influence on evaporation is airflow along the wet surface. At no other point in the restoration process will airmovers be more important or influential. To ensure air movement at the surface is sufficient, use a hygrometer to measure the relative humidity of the air in direct contact with the material being dried, and verify that it is no wetter than the air two to three feet away from the surface. If you observe that the air touching the material has a higher humidity, increase the airflow along that surface.

Stage 2: Free water

The drying process transitions to the second stage when surface water has been removed and your target becomes moisture within
the pores and spaced within the material. Here, liquid water is contained like the water in a sponge. It can still move and evaporate without tremendous effort, but the rate of overall evaporation will begin to decrease. This is because your drying efforts are no longer in direct contact with much of the water you are targeting. This challenge increases the further into the stage you progress.

There is typically a noticeable difference in this stage as the humidity in the general area begins to decrease. During this stage, your efforts should continue to focus on airflow; however, the amount of air movement needed will gradually reduce.

Continue to evaluate the humidity immediately in contact with the surface to ensure it is equal to that of the surrounding air. If you observe, at any location, that the humidity is elevated at the surface, increase airflow.

Stage 3: Bound water

A dramatic difference is observed as free water nears completion. Humidity in the general space will likely fall sharply, indicating that the overall evaporation rate also is falling sharply. Air movement in this stage becomes much less impactful, and the importance of low humidity and higher energy (temperature) begins to take over as the priority.

To maximize drying rates, it’s critical to make significant changes to your drying approach as you enter this phase. In simple terms, you need to leverage any opportunities to lower the overall humidity and ensure all target materials are as warm as practical.

Reduce air movement in the space to approximately one for each small room or area and one for every 100 to 150 feet in larger areas. This will provide ample circulation, which is all that is needed.

Next, evaluate the complexity and density of the remaining wet materials and assemblies, and focus your drying equipment to add energy to those materials that are the densest and/or comprised of the most layers. Consider all sides of the material, and add the highest energy air to the areas that are the smallest in volume. For example, direct the warm air from dehumidification to ceiling or wall cavities as opposed to the large open space in the room. This will result in much better heat transfer to the target wall board. Or, focus energy in a crawlspace as opposed to the living space above — there’s less volume in the crawlspace, and the same energy will result in a much higher temperature gain to the subfloor.

Summary

The nature of a water damage restoration project changes as the job progresses. The best drying results will come from a system that adapts in order to respond to those changes. Initially, high velocity along wet surfaces will generate the best return for effort. Use a hygrometer to verify that surfaces are constantly supplied with dry air to keep up with evaporation.

Once liquid water is removed (surface and free), the effort should shift to basic circulation (fewer airmovers) and a more focused use of humidity and temperature control devices (e.g., dehumidifiers). Get creative, and focus your systems to control smaller air spaces around target materials. They’ll give you much more impact if the air is not diluted into a larger, general space.

Throughout the process, use your hygrometer to understand how well you are placing warm, dry air where it’s needed. Your hygrometer should just be used to measure the air in the middle of the room. Use it on surfaces — that’s where the action is.

Brandon Burton is the technical director for Legend Brands and an instructor with the Restoration Sciences Academy. He teaches IICRC-approved classes in the categories of Applied Structural Drying and Water Damage Restoration. He has served as an ANSI/IICRC S500 chapter chair, RIA restoration council member, and in many other industry roles. Contact him at BrandonB@RSA-HQ.com.

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Torrey describes this particular job: “I had a call recently, and the person needing help said they had an inspection for their lab in just a few days, and they needed some work done on their vinyl composition tile flooring. I went to look at it, and the facility manager said it was ruined and would need [to be] replaced, but they hoped to get through the inspection. I replied I could get it looking really good, but the cost would be about half the cost of replacing the floor. They said to do it. So I did. Lots of cleaning solutions and scrubbing, but now they don’t need a new floor.”

