I Teach Wood Floors | Getting Started | Contact Page | Washington D.C. | FREE Websites | Go West | Photo Page | Guest Book Page | My FREE Hardwood Flooring Program | Items for Sale | Favorite Links Page | ADD Your URL | Submit Your Website | Books of the Bible Puzzle | Missing Money | FREE graphics

Thanks for the reply here, and on Ken's site. I'm not confused with your technique, and the idea of using thin rips is a good one. I get frustrated when I arrive at a job that I'm installing for a shop with no information on the worksheet. No heat, no lights, other subs in the area where I need to be. No layout diagram, nothing. The floor is wavy gravy, and reads 5.5 on the Tramex moisture meter. 48 degrees, 65 percent RH, and reading a 5.5. AND she wants a curve transitioning from the entry to the kitchen. Hard to be creative when I'm really pissed off. What do they do? Sign off on the moisture, and slab prep, and say "get in". This all sounds familiar. It's one of the reasons I no longer work for shops. I am a teacher and the homeowner is my temporary apprentice for the duration of their project. I have a program I use when I get involved in something like what you describe which is very rare nowadays. "You need to find someone else." Amazing how good this program works. I go to the next job where craftsmanship is appreciated. I was working in Denver for a while for a company named McDonald's Hardwoods. I got into installing a Robbins prefinished hardwood in an entryway and kitchen. The work order had money allocated for prep work. The entryway had slate that didn't want to come up. It was installed over particleboard as was the kitchen so I started taking up the particleboard slate and all. I then had 1/2 inch plywood under the particleboard which I was going to nail to. I was about halfway thru taking up the particleboard when the head installer stopped by and told me to stop. He called the office and I soon found out the owner of the company had bid this job to install over particleboard. Not cool. I was told that they would replace the paricleboard I had taken up with new particleboard. I was supposed to continue installing nail down flooring over particleboard. I did this until the head installer left. I then showed the customer the directions that comes with Robbins. Robbins is to me one of the premium prefinished square edged solid wood flooring manufacturers in the country and it isn't cheep or inexpensive. The directions say not to install over particleboard or similar materials. The knew I knew a little about wood floors from my pictures. When the husband got home he told me to hold up. This flooring costs way too much to install it wrong. He told me to not get there early the next morning because I wasn't going to do any more until this was resolved. I was OK with that. I got there about 9:00 the next morning and the head installer had moved all the tools that went with my truck and had moved all his tools in and continued installing over particleboard. I walked in and was told they were gonna have to let me go. I was devastated NOT!!! I didn't want to work with a company that wanted to work like that anyway. I was treated like I was gonna steal some of their tools. I got my own tools. I didn't need any of their tools. I took the company shirt off and added to the pile of tools on the front lawn. It was pretty dirty and the head installer said I could keep the shirt. I guess he didn't get it... why would I want a shirt from that company?? I don't understand the mind set. I do some direct installs, and have no problems getting the job site to where it needs to be for a proper install. I steer customers away from problematic installs, suggest the best, most trouble free products, and then show up on time, and on schedule, and do properly installed and detailed installation. Oh I understand the mindset. MONEY MONEY MONEY let the customer beware. I like you lookout for what's best for the customer. Sometimes that isn't what is best for my wallet in the short run but it is in the long run. So I go to the web, find sites like your, get good creative input from guys that have done these things before, I calm down, and the brain cells start to work to solve the problem. For me, I need to remove the "tick of the clock" and just work the problem. So thanks for your help. After your post about drawing ellipses', I went out with a couple of push pins, and a piece of string, and played around with it. Cool. I would love to learn a little more about using the bushings on a router, to cut inlays like the fish, and learn how tight to the pattern a bit can cut, how much chisel work is involved if you avoid hard angles, etc. Sounds good to me. I am looking to train people to teach like I do all around the country. Mix travel with work. Study the website and let me know if you would be interested. Better yet, I would be willing to come up to watch you do an install like those some time. Easier said then done. I've been planning on going to a Festool school for about 5 years down south of here, and never quite pull the trigger. I'd like to see some technique pics on your site, the jigs you use etc. It gets me fired up and anxious to get out and try them out! Keep me posted. I need gas money for travel, room and board and my hourly rate. Show a potential customer the website and have them call me. We'll see if we can make it work. Thanks. Steve The Million Dollar Card