February 1/8; Volume 30/Number 16
By Ken Ryan
Las Vegas–Right Touch Interiors, a flooring dealer in Greensboro, N.C., took home top honors in the second annual Schönox Worst Subfloor Contest, which was announced at The International Surface Event (TISE) here.
Right Touch Interiors’ winning subfloor project involved a 7,500-square-foot, 40-year-old concrete slab. After a failed attempt at subfloor renovation by another organization, Right Touch was called in to save the project. It used Schönox US, a cement-based, self-leveling compound suitable for cement and gypsum-based substrates. Right Touch used the compound to level the multiple substrates across the subfloor area, successfully completing the work in just three days.
“This was a challenging project that was truly a team effort between David Vaughn, our senior project manager; Kevin Fearer with William M. Bird, who supplied the Schönox products and consulted on the project, and my coworkers here at Right Touch, who are so strong in what they do,” said Tommy Adams, owner, Right Touch Interiors. The victory netted the company $7,000 “Schönox” dollars, which can be used toward the purchase of Schönox products.
Tom Jennings, vice president of member services, World Floor Covering Association (WFCA); Dean Thompson, president and CEO, Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI), and Robert Varden, executive director of Certified Floor Covering Installers (CFI), served as the judges.
Jennings, who credited Schönox for “putting some fun back into the flooring business” with this contest, said, “As I worked through the more than 900 photos from the various contest entries and studied the project notes for each, I was struck by how we can all be surprised by the varied challenges that subfloors can present.”
Varden said he envisioned himself as the installer on these projects and how best to navigate through the process. “My 35 years of experience in the industry allowed me to put myself into the shoes of the installers and contractors,” he said.
Thompson noted the contest is a “great platform to increase industry knowledge and raise awareness of the part that subfloors play in successful flooring projects.”
Second place went to River City Flooring, Hudsonville, Mich., for its work on a distressed subfloor with many voids and irregular areas spread across 14,000 square feet at Grand Valley State University’s fieldhouse. The company received $4,000 Schönox dollars.
Popp Enterprises earned third prize for an extensive project completed to renovate the subfloors in 54 multifamily units containing broken gypcrete throughout with residual materials from multiple floor coverings as well as voids in the subfloor and old adhesive. Six Schönox subfloor products were used in concert to bring the subfloor back to a strong surface ready for floor covering. For its efforts Popp Enterprises earned $1,000 Schönox dollars.
Three installation team members from each of the winning entries received prizes ranging from weekend trips to BBQ grills and Yeti coolers.
Thomas Trissl, HPS Schönox principal, said he was impressed by the expertise and dedication demonstrated by all the installation teams and how even the toughest subfloor conditions can be renovated. “We wanted to show there is no floor so bad you can’t put Schönox product on it.”