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677 articles found.
Page 1 of 14.
Answer These 5 Questions for Better Financial Control
(April/May 2012 - Gene Siciliano)
In today’s challenging economic environment, it’s more important than ever for contractors to have a firm grasp on financial management. When all is said and done, there are a handful of ...
Do the Right Thing: Real Wood Floor Job Site Dilemmas
(April/May 2012 - Avi Hadad)
We constantly hear of jobs gone wrong and how to do them right in the future. We read about people who were financially hurt by...
State of the Wood Flooring Industry 2012: Rocky Ground
(April/May 2012 - HF Editors)
For the past few years, the wood flooring industry has been traveling over shaky economic terrain, but...
It Varies: We Can’t Expect Solid Prefinished Wood Floor Widths to be Perfect
(April/May 2012 - Peter Fahey)
As an NWFACP-certified inspector, one of the most common installer/retailer/consumer complaints I see is regarding width variation in solid...
Dirty Poly Beads Appear in This Trouble-Plagued Gym Floor
(April/May 2012 - Robert Gamble)
An old gym floor in the Southwest was resanded and coated with poly, but the finish was peeling off. A second attempt at resanding and finishing the floor...
Tales from the Front: Employees Over-Think This Job
(April/May 2012 - HF Editors)
James Coleman at wood flooring contracting company Floor Arts in Rock Hall, Md., remembers one job he couldn’t get to fast enough ...
Act Right Now to Prosper in Tough Times
(February/March 2012 - George Hedley)
Customers have eased buying, competitors are closing, layoffs are common, banks have cut back on lending, consumer confidence is down, and the list goes on. Unfortunately, many ...
Tips on Navigating the New Lending Frontier
(February/March 2012 - Phillip M. Perry)
If you’re like most small business owners, you’re finding it tougher than ever to negotiate with your bank. Loans are harder to come by. Fees are thicker on the ground. While the reluctance of banks ....
Mafi Offers a Floor Kids Can Draw On
(February/March 2012 - Doug Dalsing)
Go ahead, kids—have some fun coloring our new hardwood floors! Most parents wouldn’t dream of saying such a thing. But when the wood ...
Vintage Moments: Tree Handbook Proves Useful for Education & Marketing
(February/March 2012 - Doug Dalsing)
When marketing your business, it’s always wise to give your customers something useful to complement your products. Think branded beer can koozie or pen, but ...
Q&As: Fixing Medallions, Slow-Dry Sealer & Wood Floor Maintenance
(February/March 2012 - HF Editors)
Can I repair/replace a curled piece of my installed medallion? Before any repair of the inlay is done, it is extremely important...
Profit Killers on Wood Floor Jobs
(April/May 2012 - Jack Stuart)
Complaints, callbacks or absorbed repairs—whatever you call them—are one of the biggest profit killers in the floor business, yet ...
Bending the Finish Rules May Work ... or Not
(April/May 2012 - Joshua Crossman)
We hardwood floor guys are a little bit of a different breed. We’re not afraid to...
Q&As: Damage in Customers’ Homes, Refinishing Acrylic Impregnated & Streaks in Finish
(April/May 2012 - HF Editors)
I have a customer blaming me for nicks in her wall that had an expensive faux finish on it. Now she wants me to pay...
Trick of the Trade: Sock it to Your Wood Floor Nailer
(April/May 2012 - HF Editors)
Was one of your kid’s socks eaten by the dryer? Here’s a tip that will actually put its lonely mate to use....
Vintage Moments: The Inaugural NWFA Expo
(April/May 2012 - Doug Dalsing)
In April 1986, the NWFA held its very first convention—just five months after the association formally organized in December 1985. That first convention attracted ...
Scourge of Beetlemania Makes For Beautiful Flooring
(August/September 2010 - Doug Dalsing)
Colorado’s pine forests are under attack. The culprit? A rice-sized beetle that burrows underneath bark to breed and feed. The effects? Myriad, one being ...
Mimicking Marble for a Fabulous Foyer Wood Floor
(April/May 2012 - Doug Dalsing)
If you were viewing this foyer floor in person at New York’s Gracie Mansion—the official residence of the Big Apple’s mayor—you’d initially think you were gazing upon ...
Dane Makes Marvelous 'Marbelous' Wood Flooring Art
(April/May 2012 - Doug Dalsing)
Turns out, wood flooring is not just for walking. It can also be art. Just look at Marbelous Wood from Denmark’s Pernille Snedker Hansen. To achieve this look, Hansen ...
ABCs of Forming a Wood Flooring Business
(April/May 2012 - D. Jeffrey Craven)
Many wood flooring contractors work out of their house. Just because your house is your “home office” doesn’t mean that you aren’t operating a “real” business, or that you ...
Smart Smartphone Security Tips
(April/May 2012 - HF Editors)
Pull out your smartphone. Turn it on and open your email. Easy enough, right? Well, the same can be said for any snoop that picks up your smartphone ...