For an opportunity to win a chemical prize package from Solutions by Steam Pros (worth $250), send your images and a brief 100-word description on how you obtained your results to Jeff Cross, executive editor, at JeffCross@91��Ƶ.com or 193 Purple Finch Loop, Pataskala, OH 43062. Contest rules available by request.

Half of the people working in the disaster restoration industry have an insurance payment wait time of three to five weeks, with 27 percent waiting up to eight weeks for payment.

Between four to seven years seems to be the sweet spot for employee tenure, with 38 percent of the industry reporting this amount. Just two percent leave the same year they were hired, while 10 percent stay more than 10 years with the same company.*

*Cleanfax Restoration Benchmarking Survey Report.

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Every carpet cleaner goes through testing of cleaning products, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Unfortunately, conclusions are generally based on perceptions, not facts. However, there, indeed, are differences in performances between chemicals.

These differences are the results of diverse ingredients and concentration levels; unique uses or raw materials (which impact a product’s performance); varying heat thresholds of the equipment used; dissimilar soils from one geographic region to another region; quality of water used (soft or hard); distinct fiber and construction differences of carpet; unique levels of fluorochemical protection from one carpet to another; different testing methods; and hidden motivations from proponents of different products.

Performance is the most important variable in products, but there are other variables to consider as well. Some others include:

• Foam levels,
• Re-soiling tendencies,
• Personal safety of ready-to-use dilutions (many come with Safety Data Sheets),
• “Green” status of the product,
• Quality of the fragrance,
• Product consistency from batch to batch,
• Ease of dissolving in powders,
• Local accessibility,
• Product pH,
• Cloud point (determines ideal temperature for usage),
• Regulatory compliance including SDS,
• Quality of label instructions,
• Technical support for product,
• Available training,
• Presence of corrosion inhibitors,
• Presence of stabilizers,
• Evidence of innovation,
• Product concentration.

When evaluating cleaning products, there are some important questions to ask: Would you use the best cleaner if a bad odor permeated the room for several hours after leaving the house? Would you use the best cleaner if it started showing re-soiling within a few weeks? Would you use the best cleaner if you had to adjust dilutions for each batch due to product inconsistencies? Would you use the best cleaner if you knew that it was illegal to sell in your state (generally not illegal to use)? In short, there are many reasons to use a product, which are not solely related to cleaning performance.

What affects the abilities of cleaning products?

Diverse ingredients reflect the menu of raw materials available to the formulator. Basically, a formulator chooses from an array of solvents, surfactants, and builders, which form the bulk of any cleaning formulation. Better ingredients will always result in better results. A formulator, then, tweaks formulas with minor selections of any necessary chelating agents, buffering agents, polymers, unique proprietary additives, and choice of fragrances.

It is similar to a chef working with meat, vegetable, and fruit choices for meals. The quality of the meat and freshness of the vegetables and fruit will impact the taste of the food. The formulator’s tweaking reflects the use of marinating, choice of spices, means of cooking, and other tricks of the trade.

More concentrated products will weigh more than less concentrated products unless a lot of solvents are used in the formula. Solvents weigh less than water, and builders are absorbed into the water without significantly changing the volume of the water. More concentrated products cost more. For example, one particular prespray makes nine ready-to-use gallons, while another prespray makes 33 ready-to-use gallons. Routinely, we hear that one is more expensive than the other. In fact, one product makes almost four times as much ready-to-use gallons of prespray but is only twice the cost.

Every formulator, like every chef, has its own unique combination that makes the product work well or the food taste better. Here is where the skill of the formulator can make a difference in a product’s performance. The amount of difference cannot always be seen in a few cleanings. There are many presprays because there are many diverse situations. Usually, one product will work better than another, even from the same formulator, based on specific situations.

Sometimes formulators are surprised. The company I work for produces a product with the ability to reactivate soap left in carpet from previous cleanings. We recently received a call about how good this product worked on a carpet in a Mexican restaurant. This chemical would not have even been recommended to be used in this situation. However, previous cleanings had left a significant amount of soap residue. In this situation, the carpet cleaned up beautifully because the chemical activated and cleaned the carpet with the soap that was already in the carpet. However, even though this chemical worked well in this situation, it would have diminishing returns in cleaning the normal soil load for a Mexican restaurant once the soap residue had been removed.

