Boje v. Abbey Carpet & Floors Rock

• Decision Date: 13 June 2012
• Docket Number: No. CA 11–1024.,CA 11–1024.
• Citation: Boje v. Abbey Carpet & Floors of Little Rock, 2012 Ark. App. 388, 418 S.W.3d 417 (Ark. App. 2012)
• Court: Arkansas Court of Appeals
• Parties: Leroy BOJE d/b/a Central Arkansas Floors, Appellant v. ABBEY CARPET & FLOORS OF LITTLE ROCK, Appellee.

2012 Ark. App. 388

418 S.W.3d 417

Leroy BOJE d/b/a Central Arkansas Floors, Appellant

v.ABBEY CARPET & FLOORS OF LITTLE ROCK, Appellee.

No. CA 11–1024.

Court of Appeals of Arkansas.

June 13, 2012.

Jesse W. Thompson, Conway, for Appellant.

DOUG MARTIN, Judge.

In this one-brief case, appellantLeroy Boje contends that the Faulkner County Circuit Court erred in awarding judgment against him in favor of appellee Abbey Carpet & Floors of Little Rock (Abbey).We find no error and affirm.

Abbey filed suit against Boje on October 29, 2009, alleging that Boje improperly installed carpeting at the Greater Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, causing Abbey to have to uninstall the carpet and replace it.As a result of Boje's alleged breach of contract, Abbey sought damages from Boje in the amount of $9,927.62.Boje answered and subsequently filed a counterclaim, alleging that he discovered, during the course of the installation, that the carpet was defective, but Abbey directed him to complete the installation anyway and assured him he would be paid for the work being performed.Boje's counterclaim contended that, due to Abbey's insistence on his continuing to lay the defective carpet, he was damaged in the sum of $3,260 for work and expenses expended on the job.

The matter went to trial in Faulkner County Circuit Court on June 2, 2011.Abbey's first witness was Lucy Hammett, who testified that she placed an order for the carpet at the church in March.The initial order of carpet had a “delamination problem,” so the original contractor removed the carpet and cleaned the floor.Hammett reordered the carpet from Beaulieu Carpet, but the original installer was not available.Hammett then contacted Boje and hired him to install the new carpet.

After the second installation began, Hammett received word from the project manager that there was a problem with the pattern on the carpet not matching and the seams being visible.Hammett testified that she was asked to go to the church, which she did, but she first called Jim McKeand, a professional carpet inspector, to accompany her.When Hammett and McKeand arrived at the church on May 26, 2009, Hammett could see that the diamond-shaped pattern in the carpet was not matching.Hammett testified that she ended up hiring another individual to remove the carpet and install a different, unpatterned carpet.She introduced an invoice that Abbey sent to Boje totaling $9,927.62, which included the labor to remove the mismatched carpet, the new carpeting and installation materials, McKeand's inspection, and other items.

Reuben Matthews, a deacon in the church and the church's contact person with Abbey, testified that he observed part of the installation process.Matthews stated that the church representatives became unhappy with the carpet because all of the seams were visible, although he conceded that the carpet that was installed in some of the smaller rooms, such as the pastor's study and other offices, was left in place.Matthews said that Boje was given a chance to repair the seams, but he“just failed.”

Jim McKeand, a professional floor-covering inspector, testified that he inspected the carpet in the church on May 26, 2009.At the time of his inspection, the glue had dried, and McKeand noted that “it is difficult, if not impossible, to try and realign mismatched seams once the glue is dried on the carpet.”He explained that the “tolerance” for the particular carpet being used in the church was an inch and a half for every twelve feet of length, and if the pattern had been outside of the manufacturer's tolerance, the contractor should have notified the manufacturer before beginning installation of the carpet.It was McKeand's opinion that the carpet was within the manufacturer's tolerance but that the installer had not properly matched the pattern during the installation.McKeand also opined that the “bowing” or “skewing” that caused the mismatch of the seams was an installation problem as well.

Abbey then called Boje to testify.Boje stated that the installation of the carpet took nearly a week.When the mismatched seams were called to his attention, Boje said that he returned to the job to try to match the seams, informing Matthews that it would take at least half a day, but Matthews stopped Boje and his workers within half an hour.Boje said that he fixed two portions of two seams, but Matthews stopped him, told him that he was wasting his time, and said that he needed to leave the job until the carpet could be pulled up.Boje stated that Anthony Clark, a sales representative for Abbey, asked him if he was ready to start pulling the carpet up, but Boje informed Clark that he had been promised he would be paid if he continued.

Boje explained that he used every tool at his disposal in installing the carpet, including seam stretchers, power stretchers, and knee kickers.He also described stay nails, which are used to align seams in carpeting, but he stated that Anthony Clark removed the stay nails that had been placed in the carpet and reprimanded Boje for using them.Hammett, called on redirect, testified that the day of trial was the first time she had ever heard anything mentioned about stay nails being pulled up.

In his own case in chief, Boje called Ryan Kye, a salesman for Abbey, who testified that Anthony Clark was on-site during the installation and was complaining about the stay nails being used on the job.Kye said that Clark pulled the nails out, saying that the client did not like them.Kye, who was thirty-seven years old and had worked in the carpeting industry since 1992, said that stay nails are commonly used in pattern-match carpets.It was his opinion that the problem with the carpet seams could have been fixed, but the church was not going to accept the carpet “no matter what [Boje did].”

Boje also testified again, describing in some detail the carpet-installation process and discussing the problems he had with the carpet...