7 easy steps to prevent a flooring installation nightmare

It may seem like a no-brainer but it happens more often than you think. The wrong flooring is installed in your home.  It could be the wrong color.  It could be the wrong style.  It could be the wrong product. (you ordered carpet and they installed hardwood) Perhaps you have flooring installed (most often the installation is supervised by someone other than the person who selected the floor) while you are out and when you get home you realize the flooring is not what you selected.

How could this happen?

For clarity's sake we are going to say the product selected was carpet (but it could happen with any product)

Real quickly; all flooring products have a style name and style number, a color name and color number.  Example: Woodside II (style name) 52Y17 (style number) Cadet (color name) 00402 (color number)

Let's say you want Woodside II, color Uniform #404 and they installed something else

What could go wrong:

1. The sample board was labeled wrong (The color Uniform was labeled with the color #402 which is Cadet)
2. The salesperson wrote down the wrong color/SKU #

• They wrote Uniform, #402 (wrong #)
• Cadet, #404 (wrong name)
• or even Cadet, #402 (both wrong)

3. The mill sent the wrong color (Cadet #402) , yet labeled it with the correct information (Uniform #404)
4. The mill sent the wrong color (Cadet #402), labeled it correctly yet the receiving warehouse did not catch the wrong color and it was given to the installer.
5. The warehouse gave a completely different carpet (both style and color) to the installer.
6. The installer removed carpet for another job from their van and installed it in your house.
7. Your husband/wife told the installer to put the carpet in the wrong room.

Below is what a sample board usually looks like.  The style name is at the top (Woodside II) and the color information is typically written above, beneath or behind (if the sample is removable) each color.  Easy to confuse with color information all over the place, right?

I've put two examples of the same style but different colors below.  The colors are positioned one on top of the other on the board.  If the colors are labeled just above or just below, this mistake can happen quite easily.

Prevention tactics:

1. If the board you selected from was labeled incorrectly, there isn't anything you can do.  The carpet manufacturer should, without hesitation, replace your carpet.  Sometimes they will offer a financial incentive to keep the carpet but don't let them pressure you into accepting something you didn't want.


2. If the salesperson wrote down the wrong color or style#, there IS something you can do.  Confirm before you sign.  Any reputable flooring retailer will 'write up' your order and ask you to sign off on it.  This is the copy that goes to the purchasing department.  In other words, this the information they use to place your order.  Before you sign, make sure the information is correct.  Not only correct, make sure it is neat.  You can always blame it on your eyesight if you don't want to tell your salesperson your first-grader has better handwriting.  Sometimes a sloppily written order can result in the wrong product being purchased from the manufacturer. DO NOT SIGN until you confirm ALL the SKU/style/color numbers and names match the sample from which you selected.  If the sample is wrong, it's on the manufacturer.  If the order is wrong, it's on...you?  Maybe -especially if you signed off on it.

3. Number three seems like something you couldn't avoid because it is the manufacturer's fault.  There is, however, a way to keep this incorrect product from being installed.  Ask your salesperson for a sample of your product.  Keep it until the installation date.  When the installers arrive, check your sample against the material they are about to install.  If they don't match, stop the installation. It is ALWAYS easier to handle an issue BEFORE it is installed.

4. As a customer, you can't control what happens in the warehouse before the install.  Prevention tactic #3 will keep the product from being installed and enable the problem to be quickly solved.

5. See prevention tactic #4

6. Make sure you match up your sample to the product the installer is bringing into your home as soon as possible.  If possible, don't let them take it out of their van.  Walk your sample out and confirm it in your driveway if you can.  If it is a simple matter of grabbing the wrong product, this will be quickly remedied.

7. Give the sample you've gotten from your salesperson to whoever is overseeing the project and make sure they compare it to the product the installers bring into your home.  If they don't do this, shame on them.  This entitles you to at least six months of 'I told you sos', a shopping spree or even a vacation. 

Take-away's:

• Confirm what your salesperson has written on your order matches the sample.
• Make sure it is neat.
• Always get a sample of the product you've ordered to keep on hand for the installation.  If the salesperson says you can't have one, go somewhere else.  A reputable flooring retailer will be able to get you a sample if they don't want to part with the sample on their showroom floor.  It may take a few days but the mill will send samples of products for free if an order is on the line. 

Want more like this?


What's wrong with my carpet?  A little knowledge can avoid a lot of aggravation.

The secret to preventing your wood floors from failing.

7 ways to make your carpet last longer.

What's under my flooring and why it matters when you are replacing it.

Cracked cement can cause issues if not treated properly.

When you're replacing your flooring a professional measurer/estimator will want to know what is under the existing flooring.  When the flooring professionals you hire send someone to measure your floor, be sure to ask what's under the existing floor.  This will force them to take a look (If they're good, they will have already looked) and save you potentially major issues on the actual installation day.

Which room and floor of your home (basement, first, etc.) you are replacing your flooring can impact what may be lurking beneath the existing flooring. In the picture above, the poured concrete basement was cracked.  Chances are if the floor was covered (by an existing floor or something else) an estimator would easily miss something like this.  Estimators typically pull up a small section of existing flooring to see what's underneath, which means there could be issue-causing problems where they didn't look.

