Services

Looking for the true floor expert?

At Interior Specifications we take our jobs as floor covering consultations and floor forensics scientists very seriously. Our claim to the title of “floor experts” is what sets us apart from all other companies. An unbiased opinion is difficult to come by in today’s society which is why our team of honest, professional, courteous individuals is so rare. Whether you need advice on safety floor installations or slip and fall analysis, Interior Specifications is the company to call.

What We Do

As a member of ASTM, Interior Specifications provides its clients with a variety of professional services that are always accurate, and conform to the latest ASTM standards. We provide a clear understanding of the floor related issues involved in your project, weather it is construction consultation or litigation.

FLOOR COVERING CONSULTANTS
We assist our clients with life cycle studies, value engineering, specifications, purchasing procedures and budgeting. In short, we help our clients decide exactly what type of floor they need and how much they should budget. At Interior Specifications we provide any value engineering that is appropriate for the project.

FLOOR FORENSICS
We take pride in our floor forensics services. When it comes to safety floor analysis and slip and fall investigations, we have the expertise and knowledge to back up all of our claims. If you need evidence for a court case or insurance claim, Interior Specifications is the company that will be ready to tackle any situation.

EDUCATION
At Interior Specifications we believe firmly in the power of education. We offer staff awareness seminars and study papers on products. We also offer information on techniques of purchasing and tricks of the trade. We provide you with the tools you need to make smart decisions and avoid unnecessary floor-related expenses.

List of Services

Please consider the advantages of involving Interior Specifications in your decision making process. Below you will find a description of the services and benefits we provide.

As true floor experts, we make sure to offer our customers a full range of specialized services instead of one average service. Our services are as follows:

• Complete Diagnostic Evaluations
• Life Cycle Cost Study
• Budgeting of Repair, or Replacement
• Development of Remediation Program
• Development of Replacement Program
• Development of Purchasing Program
• Ongoing Services
• Forensic Examination

SUMMARY OF SERVICES

The floor covering industry today is based on SERVICE. The carpet manufacturers of the world have developed limited distribution to emphasize this modern approach to a developing industry, as well as control the quality of its service providers.

Interior Specifications holds a prominent place in this industry because, it provides products and services the not only equal the best parts of all the alignments, but furnishes a menu of services that goes beyond any individual floor covering provider. We do not manufacturer any product, but service all flooring materials required, from conceptions assistance to long term finance and maintenance.

• Development of replacement/new program
• Development of remediation/repair program
• Life cycle cost study
• Budgeting of repair, or replacement
• Development of Purchasing/Leasing program
• Management of labor requirements
• Development of maintenance program
• On going inspection and counseling services
• Recycling programs Forensic Examination
• Expert Witness services (like kind and quality)
• Appraisal of damage

Expertise in Multiple Types of Flooring

Interior Specifications, in conjunction with its manufacturing and service affiliations can offer the consumer, designer, and the general contractor every advantage the newly evolved flooring industry can provide.Carpet

Carpet ceased to be a luxury item after World War II. Nylon became plentiful, and broadloom sewing machines could sew on backings wider than 54 inches. In a normal year, the carpet industry of the United States produces enough carpet, in 12-foot widths, to wrap the Equator 25 times.

Modern commercial carpet is a blend of several scientific disciplines. The blend of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanics produces materials that are durable, cleanable, long lasting and recyclable. The problem for the Forensic Scientist is one of understanding the manufacturing process and guiding the testing processes (using ASTM and industry standards), when a failure takes place. To complicate the science of carpet, the Forensic Scientist must have an in depth knowledge of the craft of installation, and an understanding of how carpet is used in a commercial environment, whether it is Healthcare, Institutional, or Retail.

This is the uniqueness of Interior Specifications. The years of training by several carpet manufacturers, the exposure to the design process (as a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of American Registered Architects), and 35 years as a licensed floor-covering contractor, has made a complete package.

Interior Specifications has provided expertise in floor covering specification to; Burbank Airport, Baltimore Washington International Airport, Denver International Airport, the University of California at Los Angeles, University of California at Los Angeles and San Francisco Medical Centers, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, California State University at Northridge, The GAP, Macy’s, Finish Line Stores, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers Studios, Paramount Pictures, Bruckheimer Productions, and many others.

Interior Specifications has provided floor installation specifications to; The Gap, Crate & Barrel, Finish Line Stores, The City of Orange, City of Las Vegas, The California State Contractors License Board, UCLA, USC, Barstow College, California State University at San Luis Obispo, California State University at Long Beach, California State University at Northridge.

For 13 years, Interior Specifications has been the industry expert for carpet failures for the California State Contractors License Board, and the California Attorney General.

