I’m a regular news hound. I’ve been watching the headlines diligently for the past few years for stories that make a difference to the plumbing and heating industry.

This online article from today’s New York Times had me a bit worried, though. “Wall-to-Wall Warmth” by Home & Garden reporter Jay Romano starts out innocently enough extolling the virtues of warm toes and toasty floors. He even points out the green advantages of hydronic over electric installations.

However, he’s soon advocating that homeowners could put the flooring system in themselves “to save about $4 a square foot.”

I’ll have you read the article for yourself, because I cannot even begin to interpret what stories like these could do to our industry. I’m sure plenty of you have run into situations where homeowners try to hedge as much as they can on an installation. But I’ve always been of a mind that proper design, distribution and control trumps saving a buck or two any day!

Comments are welcome below. What can we do as an industry to respond to flippant suggestions that homeowners are capable of radiant flooring DIY? How have you handled customers in these situations?