Something is missing here...

In this photo, there was an existing vinyl floor.  The estimator pulled back the vinyl and saw a sound looking subfloor.  On the day of the installation, they removed the vanity only to discover the original builder did not put any subfloor over the plumbing beneath the vanity.  Making this floor installable isn't a huge undertaking but if the installers aren't planning on patching subfloor, they most likely don't have the right materials to do so which will delay your installation.  Could this have been avoided?  Probably not.  Estimators don't pull out cabinets when checking the subfloor.

Other issues that could be hiding under your existing floor:

Not good...water damage from a leaky ice maker line

Water damage -this is usually found beneath or around the refrigerator, sink, washer or other water-using appliance.  This photo shows what water damage looks like. You can see the damage goes through the existing floor, the underlayment and the subfloor.  A repair will require tearing this floor down to the joists and building it back up level to the existing, undamaged subfloor.  This will not be an inexpensive repair and will push back the installation by days.

Something just isn't right....

Un-level subfloor.  Check out this photo.  See how much the floor drops?  Installing many products over this would be a nightmare.  Repairing the floor so you can install flooring over it can vary depending on the size of the area needing leveled.  It could range from a few bags of self-leveler to a cement truck and an entire re-pour.  

Nails cause issues!

Nails!  Yes, a nail that isn't hammered completely into the subfloor can be a nightmare.  Not only does it make a squeaky floor a good possibility but even if it is up a millimeter above the surface of the floor, it can cause the replacement floor major issues.  When the installers are prepping the floor, they should be sure all nails are hammered in.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  In the end it is best to make sure your estimator/measurer looks beneath the existing floor when they are measuring the room in order to allow for repairs if need be.  Nobody has x-ray vision but most issues can be caught before the day of installation. 

At Bob Wagner's, we send our best measurers and estimators to insure your installation goes off without a hitch.

Area Rugs and why they all seem to be the same sizes.

I was asked a great question on our Facebook page today.  

'Why do the rugs have to be 5 x 7 or 8 x 10 -- I need a 7 x 9. Do I have to get one custom made?'

Generally, rug manufacturers offer the following sizes:

2.5" x 8' (a hallway runner)
5x7
6x9
8x10
9x12 

Even manufactures in the UK use these sizes as their standard offerings.  

Most rugs come close to these size ranges.  Many are slightly smaller. For example, 5'5"x7'8" rather than 6x9 so it is important to take note of what size you need and confirm the exact size of the rug you're looking to purchase.  


Below is a screen-shot from one of the rug manufacturers we carry in our stores, Masland Carpet & Rugs.   As you can see, the sizes are very close to the industry standard sizes above.  

With regard to the origins of standard sizes, originally, every area rug was a custom, handmade piece of art. The only limiting factor as far as size was concerned was the width of the upper beam on the loom (pictured below).  

Here is a great video of handmade rug manufacturing.

As time went on, rug manufacturing was modernized. Below is a video of a modern rug manufacturing machine.  These things are amazing!

Even in the days when all rugs were handmade, they had size limitations (the width of the loom) and would have to build custom looms to create very wide rugs.  When companies began selling rugs in the United States, they looked at the homes at the time for guidance when it came to creating standard sizes.  Based on my research, the 1970's brought about the now standard size offerings.

When we look at the homes in the 70's it is easy to understand.  Hallways are roughly 3' wide and 8-10' long.  The 2'6"x8' hallway runner was birthed from this notion.

The space between the sofa and the television was roughly 5x7.  A dining room table could fit a 6x9 beneath it.  An 8x10 could fill the standard secondary bedrooms at the time and the 9x12 worked in the master bedroom.

With this in mind, rug manufacturers began designing machinery to mass produce rugs to meet the needs of the common American home.  The times have changed as have the sizes of the typical American homes.  With so much variation in home sizes, it wouldn't be cost effective for non-custom manufactures to build machinery for each and every size a customer can think of. 

The logic in sticking with the standard sizes is 1. they assume the customer can always purchase a size smaller to make it work with the room and 2. it would be very expensive to make changes to the existing machinery.

There is good news, however.  There are manufacturers who will make custom sized area rugs such as Masland Carpets & Rugs. (We love Masland and have many samples and selections in our showrooms.  Their website CICK HERE is well worth a visit.)


In addition to using a custom rug manufacturer, you can also have broadloom (wall-to-wall) carpet cut to size and bound or serged.  If you're looking for something fast, our large selection of carpet remnants can quickly and easily be cut to size and finished with binding or serging.  This opens up the door to a nearly unlimited selection of styles and patterns for a custom area rug.

a rug finished with binding

a rug finished with serging

At Bob Wagner's, we offer both binding and serging and have a large selection of in stock carpet remnants at each of our locations; Downingtown, West Chester and Middletown, DE.  As a Masland dealer, customers are able to come in and select from their product line and create their own work of custom art in nearly any size.  Bob Wagner's also has countless broadloom carpet selections to choose from.  

Bob Wagner's has been in business and family owned since 1975.