With over 40 years in the flooring industry, Robert Varden brings unique insights into the challenges and opportunities facing installation professionals today. As the owner of Advanced Flooring Technology (AFT) and founder of Unite, a non-profit focused on developing the next generation of flooring installers, Varden shares his perspective on the industry's evolution and future.
“I started in this industry when you pretty much only had a particular category that you specialized in,” he said.
He began laying carpet at age 14 during the summer and became an independent contractor by the age of 19. Tracing how carpet trends have evolved, he remembers the solid colors—mostly beiges and greys—and that patterns were just beginning to become popular. Woven carpet entered the picture and Varden admits, “We never had any training on it. It was trial and error because the manufacturer and the installer community weren't connected then as well as we are now.”
He turned his focus to the construction of the carpet as well as the type of material to better understand what the installation techniques should be. Soon thereafter, he got the opportunity to consult for manufacturers on jobs that were struggling with their carpet installations.
“A lot of the techniques that I teach in my carpet pattern class were techniques that we had developed literally in the field during those days,” he said. “There's almost nothing I can't do with carpet. It can be manipulated, stretched, tweaked, cut back, retrained.”
We sat down with Varden to learn more about the current state of flooring installation and where he sees it heading in the near future.
The Installation Crisis: More Than Just Numbers
"We've been talking about an installer shortage for 30-40 years," Varden explained, "but it hasn't been an installer shortage per se—it's been a trained installer shortage." This distinction is crucial. While there have been people willing to do the work, proper training has become increasingly scarce as knowledge gets diluted through generations of informal apprenticeships.
The Price Problem
One of the most striking issues Varden identifies is installation pricing. While the cost of living, vehicles, and materials has increased dramatically over the past three decades, installation rates remained largely stagnant until recently. The past five years finally saw significant rate increases due to demand, but Varden warns of a troubling trend: "When work slows down, installers get hungry and immediately give up that raise it took them 30 years to gain. We can lose it in six months."
The Technology Evolution
While installation techniques have remained relatively constant, tools and materials have seen significant advancement:
- New adhesive technologies addressing moisture and alkalinity issues
- Improved tools for efficiency and precision
- Evolution of recycled content and backing systems
- Innovation in carpet tile technologies
The Age Factor
Perhaps the most pressing concern is the aging workforce. "A huge number of individuals in the trade are over 50 years old," Varden noted. "Our labor force is aging greatly, and we're not doing enough to bring young people into the trade." This demographic challenge threatens to create an even more severe shortage when business rebounds.
Looking to the Future
For individual installers who are well-trained and business-savvy, Varden sees a bright future—rating it a "10 out of 10." However, for the industry as a whole, particularly retailers, he's less optimistic, rating it a "4 or 5" unless significant changes occur.
The solution, according to Varden, requires a multi-faceted approach:
- High school awareness programs
- Partnerships with detention centers for youth training
- College programs through organizations like FCEF
- Better industry-wide marketing to compete with other trades
- Continued focus on training even during economic downturns
"You can't take your foot off the gas," Varden emphasized. "You have to keep improving every segment of your business even though business is off, and the installation side is definitely one of them."