In 1994 Kenneth D, Newson was contacted by the Architects for California State College at Northridge. The Earthquake had decimated their dormitories. Could he please write a specification to replace the carpet, the sheet vinyl, and remediate 500,000 square feet of lightweight concrete. He did.

As Forensic Scientists, Interior Specifications is asked to look protocols not only install carpet by use that carpet. Knowledge of adhesives and tools and move-in schedules are part of such an examination.

Interior Specifications has been task with guiding legal council in the pursuit of the truth about a carpet failure. This carpet is less than 1 year old. Loops of pile began to pull out and the carpet began to come apart. Being a high traffic public building, repairs were made with left over pieces from construction.

Interior Specifications was asked Why, Who was at fault, how best to repair. We scoured the construction paper trail; we prepared the laboratory test protocols, and interpreted the results.

Interior Specifications’ 40+ years of experience in interior design and construction brings an insight to the workings of all of the parts of a floor-covering project.

The complaint was the carpet was rippling due to poor installation. The investigation found that the carpet had an attached cushion, and was glued to the concrete in new offices. There were ripples in the common areas. The construction timeline showed movers arriving 4 hours after the carpet layers were finished. The moves used dollies to bring in furniture. The problem, the instructions that came with the adhesive required a 48-cure time prior to wheel traffic. The documents revealed the truth.

Interior Specifications has been task with guiding legal council in the pursuit of the truth about a carpet failure. This carpet is less than 1 year old. Loops of pile began to pull out and the carpet began to come apart. Being a high traffic public building, repairs were made with left over pieces from construction.

Interior Specifications was asked Why, Who was at fault, how best to repair. We scoured the construction paper trail; we prepared the laboratory test protocols, and interpreted the results.

Interior Specifications’ 40+ years of experience in interior design and construction brings an insight to the workings of all of the parts of a floor-covering project.

The complaint was the carpet was rippling due to poor installation. The investigation found that the carpet had an attached cushion, and was glued to the concrete in new offices. There were ripples in the common areas. The construction timeline showed movers arriving 4 hours after the carpet layers were finished. The moves used dollies to bring in furniture. The problem, the instructions that came with the adhesive required a 48-cure time prior to wheel traffic. The documents revealed the truth.Wood

Wood Floor Covering has been around almost as long as dirt, and today requires an exacting understanding of the materials, related chemicals, installation protocols, site conditions and the industry standards. Wood flooring products can be found in retail stores, commercial offices, gymnasiums, hotels, museums, and residences.

The complexities of wood flooring system are specific to what type of wood flooring, the thickness, the width, the species, and the manufacturing method. Included in this mix are solid woods, engineered woods, cork, engineered grass, and plastic laminates. The variability in site conditions and sub-structures must be in balanced with the floor-covering material.

Wood flooring products are highly sensitive to the presence of moisture. Interior Specifications is licensed to provide all of the required testing related to moisture. This includes ASTM F1869, ASTM F2420 and ASTM F2170, electronic impedance, and bond test evaluations

As a member of the National Wood Flooring Association, Interior Specifications is kept up to date with changes in the industry. Also, Interior Specifications keeps an extensive library of standards and instructions for the installation of these materials. The years of training by wood flooring manufacturers and distributors, the exposure to the design process (as a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of American Registered Architects), and 35 years as a licensed floor-covering contractor, has made a complete package.

Interior Specifications has provided expertise on materials and installation for use in commercial offices, multi-family residential projects, retail stores and athletic facilities, dance studios, and schools. Interior Specifications has provided wood related flooring specifications to, The GAP, Banana Republic, Macy’s, Finish Line, Gymboree, 24 Fitness, Barstow College, City of Los Vegas, City of Orange, City of Huntington Beach, UCLA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Kirov Ballet, Dance School of the Pacific and The American Institute of Architecture.

For 13 years, Interior Specifications has been the industry expert for wood floor failures for the California State Contractors License Board, and the California Attorney General.

Is this cupping of solid wood due to moisture? NO, it is due to sunlight.

Is this repair acceptable?Stone

Throughout history, floors have been constructed using stone. Natural Stone (Dimensional Stone) comes from quarries around the world. There is a multitude of nuance in each stone. As a member of the Marble Institute of America, Interior Specifications maintains an awareness of the factors related to a proper selection, installation and expectation of natural Stone Flooring.

This category of floor covering also includes Ceramic Tile flooring, Engineered Stone Flooring, and Engineered Glass flooring. There is interplay between the Marble Institute of America and the Tile Council of North America. Interior Specifications maintains a relationship with the Tile Council of North America, and blends the discipline of both organizations in preparing an opinion.

