Nearly 100 installers, contractors, manufacturers and suppliers attended the inaugural Summit 2024 in Dalton, Georgia, which offered two days of educational sessions and networking aimed to bridge the gap between installers and manufacturers. The event was presented by the National Association of Floor Covering Technicians (NAFCT) and Unite Floor Training Alliance.

Robert Varden, president and CEO of the Unite Floor Training Alliance, said he's been troubleshooting installation projects for flooring manufacturers for 25 years and sees a need for more industry collaboration. 

"When you take the relationship between the manufacturer and the installer, of course, the installer is basically installing their product and they're not communicating," Varden said. "We wanted to put The Summit together where we could bring the manufacturer and the contractor and the installer together and just start a better dialogue between them."

"Our focus has always been on education," said Sonny Callaham, technical director for Divergent Adhesives and co-founder and chairman of the board for NAFCT. "There's lots of education that's out there, but what we want to harp on affordable, accessible training." 

In addition to the technical sessions, 16 manufacturers and suppliers showcased innovations at the trade show networking event. 

"It's always good to increase your social network—you don't get this every day," said Jose Gonzalez, owner of Preferred Flooring, an installation firm based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who attended The Summit. "This gives us an opportunity to ask the questions that some people are afraid to ask. It gives others the opportunity to teach us something. It gives us an opportunity to teach others as well."

Education Session Highlights

Dean Craft, LtCol USMCR (ret.), DBA, ASTM is a principal with ISE Logik Industries gave an overview of concrete, mix designs and moisture. 

Seth Pevarnik, director of technical services, Ardex Americas, spoke on the causes and remediations of concrete slab imperfections. 

Lee Phillips, lab director for Professional Testing Laboratory, spoke on the types of floor testing available. 

Sonny Callaham, technical director for Divergent Adhesives and co-founder and chairman of the board for NAFCT, explained ASTM standards and explained the six types of ASTM documents—classification, specification, test method, guide, practice and terminology—and went through each one in detail. He also stressed that he does not leave home without his ASTM documents and training standards, and installers should do the same. 

Patrick Mullins, co-founder and executive VP, Floorcloud, explained Floorcloud jobsite monitoring technology. The company recently partnered with Verizon to to implement an asset tracking solution for developers that delivers the hardware and network connectivity needed.

Robert Varden, owner, Advanced Flooring Technology and founder, Unite, focused on seaming high-end, Wilton, Axminster, hand-woven, flat-weave carpets and the deficit in installers who are skilled enough to install these products. To start, he touched on how to identify each type of high-end carpet and recounted the number of times installers reached out to him, asking for help to identify what they were working with. Throughout the course of his session, Varden showcased examples of each type of broadloom carpet, how to identify type based on construction and how to properly seam each one. 

Lew Migliore president, LGM and Associates, pointed out the nine major claims categories that he developed when he first began teaching flooring inspection classes. He covered everything from manufacturer defects to installation issues to mis-specification of product on the part of the architect or designer to overselling of the product. 

Gary Scheidker, director of technical services, Taylor Adhesives, covered the tools needed to perform proper moisture testing prior to applying adhesives and ultimately the flooring, recounting stories of nightmare failures and how to avoid them. "What I'm interested in is avoidable problems," he said. 

The Summit 2025 is slated for April 10-11. 

For more Summit news, click here.