Carpet Monkey

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Batavia Fire Stations

Here are some pictures from the Batavia East & West Fire Stations which we completed in 07' with Sigalos & Associates. I'm sure that these stations rival some of the nicest fire houses in the country. They're the perfect home away from home for the men and women that risk their lives for a living. The living quarters are spacious and private unlike the typical bunk type rooms that you'll find at most fire houses. The kitchen is one that even Bobby Flay would be happy to work in. ROI has worked with Sigalos & Associates on several projects and it's always a great pleasure to work for them. Frank & Joe, the superintendents, are so great to work for and they help to create a true teamwork environment on the job site. Nick & Rob in the front office do an awesome job of communicating the needs of the subcontractor to the architect and owners. As you can see in the pictures, the workmanship and detail that goes into a Sigalos project from the jobsite, to the estimators, to the project managers is world class. If you're ever in Batavia stop by the fire house and check out the beatiful facility.....and let those firemen know how much you appreciate what they do for us!

Mori Seiki

Here are some photos of a project we recently completed the flooring on in August of 09 for McShane Construction. We had a great experience working with the McShane field office and the project manager & estimator. McShane did a wonderful job of communicating between the subcontractor and the ownership. As with most large projects many obstacles were presented but we worked seamlessly with McShane to ensure a successful project with beautiful floors that will stand the test of time.

Mori Seiki has built a state of the art office/manufacturing facility in Hoffman Estates. This new facility has a fantastic location clearly visible from Rte 90 traveling in either direction. You can't miss it right near the Sears Center.

Above you will find pictures of the lobby which features a jaw dropping 12x24 porcelain tile in a staggered (brick like) design featuring a custom curve cut into the floor to highlight the entrance into their manufacturing warehouse. The curve is continued through the glass wall which is difficult to see in the picture but it has a really cool effect as if the room just opens into the warehouse without all the noise.

Above you'll also notice pictures of the lobby stairwell which we installed porcelain tile on to match the lobby floor. The top of the stair requires an ADA compliant detectable warning surface which we had custom grooved into the porcelain tile for a clean seamless look. Typically the required tactile warning surface creates a visual eyesore, but this turned out beautifully!

Lastly you'll find pictures of various other areas including an executive suite featuring carpet tiles in an alternating pattern on the floor. You'll also see a picture of the lunchroom area which features a premium vinyl composition tile from Mannington with a custom waterjet cut radius into the floor to visually draw your eye through the space as you enter the room.

As I'm sure you can see above McShane built a gorgeous state of the art facility for Mori Seiki which I'm sure will WOW any of their clientele as they tour the building. I was proud to be a part of this project and am thrilled with the results!

If you have questions about any of the products we've used or techniques in which the floors were installed please feel free to contact me by email or phone and I'd love to talk further. My direct line is 224-238-2045 or email is brakow@rieke.com .

Chanooka Healthcare

Here are a few pictures of the floors at a project we're about 99% completed on in Channahon, IL. It's a medical office building located near the borders of Channahon & Minooka, IL so the center is appropriately named Chanooka Healthcare Center. The designer chose some really luxurious textures for the common areas including a heathered carpet tile by Constantine, a polished Italian porcelain tile wrapping the columns, luxury vinyl plank flooring resembling bamboo, and fun luxury vinyl tiles by Azrock in large format for the children exam rooms. The contractor is beginning the final cleaning process so I'll be sure to post additional (cleaner) pictures of this project after the grand opening.

Ball Corporation

This is a picture of a project I recently completed for Ball Aerosol Corporation. The customer has a huge manufacturing plant located directly off of the front office area as is typical with a lot of manufacturing facilities. The problem they were experiencing was that there was so much grease, dirt, and oil being tracked in on the carpeting that it looked 10 years old in a matter of less than 2 years. I suggested that we create aisles or pathways to match the flow of foot traffic as the employees come in and out of the warehouse into the office. We chose to use a porcelain tile product as it's non-porous and won't absorb any of the foreign soil that is walked into the space. Additionally we put a grout sealer on all the grout to help keep the grout from discoloring over time. As a last line of defense they are using walk-off carpet mats in various areas to help keep the amount of soil that is walked into the offices to a minimum. This is one of the most common issues that our clients have about their flooring. It's not 100% guaranteed to solve the problem, but it almost always drastically helps reduce the amount of soiling on the carpeted areas, and still maintains the office's upscale look. It would be great to install the tile throughout the entire office, however the tile is about 4 times the cost of carpet tile. Additionally, carpet gives the office something that tile never will and that's a better acoustical value and warmth. In an environment where employees are constantly on the phone it's imperative that noise levels be kept to a minimum which is why creating these aisles for Ball Corporation was a great solution!