Interior Specifications has been called in by Engineered Stone Manufacturers and distributors to investigate installation failures.  These projects were in Hospitality Healthcare and Retail.

The specification of a sub-structure for each product is related to the items dimensions and the site conditions. Interior Specifications address these issues with the eye of the long time contractor. The performance of a stone floor is directly related to the quality of the installation protocol and the contractor’s adherence to that protocol.

As a contractor, Interior Specifications has installed stone flooring in high-rise office building. As a forensic investigator, Interior Specifications has seen stone failures due to varying events.

Interior Specifications is expert in Stone and Ceramic Tile failures.

Engineered Stone:

Dimensional Stone:Vinyl

When speaking of the generic category of Vinyl flooring, Linoleum must be included. The reason for this is that the consumer is unaware of the basic difference between the two. Vinyl floor covering is primarily all synthetic, and linoleum is primarily all natural.

Interior Specifications was first trained by Armstrong World Industries and over the years all of the major resilient floor covering manufacturers and distributors provided in depth training.

Vinyl flooring has several sub-categories, Homogenous Sheet Vinyl, Embossed Sheet Vinyl, Inlayed Sheet Vinyl, Vinyl Composite Tile, Vinyl Asbestos Tile (no longer manufactured), and Solid Vinyl Tile. As a specifier, Interior Specifications works with all of these products, as a forensic investigator, we work with all of them. Linoleum comes in sheets and tiles.

These resilient materials are flexible, colorful, cost effective and terribly moisture sensitive. To properly specify these products, a good knowledge of adhesives and vapor barriers is needed. To properly write an installation protocol, time must be spent detailing the site preparation, and pre-installation inspection and testing.

Interior Specifications has extensive experience in developing the scenario for the proper material selection as well as the appropriate installation protocol for these products. Our work has included 100+ hospital projects, commercial kitchens, retail stores, grocery stores, and warehouses.

Interior Specifications, the forensic investigator, is fully aware of the industry standards. We are licensed to perform several ASTM tests and protocols, including F1869 and F708. Both Kentile and Flintkote retained us to act as the expert in their Vinyl Asbestos Tile litigation.

For 13 years, Interior Specifications has been the industry expert for resilient floor failures for the California State Contractors License Board, and the California Attorney General.

As a Forensic Scientist we have looked at vinyl and linoleum failures across the United States. The standards in F708 may still be met, yet there is an anomaly.

The writing seen on this material is telegraphing from the sub-floor, that has been sanded and floated. The product is homogeneous sheet vinyl.

This kitchen floor is leaking into the floor below. Why? The subfloor is dry-pac, is it appropriate?

Rubber

Rubber flooring this has been traced back to the 12 century. In 1894, Philadelphia architect Frank Fumess patented a system for rubber floor tiles. Rubber flooring evolved and began to be popular in the 1970’s. Today the advantages and values of rubber flooring are coming to the forefront of the facilities specifier. Rubber flooring provides increased R -values for insulation, it provides a higher static coefficient of friction than other common floor covering materials, it is recyclable, and sustainable. Specify it wrong and it’s a nightmare.

There are many proper uses for rubber flooring. Healthcare, Sports Floors, Schools, Transportation, Manufacturing and many others. Caution, your “installation is only as good as the floor you cover”. In other words, proper site testing and preparation are essential.

Interior Specifications, a flooring expert, is fully knowledge in the manners of site testing, sub-floor preparation, adhesives systems, and warranties related to these products. We are experienced in site investigations related to the failure of rubber flooring.

Interior Specifications has worked in the capacity of expert, contractor and specifier for rubber flooring on hundreds of projects. Our clients include major hospital managers, such as Kaiser Permanente, Columbia Medical, Tennant Hospitals, UCLA, UCSF, USC. Hospital developers: McCarthy, and PCL. University facility managers: UCLA, USC, California State University at Northridge, California State University at San Louis Obispo, California State University at Long Beach, California State University at Los Angeles.

Specialty floor covering requires a superior insight into the working of floors, as floor experts, Interior Specifications has such insight. We have brought in where others don’t meet the challenge.

End users and Manufacturers look to Interior Specifications for expertise in rubber flooring. We answer the real mysteries of flooring. Interior Specifications travels from San Juan to Victoria to Honolulu assisting people with flooring issues.

How old is this floor? Should this material be covered by warranty?

Why is the riser cracking?

What is this all about?Dance & Sport

Do you remember when the school gym floor had a new coat of varnish on it? It would smell, and grip your shoes so they would squeak. That floor was made of solid maple and still is the standard of excellence. The only change is that varnish is considered to be too toxic for such use and new polymer coatings are used.

