Tigressa – Soft Style, the softer, stronger carpet fiber

Soft fibers are taking over the carpet segment of the flooring industry. I see it every day in my showroom and we’ve tailored our offerings to reflect the desires of our clients with measurable success. In fact, I’ve replaced flooring in the showroom to showcase the softest, most advanced fibers available.
Now I can’t wait to get my paws on Tigressa! Once we get it through the door, it’s going on the floor and you are invited to come check it out.

More information coming on this exciting new fiber available exclusively from Carpet One.

All the best,

Chris

Chris is our Residential Group Manager & a US Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional

Washington Spaces magazine and our own Courtney Ward

Alexandria Carpet One's Courtney Ward worked with designer Cindy Sayers on the Solistone tile selection for this showcase bathroom.

Courtney can be reached in our Alexandria showroom at 703-370-0000.

Christopher Moline, LEED APResidential Group ManagerCommercial Carpets of America 703-370-0000 Email Blog Facebook Twitter

Winter and your floors

Oh the weather outside is frightful…

Looking outside at nearly 30 inches of snow with another 8-10 on the way makes me shiver at the thought of what snow melt chemicals can do to a floor. Salt and calcium chloride do wonders melting ice and improving safety. But they can put an early end to a good floor. Calcium chloride is both alkaline and hydroscopic (it actually pulls moisture from the air). It can weaken carpet backings and discolor vinyl flooring. Couple that with often low humidity (my office reading is currently 24% instead of the recomended 30-50%) and winter weather can put a damper on an otherwise beautiful floor. Even hardwood flooring can be affected in that these chemicals can damage, even strip, the protective urethane coating, leaving the wood exposed to damage and discoloration.

So, what can you do?

Specify flooring that can handle the abuse in two ways – construction and camouflage. Hard surface flooring at entry ways that has varied patterns will resist damage and conceal spots until they can be cleaned.
Walk off mats are a must, as well as keeping a Swiffer mop handy to clean residue immediately.  Not only will the damp Swiffer mop remove salt or calcium chloride, it will trap particulates as well that can act abrasively on the wear layer of your floor, or work their way into the fiber of nearby carpets.
Vacuum carpet quickly and consider a good cleaning when the season is over.

You can also consider a special heating element for your sidewalk or the area immediately in front of your door. You’ll not need salt in that case and it could save a costly lawsuit and hours of labor picking up and spreading snow melt chemicals. Of course, you can also heat your driveway, but that can get pricey. We offer Warmly Yours and NuHeat systems designed specifically for this purpose.

The bottom line is – stay on top of the mess and be proactive. The longer harsh chemicals are allowed to stay in contact with flooring, the more likely it is that damage will occur.

Carbon Footprint… Size DOES Matter

There are many ways to look at one’s carbon footprint. A little humor can often help start a conversation.
The LEED ratings system even considers point of manufacture/assembly (500 mile radius) and this is just one example of reducing the size of a project’s overall carbon footprint.

Want to weigh in? Use comments for dialogue…

Safe flooring for aging population

We get many requests to repair and replace flooring for clients who have recently had a stroke, operation or other life event that has affected their mobility. Since my wife is a physical therapist, it seemed appropriate to look into this. I’m only a few years from being able to join AARP, but considered them the best place to start.

Here is a link to AARP’s website that provides a valuable checklist for steps to prevent falls in your home or that of someone you care for. Below is the checklist. You’ll notice one of their recommendations is a low, tight pile for carpet. We routinely recommend this for clients for whom tripping and slipping may be concerns. The lower and tighter the pile, the safer the carpet, especially if the user shuffles their feet or is using a walker.

Preventing Falls

Consider these safety improvements to make your and your loved one’s home as slip-free as possible. Inspect the inside and outside of the house, and check off the items that are complete and the ones you still need to do.
To Do All Rooms

	Install carpet with short, dense pile.
	Secure rugs with double-sided carpet tape.
	Use non-skid, no-wax flooring.
	Make thresholds even with floor.
	Arrange furniture so you can easily get around it.
	Reposition electrical and extension cords out of the way.
	Keep exits and hallways open.
	Use stable chairs with armrests to help you get up.
	Provide bright, evenly distributed light.
	Use lampshades that reduce glare.
	Put light switches and electrical outlets within easy reach.
	Use nightlights.
	Don’t leave anything on the floor that might cause you to trip.