Exhibit Concepts

Here's a picture of a project we recently completed called Exhibit Concepts. We were contracted by Northern Builders and worked closely with Brad Wood at Northern to ensure a timely completion for the owner's move-in.

This project was challenging as the budget seemed to be constantly changing for the flooring work, but one thing stayed constant in the owner's mind - the lobby must make a great impression.

It's difficult to tell, but we used a semi-polished porcelain tile by Dal-Tile called "Vibe" and there is a tiny grid in the tile that is grooved so that only the surface of the grid is polished. This provides the proper slip resistance on a polished tile. It's a very neat look and gives Exhibit Concept's clients a great impression when they walk into the space.

Gerry Hyzy is the owner of Exhibit Concepts. He did a great job of selecting materials as the space turned out beautifully!

Illinois Center for Pain

Here is a picture of a project that we completed this past winter for Illinois Center for Pain Medicine. When working with Dr. Terri Prunskis she was given the difficult task of tying in the design style and colors of the reception area into some existing chairs they were using in the waiting area. The chairs had an almost teal tint to them, which we found difficult to match. The solution.....see the carpet inlay below. While we chose a neutral porcelain tile surround, I worked with Terri to find a carpeting that would tie in the teal-tinted chairs, and would contribute to the fun/hip design of the office. It doesn't really show in the pictures, but the wallpaper has a really cool curved design to it which works well with the carpet pattern we selected. Dr. Prunskis was great to work with as was the general contractor Jeff Woltman of Woltman Construction. This is the second medical office we've worked with Jeff on and I've been impressed with Jeff's work on both occasions. He manages to create a really inspiring office environment that any Doctor's office would be proud to work in.

Callidus Estimating Software

So about 1 year ago ROI Flooring purchased a flooring estimating program called Callidus and it has made life so much easier! The program offers many benefits to my workflow, however it also helps our flooring customers. Here's how....

1. We now work on all blue-prints electronically. What that means for our clients is that we are not wasting HUGE amounts of paper on blue-prints and spec books. Shipping costs for obtaining drawings are eliminated since most drawings can be downloaded on the internet, emailed, or mailed on a disk or flash drive.

2. All of our quotes come with a fully highlighted copy of each floor plan. This is significant because it clearly shows the full scope of work we're including in our proposals to our customers. It helps eliminate confusion or errors during the sale and install process. It helps give our customers a clearer understanding of what it is exactly they are purchasing.

3. The turn around time on our quotes has drastically been reduced. The estimating program allows me to produce an estimate in about 1/3 the time it would have taken with traditional paper drawings. This helps ROI be more efficient in our quoting and sales presentation timelines. A typical turn around is about 1 week for quotes. Smaller projects can often be the same or next day!

Below are a few examples of what an estimate from Callidus looks like. A highlighted color key similar to what is shown below is provided for every quote. Please contact me at 224-238-2045 if you are interested in getting an estimate on flooring for your project.

ROI Flooring + Custom Logo Design

Pictured above is a custom logo that we did for Kimball Middle School in 2002. Obviously the school mascot is a tiger and when the school received funding to have all of the old asbestos flooring abated and replaced with new vinyl composition tile they wanted to find a way to make an impact at the school's main entrance. We worked with the contractor and the school to have this custom logo created. The school still gets a ton of positive feedback from parents, kids, and faculty when they are greeted with such a cool design built right into the floor.

Often times our clients forget the importance of making a great first impression for thier customers and employees at the entrance to thier facility. Whether we create a custom logo, use a unique flooring product, or create an interesting design in the floor the main entry or lobby area is a great place to spend a little extra money to create that impact that will give everyone a great first impression of your company. Furthermore, the flooring is one of the first finish materials your customers and employees will see upon entering your office so the floor is a perfect place to make a statement.

If you are interested in seeing what design ideas ROI Flooring can come up with for your office please contact Ben Rakow at 224-238-2045 to see what works best for your facility and budget.

Preowned/Discontinued Carpet Program

Shown here is one of our featured carpet tile products that is currently available in our used carpet inventory. We have a large quantity of this carpet available for immediate shipment. Most of the tiles are in very good condition with little or slight signs of wearing. It doesn't show in the picture well but it has a blue base with tan overtones and will work well with most nuetral decor.

