CFI Advanced Commercial Resilient Training Teaches Students How To “Do It Right”

CFI Advanced Commercial Resilient Training Teaches Students How To 'Do It Right'

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Center image, back row, left to right: Rod Von Busch, Chris Bowers, Grant Harrison, Corey Dennison, Rob Kinnick, Jacob Plunkett, Mitchell Rogers, Jason Evans.

Front row, left to right: Pablo Melo, Dick Schmidt, Skip May, and Kevin Nett. Photos: CFI.

“I’ve been to more than a handful of seminars in 30 plus years in floor covering, and this, by far, was one of the best and my favorite,” said Skip May, a student in the Certified Flooring Installers (CFI) association’s new Advanced Commercial Resilient Training.

CFI launched its new advanced training course in Louisville, Kentucky, at Fishman Flooring Solutions. The training spanned three days and was broken into two courses. On October 11 and 12, the Flash Cove Training course covered how to avoid failures, pattern scribing techniques, seam prep for welding, welding inside/outside corners, v-plugs and boots for outside corners, metal cap and cove stick installation, and how to work with homogeneous sheet vinyl.

A deeper dive into seam construction took place on October 13. Students learned grooving techniques, seam prep and construction, cold weld uses and applications, how to work with homogeneous and heterogenous sheet vinyl, and how to avoid failures.

“There is so much more to sheet goods than I previously thought; I’m excited to construct a box at the shop to practice more on inside and outside corners,” said student Grant Harrison. “All in all, I believe that I can hone my skills to install sheet vinyl.”

There were seven students in total. Dick Schmidt, CFI Master II Trainer and former head of technical training for Tarkett, was the lead instructor. Rod Von Busch, vice president of operations, C.D.I. Floors; Rob Kinnick, technical support representative, Shaw Industries; Kevin Nett, commercial installation specialist, HMTX; and Jay Zurn, director of product support, HMTX Industries, led different aspects of the trainings.

“All the instructors explained every step of the flash cove installation,” said Corey Dennison, student. “I will always remember what Dick said: ‘At the end of the day, you’re getting a check or writing a check, so do a good job and do it right.’”

Fishman Flooring Solutions and the Kentuckiana Floor Covering Education Committee (KFCEC) hosted the event. Tools and materials were supplied by Tarkett, Taylor Tools, Crain and C.D.I. Floors.

"The enthusiasm was contagious," said Schmidt of the training and participants. "It is an intense two days when you are doing a training on something like flash coving resilient sheet, but the installers were more than willing to do the work to learn this much-needed skill in our industry. I'd like to extend a big 'thank you' to Jay Zurn and Kevin Nett of HMTX and Rob Kinnick of Shaw for all their help providing assistance and to Tarkett for providing all the resilient sheet and adhesives."

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Beth Miller began her journalistic journey in 2005 while still working as a mechanic in her dad’s garage. She has written about everything from artists to WWII veterans and in 2010 stepped into the healthcare sector where she created digital content for 11 years. She, then, received her master’s degree in English from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. In 2017, she took the leap into the flooring industry. Here, she has discovered a place where she can apply both her technical and journalistic abilities.