Stairs

	Install handrails on both sides of stairways at the best height for you.
	Make sure steps are even and in good shape.
	Check that carpet adheres firmly along stairs; repair or replace worn carpet.
	Choose a carpet that doesn’t hide step edges or create illusions such as steps that appear deeper than they are.
	Remove rugs at the top or bottom of stairways and secure all other rugs firmly to the floor.
	Use good lighting (at least 60-watt bulbs) in stairways; install on-off switches at the top and bottom of stairs.
	Make sure stairs are clear of all objects.
	Watch out for a single step—people often trip when there is only one step.

Kitchen

	Choose sturdy step stools, preferably with handrails, and throw away broken stepstools.
	Clean spills immediately to avoid slipping.Walk on floors only after cleaning solutions have dried thoroughly.
	Do away with floor wax.
	Don’t stand on the countertops.

Bathroom

	Use rubber bathmats or strips in bathtubs and showers.
	Install at least two grab bars in the shower/bath.
	Clean up water from the floor.
	Secure bathroom rugs to the floor.
	Use raised toilet seats and install handrails within reach.
	Always use a night-light.

Outside

	Brightly light all paths and stoops.
	Install handrails along any flight of outdoor steps.
	Spread sand or salt on icy walkways.
	Keep steps, sidewalks, decks, and porches clear of newspapers, sticks, rocks, wet leaves, and other debris.
	Repair broken or uneven pavement on walkways and driveways.
	Remove roots that protrude from the ground.
	Clean spills immediately, especially oily ones on concrete or asphalt.

Tips

• Use non-skid contrasting tape, rubber stair treads, or coated, skid-resistant treatment on non-carpeted stairs; apply tape to dry, clean surfaces at one-inch intervals; use three long strips of tape on each step.
• Take your time and pay attention when you’re on the stairs.
• Be especially careful when you carry large loads.
• Don’t wear shoes you can slip in.

  Be especially careful when you

• can’t reach the handrails.
• can’t grasp them properly because they’re an awkward shape.
• encounter uneven steps, obstacles on the steps, or non-skid treads that are too small.
• find floor wax, surfaces in poor repair, worn tread surfaces, or poorly secured floor coverings on your floors.
• experience distractions around you.

The above list should be quite helpful. Should you have concerns about safe flooring and repairs to existing transitions between different flooring types, please feel free to email and we can help.

All the best,

Chris

Residential Group Manager

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Alexandria Carpet One receives Angie’s List Super Service Award

Flooring Service Excellence in Washington DC

We have been working with Angie’s List clients for years and this award shows why. Maybe it’s our Beautiful Guarantee, unmatched buying power as a part of the Carpet One network, or nearly 40 years in business in the DC area. If you are looking for floors for your home or business in Northern Virginia, Washington DC or Maryland, give us a call at 703-370-0000 or send an email.

All the best,

Chris

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Recovered vs. Reclaimed wood – it’s all good

Also called “sinker” wood, recovered wood doesn’t have to have “sunk.”  For years logs were transported by floating them downriver. Some don’t make it and have remained preserved underwater, covered in sediment, for years. Some of them even absorb minerals from the sediment, giving them truly unique characteristics.

But it is the intangible, green quality that piques my interest and that of the green community in general.

Reclaimed wood has been used once – either as a structural component of a building in most cases – and is now being re-used and milled into flooring, cabinets, etc…

Recovered wood, however, never made to the cutting table.  Some recovered wood, however, has never even been cut down. Rather, it became submerged as a result of water diversion and can be found under man-made lakes. This has an exceptionally green angle to it in that it was simply to be wasted without the intention of a first-use, much less a second.

Comment or email with your thoughts on this, especially if you are a fellow LEED AP as this would have an impact on certain aspects of certification.

All the best

Chris Moline, LEED AP
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Stone Skin – a revolution in tile

More news as we get it in from this amazing line.

Chris is our Residential Group Manager & a US Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional

Using the web to increase sales? A sense of urgency is your most valuable asset.

You won’t find many executive-level professionals who truly make the most out of the internet and truly understand a solid web strategy when they see it.  You will find many who, scratching their heads, say, “My website isn’t being found.” or “I have this great site and all this traffic, but why aren’t we selling more? Let’s pump more dollars into paper clip… er, pay per click!”
Why should you keep reading?
My team makes profit every day by converting online inquiries into sales and I spend more time reinforcing the need for a web-oriented mindset than almost everything else. It pays off.
It’s been nearly 15 years since my on-line marketing journey began and now making the right moves is second-nature. How can this be possible? Thanks to the Marines I started college later than my peers (early 90’s) and was able to use the web to grow my business when a 28k modem was the hot topic. By the time I sold that business in 2007, I hadn’t purchased print advertising in almost 4 years… and that in an industry saturated with print ads, Money Mailers and direct-mail invitations to “private” sales. 

Now, I’m routinely asked about how to get more from the web and help sales managers better understand what they can do to get results. Though it’s far more complicated than one blog post can convey, I’ll give away a secret – a sense of urgency can make up for poor content every time.  Combined with quality content, it’s unstoppable.

Think about it – people online are in complete control, and they like it that way. 

Past studies have shown that if a website’s main page doesn’t grab someone within 3-5 seconds, they’ll move on. I focused intently on this in the days of dial-up so my pages would load fast AND be interesting.  Here’s how this translates directly to sales today: an InsideSales.com & MIT study showed that if you respond to your web customer within 5 minutes, you are 800 percent more likely to close the sale. Take the graph below for example:

Did you get that? 800 percent more likely to close the sale! The above graphic shows a mind-boggling improvement in the odds and how they drop sharply after 5 minutes. Is there anything else you can do that would have such a significant impact on your sales?

I’ll even go so far and say 1 minute response should be your goal and I’ve got a track record to prove it. In fact, before selling my web-based flooring company, I relied solely on organic search results and word-of-mouth referrals to generate leads.

“Recent research from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern and Sloan School of Management at MIT shows 800% increases in contact rates and dramatic increases lead qualification by responding to leads within 5 minutes or less”

And it worked like a charm. Still works today, too, and with average sales jumping from $1,800 per sale through the door to over $3,400 per sale online on my team, you can count on better things to come.  Just last Friday I got an online inquiry while driving. Here is how it went down:
9:40 – Received lead on Blackberry while driving
9:41 – Pulled over on 495 to respond (Why pull over? Ever seen the bumper sticker “Honk if you love Jesus, Text if you want to meet him”?)
9:42 – Sent customer a very-brief “touch-base” email
9:42 – Sent sales person customer’s information (I do not let the customer pick, nor do I farm out web leads on a rotating basis because not all sales staff will be as responsive… the goal is to win!)
9:46 – Customer emails back “WOW! Thanks for the super-fast response. I’m leaving for meetings now and I’ll be available after 2.” And after years of dealing with, and closing, web customers, I know without a doubt that this one is done shopping online now and will sign with us.
9:50 – Sales person emails customer “I’m here between these hours, etc…”
9:55 – I cringe and immediately email the sales person “STOP! Lead the customer, don’t tell them you’re here when they feel like stopping in.” (He’s normally better than this but must have had a weak moment.)
9:56 – I send Outlook appointment to sales person to call and email customer at 2:15.
10:13 – Sales person accepts appointment, realizing he slipped, because initiative is imperative.
After 2, the customer gets set up for an estimate the next day and is closed in-home for $4,800.

$4,800

It may seem simple… because it can be. I’ve sold millions of dollars to internet customers and relating to them online through the sales process is second nature to me now. It can be for your sales team as well.

Want to know more? Send an email.

All the best,

Chris

Christopher Moline, LEED AP Residential Group Manager, Commercial Carpets of America

703-856-4929