The best part is that this product is available at the low price of $1.69 per square foot (includes product, delivery, and adhesive). This product would normally retail for $2.85 per square foot without delivery & adhesive. That's a savings of over 40% vs. retail!

If you are interested in this product or seeing other products available in our preowned/discontinued carpet program please contact Ben Rakow at 224-238-2045. Check back periodically and I'll try to put other available products once a month on my blog for your viewing pleasure.

This program is a great way to save money on your next carpet project. Installation with carpet tiles is easy and check back in the following days for an update on Interface's "TacTiles" installation system where I'll explain further how that install method can simplify carpet tile installation even further!

Abbey Paving

So I began working with John Kohler at Abbey Paving around August of 08'. We helped him put together his initial budget for the flooring & office furniture in his building (in case I didn't mention before Rieke Office Interiors is also a furniture/case goods manufacturer), and when I say "we" I mean my furniture sales partner Mike Paris. Well, we contacted John periodically for several months hoping to earn his business. Unfortunately, we were not successful in winning the furniture bid, however, I was awarded the flooring work. The pictures you see above highlight a few of the different material types we provided for this project including an Amtico luxury vinyl floor in the lobby with the Abbey Paving logo water jet cut into the floor. Additionally, you'll see that there are 2 types of Amtico floors in the lobby area that come together in large curves that were also water jet cut into the floor. The gray Amtico flooring has a diamond plate texture and look to it, and the brown Amtico flooring has a copper look to it (very cool, although it doesn't show in the pictures that well). Amtico has some outstanding patterns, textures, and looks in thier floors and is a great way to create a lasting first impression for customers who visit a building.

Unfortunately they're still buttoning things up on site, and the flooring is still awaiting it's final cleaning (which was scheduled for the day after I was on site to take pictures), but you get the feel for how the floors turned out.

The bathroom floors & walls consisted of a beautiful porcelain tile in varying sizes from 12x24 on the floors to 12x24, 6x24, and 2x2 mosaics on the walls as shown in the picture above. Our installers did an outstanding job with the layout of the walls and floors, the tiles were all cut perfectly to outline the drains, and all the inside corners are perfectly spaced at the walls. It's great to work with a team of people from sales, to ordering and delivery, through the installation that are perfectionists and take great pride in what they do. The end result is a perfect installation and a thrilled customer that we've hopefully earned their business for life as a result.

John Kohler is one of the coolest guys you'll ever meet. He's wonderful to work for, he's a great construction manager, and he's got a story for just about everything. He was brought in by Abbey Paving to head up a new construction division for the company. The construction of their own building was his first test and I'd say he passes with flying colors. The office looks outstanding, and he completed it within the time frame everyone hoped. I was proud to be a part of this project, and I'm thankful Abbey Paving chose ROI Flooring for their new office.

Woodstock High School

This is my first attempt at blogging. I figured I'd join the crowd and use it to help promote my business as best I can. I'm planning on using this site to update my clients and friends with pictures of recently completed and in-progress projects. I'm hopeful that a few people read through this and maybe find my work interesting enough to refer me to someone that I may be able to earn more business.

Woodstock High School is by far the largest contract that I've ever worked on. This is a new high school that we completed in summer of 08' for IHC Construction, LLC out of Elgin, IL. Legat was the architect (Paul Babski). The contract for the flooring was $1,930,000.00. Man that's a lot of 0's! The reason for the size of the contract was that the school made the best decision ever....to scrap all of the terrazzo and do porcelain tile in the corridors throughout the new high school.

In the flooring industry porcelain tile is among the most expensive products to furnish and install. It's also among the longest lasting. Woodstock School District chose a timeless stone looking porcelain tile from Crossville called "NOW!" series, and it is beautiful. It has a very rustic look and will definitely stand the test of time both aesthetically and functionally.

I was very proud to be a part of this project. We were able to help a lot of tile setters in the Chicago area stay busy during the summer of 08' and for that I also think I earned a certain amount of respect for completing a project of that size. I also want to add that we finished on schedule, and with very little headache. The job went about as smoothly as I could have ever asked.

The picture featured here was taken when the project was about 90% complete. The contractor was still cleaning up, a few subs were still completing work, and the floors weren't final cleaned yet. I hope to have more complete final pictures to post in the near future.

Thanks for looking, and check back periodically as I'll try to update with new project photos and also some random information on new products that I think are worth sharing. I may also try to tell a few experiences from being in the Chicago flooring industry for 13+ years.