Pixtural/iStock

Diverse equipment from sprayers to wands to the type of extraction equipment also will vary the performance of any chemistry. Heat works. If you have great equipment with high heat, performance differences between chemistry will be less obvious.

Interestingly, the characteristics of regional soils make some chemistry better in some regions than others. For example, soil in Florida is sandy, while soil in Georgia has a high red clay component. We developed a new chemical and used another chemical as the benchmark. We worked for months to make them perform equally in soils from Utah. We had the formula tested in North Carolina, and our formula blew away the benchmark in performance when red clay soils were introduced in the mix.

Sometimes distinct fibers and/or construction cause cleaning differences. Oil is more readily removed from nylon than it is from olefin. Knowing the fiber helps you evaluate the cleaning solution. Probably the most important factor that impacts cleaning is the level and type of fluorochemical protection from one carpet to another.

We tested red stain removers and organic stain removers hundreds of times over the course of three years. We found that on normal fluorochemical and acid-dye resistor treatments, most red stain and organic stain removers worked. Once we compared results on white, undyed and unprotected nylon, then the best products easily stood out. In most cases, two out of three of the red or organic stains can be removed by most products. The best products, however, can approach 90 percent success in stain removal.

Testing abilities of cleaning products

Different testing methods also can lead to wrong conclusions. I have found that a lot of cleaners will use one product on one job and another product on the next job. Side by side tests are the only cleaning tests that have any validity. Even with these tests, several tests should be performed before any conclusion is reached.

Once a conclusion is reached it should be shared in context: “Product A worked better than Product B in over 20 side-by-side cleaning tests. The cleaner lives on the east coast in Florida and cleans with an X truckmount. The tests were done mostly on nylon carpet in residential settings. Product A worked better for this cleaner in recognition of his region, his equipment, and the residential setting for this type of carpet.”

This is all you can conclude. I have seen a lot of certainty and hyperbole in product evaluations on social media, which I know from my own thorough testing, is a result of incomplete or inadequate testing.

Product testing is both a science and an art, which takes time when done properly. We do a lot of testing in the lab and in the field. We make adjustments on what we find and try to make it as good as we can. We do not introduce the product if it is not better than the preexisting formula. We make all new products comparable or better than the existing products that we test it against. Be assured that we do detailed testing and are satisfied before we put our name on a product. We trust that, as a cleaner who endorses another product, you test carefully, as well, before you put your name on it.

Tom Forsythe has worked as a chemist for for 16 years and has developed more than 200 products for the cleaning and restoration industries.

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While luxury vinyl floors can’t be damaged by water, direct sunlight exposure is another issue.

These floors are incredible and are being sold as a waterproof floor. I have inspected several luxury vinyl plank floors that have been installed over the past year or so, and one of the issues I get called in to diagnose is why the end joints are peaking up in specific areas.

It seems there aren’t many reports on issues with them yet. But get ready. You are going to hear about this more often — and soon.

Some luxury vinyl history

Luxury vinyl has been on the market for some time, starting with DuraCeramic and Adura. These glue-down floors had some issues when they first hit the market, but they have been corrected over the years with advancements in technology. The market demand for luxury vinyl has exploded over the last few years, so everyone got into the game.

Many once carpet-only mills now have luxury vinyl in their product offerings. With the push to hit the market with something new, many of these products are not as tried and true as the ones that have been around for a while. Flooring has always been one of those products that is true to the adage, “You get what you pay for.”

Some issues

One of the problems that luxury vinyl has had since its inception is its reaction to heat. Several manufacturers now have disclaimer lines in their installation instructions or warranties that warn against exposure to direct sunlight. While some will give recommendations as to how to prevent issues from occurring, vinyl reacts to temperature changes. It is the nature of the product.