Today you also have options. If the budget, or the site conditions won’t allow for solid maple there are materials that will work. Materials like solid rubber, sold vinyl, carpet, cork, and linoleum are also in use. That’s the good news. The bad news, like solid maple, they are all moisture sensitive. As a floor-covering expert, Interior Specifications will guide the specifier to the most valuable selection.

Interior Specifications, the specifier has work for several private health clubs, and designed dance floors for The Dance School of the Pacific, and, several religious centers, and the Kirov Ballet of Leningrad.

Interior Specifications, the forensic investigator has handled dozens of sports floor failures. We were brought in by 24 Fitness, Bally’s Fitness, Gold’s Gym, The City of Orange, CA, The City of Huntington Beach, CA, The City of Las Vegas, and The City of Los Angeles, for forensic investigation.

The moisture vapor under this high school sheet rubber gym floor has emulsified.

Why did this Gym Floor collapse?

Interior Specifications was a city’s consultant for this installation.Concrete

“Oh, if my floor would only wear like concrete!”

This is a fallacy. As concrete cures, a film appears on the top as the aggregate settles toward the bottom. This topcoat is called the “cream coat” Concrete is porous, vapors and thin liquids travel through the pores, often allowing agents to stain. The cream coat doesn’t wear very well or long.

Some of the solutions to making concrete wear better are to seal the concrete, coat the concrete, or polish the concrete. Interior Specifications, the “floor expert”, knows about these processes and guides the specifier to the proper treatment for the project.

Interior Specifications, the Forensic Examiner, is aware if the installation protocols for the treatments and investigates coating failures.

Why is the Epoxy topping de-bonding from the concrete in this factory?

In this case Interior Specifications reviewed the installation protocols published by the manufacturer of the epoxy coating, and looked at the equipment that was actually used. The site was tested for anomalies. The issue was resolved before trial.

Is this floor safe?

Polished concrete is not a manufactured material. This is a feature created at the site. Also, there are topographically treatments that can be applied to the surface that affect the slip resistance of this floor. There are maintenance procedures that affect the slip resistance of this floor

To answer the question of safety requires a comparison of the construction documents, the literature pertaining to the safety of polished concrete, the national standards of safety created by OSHA and ANSI. The site can be tested using the ASTM F1028 protocol, but can the site really emulate the moment that the safety of this surface was called into question. That usually takes place after a Slip & Fall accident.

Interior Specifications investigates the role of polished concrete in Slip & Fall accidents.Healthcare

In the years of contracting and specifying, Interior Specifications has found a niche market, one requiring the utmost in for technical expertise. That market is Healthcare.

We have performed in facilities from Manhattan to Honolulu, in over 100 hospitals. We advised on the material selection for several University Medical Centers, Regional Healthcare Centers, and local Doctor’s Hospital. We have worked in Veterinary Hospitals, and Urgent Care facilities.

All kinds of floor covering materials are used in healthcare facilities. Including Wood, Rubber, Vinyl, Linoleum, Carpet, and Sealers. Interior Specifications knows them all.

Today there is a focus on materials that will function well, maintain easily and also be GREEN. Interior Specifications can guide in that materials selection process, as well as develop the proper installation protocol.

Interior Specifications, the forensic scientists have been called into investigations of the truly unusual healthcare floor failures.

What is happening here? I can tell you that it isn’t moisture related.

What is happening here? I can tell you that the numbers are not on top of the material.Moisture

Since the removal of VOC’s and asbestos from floor covering adhesives, the floor failure rate has grown disproportionately to the increase in materials consumed. The “Clean Air Act” and health concerns have made floor-covering materials more susceptible to failure from moisture vapor intrusion.

Interior Specifications is licensed to perform all of the standard moisture vapor intrusion field tests recognized by ASTM and ANSI. We then relate the results of the tests taken to the requirements published by the manufacturers of each material used.

As part of the investigative process, we look at factors that would indicate that moisture vapor intrusion is likely in a given project. Moisture vapor intrusion is possible above grade. Given our familiarity with the current science and materials available, we develop protocols that will eliminate the danger or remediate the damage affected by moisture vapor intrusion.

We have chaired symposiums on moisture vapor intrusion for The Society of American Registered Architects, and the American Institute of Architecture. We have published extensively for the Society of American Register Architects.

Moisture sensitivity must be addressed when floor-covering materials are going to be installed.

Epoxy Topcoat:

Sheet Rubber Flooring:

Natural Stone:

Vinyl Composite Tile:

Engineered Wood:

Solid Wood: