The Merry Month
Robert Merry is an independent stone consultant and project manager who ran his own company for 17 years. He also acts as an expert witness.
Happy New Year – hope you enjoyed the Christmas quiz.
If you thought 2016 was extraordinary, I think 2017 could be even more so. Extra-extraordinary. A Trump and exit. Or exit and Trump. Rumpit or Trex?
Maybe just a plain old changing of world political geography and an uncertain future in the UK.
On the positive side, we have each other. That’s you and me, snuggled up in the UK stone industry; wrapped in hope.
What are you doing in 2017?
I’m going to the Surface Design Show at the Business Design Centre in Islington in February. I'm scheduled to give a CPD talk. 11.30am to 12.15. Thursday 9 February. Exciting, innit?
I wasn’t sure what to ‘give forth’ on, but having attended the first meeting of the new Stone Federation Interiors Group, I thought I might crack on a bit about the advantages of using a stone professional.
Titled ‘Stone Me’ (which is meant to be a pun, not a request for audience participation) I thought a verbal ramble around how good we all are might be appropriate.
Selection:
I have received a variety of complaints from customers over the stone selection process… or lack of it.
“It doesn’t look like the sample.”
“There are markings in the surface I hadn’t seen at the time of selection and would never have purchased the material if I’d known”.
“The Stone supplier’s sample was very small and a) we’ve lost it, b) given it back, c) can’t find it d) it was eaten by the dog.”
(I made that last one up.)
Rumblings from stone contractors and suppliers sound just as familiar.
“We showed them the whole slab and they never said anything”.
“It’s exactly the same as the sample”.
“They’ve obviously changed their mind now its fitted and they are looking for us to replace it”.
There is an excellent guide to Selecting the Correct Stone published by Stone Federation Great Britain (SFGB). The first section has a good narrative on samples – indicative and range – but then the document concentrates primarily on the factors more likely to affect external building façade stone selection.
The current suite of BSEN codes – 1469, 12057, 12058, 12059 – covering the requirements for slabs for cladding, modular tiles, slabs for floors and dimensional stone give clear guidelines on selection of material – including the famous ‘man with the X-ray eyes’ diagram. The SFGB Kitchen, Floor & Wet Room guides also have sections on the correct procedure to follow when selecting stone.
With CE marking now enshrined in law as a building regulation, stone professionals have access to a wealth of good practical advise to help make sure the stone selected is fit for purpose and the client knows what they are buying. Or, might I suggest, where it is not quite so obvious, we have the honesty to tell the client there may be an issue with their selection. Agreed?
Installation:
Then I thought I might move on to talk about installation.
Right stone, wrong installation material; wrong backgrounds; no movement joints; too much water in the mix; sensitive materials discolouring from pigment-heavy grouts; dot and dab fixing; bed too thick; bed too thin; cut sizes too big; cut sizes too small… Sound familiar?
Again, we have the SFGB Flooring Guide, Wet Rooms Guide, Kitchens Guide, BS 5385 Wall and Floor Tiling Code, the soon to be re-written BS 8298 Part 5, BS 8000 Workmanship on Building Sites, to name a few.
There is also an army of adhesive and grout manufacturer technicians; a battalion of backer board, slip membrane and decoupling membrane manufacturers offering advice; a squadron of sealer suppliers with guidance… With such forces to back us up, how can we get it wrong? But occasionally we do. The tank stalls. The plane misses the runway.
Well, I think that should cover the CPD. What do you think?
Less about me and more about the stone? Yes, you’re probably right.
I hope you have a marvellous 2017 and wish you every success. Maybe I'll see you in February. Thursday the 9th. 11.30 to 12.15. Surface Design Show.
OK, OK. Sorry. Less me, more stone.