Common Wood Floor Problems & Wood Science with Howard Brickman
June 30, 2008 by Rob McNealy · 2 Comments
In This Podcast Episode
Floor guy, Rob McNealy, interviews Howard Brickman of Brickman Consulting, a company that provides custom wood flooring installations as well as consulting and inspection services related to wood flooring problems. They discuss some of the science behind wood flooring problems, as well as certified wood flooring inspection.
More on About Howard Brickman and Brickman Consulting
Brickman Consulting was founded by Howard Brickman in 1984 with goal of providing expert level advice concerning wood flooring manufacture, storage, installation, finishing and proper job site conditions that is firmly based in scientific fact. Brickman has over twenty-five years of experience in wood flooring contracting and a comprehensive graduate level academic background in wood science and building materials technology.
Brickman is a charter member of the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) and member of the NWFA Technical Committee. He has been awarded NWFA Craftsman, Master Craftsman, and Vanguard degrees, and was the winner of the “Floor of the Year” contest in 2000. He is also a certified NWFA Wood Floor Inspector, and has made several appearances on Bob Vila’s “Home Again” as a technical consultant. .
After serving in the United States Air Force from 1971 to 1977, he got his start in the flooring industry with a job working for the National Oak Flooring Manufacturers Association (NOFMA) as the Manager of Inspection and School Services. From 1981 until 1983, Brickman was employed as a sales representative for R.J. Stalker, inc., a Boston area flooring distributor. He subsequently served as general manager for Glitsa American in Seattle, WA until 1984, when he establish Brickman Wood Floors (later Brickman Consulting), a full service hardwood flooring contracting and consulting firm.
Tile Flooring with Doug Disney & Chris Nezbeth of Tile Outlet Always in Stock
June 9, 2008 by Rob McNealy · Leave a Comment
In This Podcast Episode
Floor guy, Rob McNealy, interviews Tile Outlet Always in Stock® Founder and President Doug Disney, along with Vice President Chris Nezbeth about their unique business model. Tile Outlet Always in Stock® stores have at least 50 products in stock and ready to go, to help homeowners get projects done quickly, and products that need to be ordered come from local distributors in an average of three days.
More About Doug Disney and Tile Outlet Always in Stock®
As a 19-year-old, Doug Disney started his own business called Yachtin’ America, in which boat owners across the country agree to swap boats while on vacation, similar to popular home exchange programs. Then, he got started in the tile industry, and there was no doubt he had the drive and desire to succeed on his own. He just needed some direction.
That’s when Disney came across the book, “Start Small, Finish Big” by Subway co-founder Fred DeLuca. The book contained DeLuca’s 15 key lessons to start and run a small business.
“I read the book in two days,” Disney said. “It made me realize that I already had a great concept, but that franchising was a much better alternative for growing than opening my own stores. As soon as I
finished the book I called an attorney to get started.”
Disney put the lessons he learned to good use when he began franchising in 2002. Today, Tile Outlet Always in Stock is not only one of the fastest-growing consumer goods franchises in the western United States,
but it is positioned for national growth, as well. Tile Outlet is the only franchised retail tile concept of its kind with 65 locations in eight western states. Thirty-three more locations are in development and expected to open within 12 to 18 months. Disney’s goal is to have 200 stores sold by the end of 2008.
Nothing derails the excitement surrounding a home improvement project faster than the seemingly inevitable delay in finding everything you need to get started. Tile Outlet Always in Stock® founder Doug Disney could literally feelthe pain of do-it-yourselfers during the dozen years he worked in the tile industry before taking matters into his own hands when he opened his first store in 2001.
“The biggest complaint from customers was that they would walk into a tile store, find a sample they like, order it and wait one to two weeks for it to come in,” Disney said. “And because each batch has a different
shade lot, the tile you picked out in the showroom could be slightly different than what you got a couple of weeks later.”
Tile Outlet makes matters immeasurably easier. Of the approximately 300 ceramic and porcelain tile and stone products on display at each store, more than 50 products are ready to go and the lead-time for ordered products from nearby distribution centers averages about three days.
Many other small discount tile stores are “special-order only” with lead times that typically stretch two or three weeks. The same can oftentimes be said for big-box home improvement retailers that also carry a limited amount of in-stock products.
“Each of our locations has a good selection of the basics,” Disney said. “If you walked into one of our stores today and needed tile for a project this weekend, they would have enough in stock for you to tile your floor.”
Besides an incredible array of ceramic and porcelain tile, stores carry a wide selection of slate, travertine, limestone, medallions and marble at savings of typically 20 percent compared to competitors because of Tile Outlet’s low-overhead, low-price concept. Top-selling prefabricated granite countertops offer savings of as much as 70 percent when compared to the cost of traditional installation. Tile Outlet also sells all the
necessary products, equipment and materials necessary for installation.
“We’re a one-stop shop,” Disney said. “We’re a very well-rounded tile retailer. We have inexpensive tile from 99 cents a square foot to glass tile that sells for $15 a square foot, as well as high-end granite products. You can find what you’re looking for whether you’re looking to inexpensively tile a laundry-room floor or choosing tile for a $5 million custom home.”
Tile Outlet also offers consumers more choices since many big-box retailers oftentimes carry products from only one supplier. “We have our own line of products, but we also have products from 20 other suppliers. From a consumer standpoint, it’s like being able to look at the products of 20 other companies at one time.” Disney also pointed out that product samples come from current stock, not a product lot that might have been produced last year, helping to ensure that customers’ purchases match their samples.
Prefabricated granite countertops are a top-seller simply because of the incredible savings they offer. Prefabricated granite is produced in smaller slabs and cut to a standard two-foot counter depth with a
finished edge already on it. Conversely, the fabrication costs alone to add a bullnose (finished edge) to customized granite countertops can cost about $50 per linear foot or $450 for a nine-foot counter.
Ethics in Building with Jeffrey Prager of NARI
June 2, 2008 by Rob McNealy · Leave a Comment
In This Podcast Episode
Floor guy, Rob McNealy, interviews Jeffrey Prager, the acting president of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) about ethics in building. Jeff is also the founder of the Front Range Chapter of NARI.
Jeffrey Prager’s Bio
Jeffrey K. Prager is the President of Backroom Management Services. This company serves small to medium sized businesses and is designed to relieve some of the frustration and stress of running the financial side of a business. Backroom provides hands-on bookkeeping assistance using a proprietary web-based accounting system. In addition, the company offers the kind of guidance, financial interpretation and strategic planning associated with having a CFO in-house, but without the expense. A CPA with 36 years of experience, Prager also serves as a teacher of managerial economics (applying economic theory to business decisions) at the University of Colorado -Denver.
Prager is himself a very successful entrepreneur who built his own company to $26 million in annual revenue. Simultaneously, he served as the CFO for another company, helping guide it to $100 million+ in annual revenue. He retired in May of 2007 only to find out he was allergic to retirement.
He authored courses called Business Planning (A Cookbook Approach to Writing a Business Plan), Monitoring Your Company’s Vital Signs (An Approach for Analyzing and Reacting to Conditions Impacting the Profitability of a Business), and Marketing Your Professional Services which were taught at various state societies of CPA’s.
Mr. Prager has taught courses on accounting, management and finance for the National Association of Homebuilders (HBA). He also assisted in writing the business section for the “Certified Remodeler” designation, which is a program run by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI).