Several manufacturers have realized this and are testing and bringing to market materials that are made more stable in an effort to counteract the effect of heat on the flooring. These manufacturers have added stabilizers to their vinyl product to help it take the temperature changes better. These products are new, and very few of them are available yet.

I have been inspecting laminate floors since the mid-90s, when a product called Pergo hit our shores. The biggest issue with laminate floors is water. Whether it’s water on top or water underneath makes no difference — the core of the laminate will absorb the water and swell. Water is like kryptonite to these types of products.

Not luxury vinyl though; it is impervious to water. Water cannot damage it. There is one thing that I am seeing however, which is like kryptonite to floating, luxury vinyl floors — direct sunlight exposure.

Image 1
LVT floor being damaged by direct sun exposure.

In Images 1 (above) and 2 (below), the floor receives direct sunlight exposure through the windows.

Image 2
The floor damage will become more prominent as exposure continues.

In nearly all the installation guidelines I have read, they specifically state in one way or another: “Do not install in locations exposed to direct sunlight.” In Image 1, direct sunlight is avoidable by simply closing the draperies. In Image 2, it’s not that easy because the floor is installed in a restaurant that receives sunlight exposure all morning long. It is possible to install some type of sunscreen, except the ambiance of the scenery outside is lost.

Image 3
This warehouse floor sees direct sunlight from above.

In Images 3 (above) and 4 (below) on this page, the floor is installed in a renovated warehouse.

Image 4
Areas with sunlight from above have few options for blocking out rays.

The sun comes through windows located 30 or more feet above the floor. There is no simple method to prevent direct sunlight exposure in this building.

Image 5
Homeowners with a beautiful view are unlikely to block the windows.

In Image 5 (above) and Images 6 and 7 (below), this floor is in a new home that overlooks some awesome scenery; I doubt the homeowners are going to install any draperies or window coverings.

Image 6
The floor here, because of direct sunlight, is showing damage.

Image 7
The floor just outside the sun’s reach should remain intact.

The windows and doors are energy efficient, double-paned, and gas-filled, but they do nothing to stop the heat of the sunlight passing through based on the readings I got on an infrared thermometer.

Image 8
This meter reading was taken from the flooring just inches away from direct sunlight on the floor.

The temperature of the floor in the areas just inches away from the direct sunlight is 66 degrees Fahrenheit (Image 8, above). But in the areas receiving direct sunlight, the temperature of the floor is up to 84 degrees Fahrenheit (Image 9) — an 18-degree Fahrenheit difference. And the outdoor temperature this day was rather moderate. You can see the readings on the next page.

Image 9
This reading was taken from the flooring in direct sunlight.

What’s next?

These floating, luxury vinyl, plank floors — although waterproof — meet their kryptonite with direct sunlight exposure.

Specifiers and designers need to be more aware of this, although I am certain it is only a matter of time before manufacturers figure out a solution to stabilize these products so they are not affected by direct sunlight.

I see a trend and am wondering if it is occurring in just northeast Ohio, where I work, or if this is happening in other parts of the country as well.

Consumers want to see the sun — not block it out, especially in northeast Ohio, so I am seeing a trend of fewer and fewer window treatments in different parts of homes. Here we have about 300 days a year where there is some sort of cloud cover. So, when the sun is shining, we want to relish as much of it as we can.

There may be options with films that can be added to windows to diffuse the heat of the sun coming through, and there are windows that will block the sun’s heat. However, architects and designers need to be aware of the limitations of the product being installed and the desires of the customer.

There could be more issues that come up with this type of flooring. Be prepared for them, and also be ready with explanations.

Mark Violand has been in the cleaning and restoration industry for almost 40 years. He is an IICRC-certified carpet inspector and approved instructor. His reputation precedes him as Northeast Ohio’s “go-to” floorcovering inspector, working for carpet, resilient, wood, and laminate manufacturers and floorcovering retailers. He teaches IICRC Carpet Cleaning Technician, Commercial Carpet Cleaning and Maintenance, and Carpet Repair and Reinstallation Technician courses. Contact him at Mark@Mark4Floors.com.

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