Going From Negative Worker to Positive Reformer
(April/May 2012 - Phillip M. Perry)
Sam makes snide remarks about customers while working in their homes, Sally scowls behind the boss’s back and Bill laughs at his co-workers’ ideas. Do those people sound ...
Can Wood Floor Guys and Designers Get Along?
(February/March 2012 - Leonard Hall)
Designers have a bad reputation in the wood flooring industry, and there’s no denying that the two groups have an overall compatibility issue. On the one hand...
Even 007 Could Appreciate This Underwater Wood Floor
(February/March 2012 - Doug Dalsing)
It is the type of setting typically reserved for James Bond films—the kind rife with exotic, luxurious locales funded by deranged henchmen. But the Ithaa restaurant ...
Setting Seuss Straight: Stuart’s Birkett appears on Daily Show
(February/March 2002 - Karen Erstad)
Can two sides agree on different ways to save the trees? The July 2001 issue of Harper’s magazine stirred debate over this question by featuring an excerpt from Teri Birkett’s children’s book, Truax.....
A Legend In Itself: There’s Nothing Quite Like the 20-Year-Old NOFMA School
(December 1999/January 2000 - Kim M. Wahlgren)
It started with 25 students at a federal penitentiary. Over the years, it has traveled to downtown Memphis, to Mississippi and back. Among its participants it has inspired hard work, dedication, frien...
Tips for Gluing Down Solids on Concrete
(February/March 2012 - Michelle Swiniarski)
Glue down wood flooring over concrete? “Are you kidding? No way! Never!” That’s what many said to this suggestion years ago...
Designer Creates Wood Flooring That Plays Music Underfoot
(February/March 2012 - Doug Dalsing)
There is music in everything. Maybe it’s the steady whack-hiss of a pneumatic nailer, or the drawn-out whir of a table saw, or the back-and-forth hum of an edger. When he walks the streets ...
Tales From the Front: 'Inferior' Finish Sends Flooring Back
(April/May 2011 - HF Editors)
Bruce Uhler, environmental ambassador for Kährs Hardwood Flooring, remembers a customer service call that left everyone shaking their heads. The person called to...
Tales From the Front: Young'un Takes Big Machine For a Ride
(October/November 2008 - HF Editors)
Mike Summers from UFloor Systems Inc. recalls an experience he had as a contractor’s son on the job site. One day, his dad and crew were working on a high school gym ...
What to Do About Contractor Classification Laws
(February/March 2012 - D. Jeffrey Craven)
Since 2009, Democrats in Congress along with the Obama Administration—looking for a way to capture more tax revenue—have been attempting to repeal or modify ...
Trick of the Trade: Splatter No More
(February/March 2011 - HF Editors)
Mixing underlayment or anything else in a 5-gallon pail can be a big mess. A simple, free solution is to...
Trick of the Trade: No More Coffee Breaks
(February/March 2010 - HF Editors)
When you're coating a floor, you want the air in the room to be as still as possible, but after a couple hours...
Trick of the Trade: Tricky Ventilation
(April/May 2007 - HF Editors)
For most finishes, you don't want air movement while you're applying, but you do want it after the finish is skinned over. Turning on...
Trick of the Trade: Readying a Repair
(October/November 2010 - HF Editors)
Doing finish repairs is tricky, even for the most experienced finishers. How do you know...
Trick of the Trade: Listen to this Story (Story Stick, That Is)
(February/March 2009 - HF Editors)
Trying to get accurate measurements for stair parts can be frustrating when using flexible metal measuring tapes...
Trick of the Trade: Save Your Neck
(June/July 2010 - HF Editors)
When refinishing stair treads, it's difficult to clean up the underside of the nosing. Quite often...
Trick of the Trade: Easy Mark Remover
(April/May 2009 - HF Editors)
you work with gym floors, especially ones used for everything from school assemblies to...
Trick of the Trade: Mix it Up
(October/November 2009 - HF Editors)
When you’re going to be coating a large area that will require more than one gallon of finish...
Trick of the Trade: Stacked Up
(August/September 2010 - HF Editors)
Joshua Crossman, owner at Yelm, Wash.-based contracting company P.T.L. Hardwoods, wanted an inexpensive way to stack his extra bundles...
Trick of the Trade: Accelerated Ambering
(June/July 2009 - HF Editors)
Finish repairs always take a certain amount of skill and patience. When doing a repair on a poly...
Trick of the Trade: Get Hooked (on Cords Being Out of the Way)
(December 2009/January 2010 - HF Editors)
While edging, it can be frustrating trying to keep the cord from being...
Trick of the Trade: Drawing in Dust
(August/September 2009 - HF Editors)
After sanding, it seems to take forever for that tiny airborne dust to settle...
Vintage Moments: Enduring Oak Flooring
(December 2010/January 2011 - Doug Dalsing)
‘The richness of an Oak floor in the dining room contributes to a sense of wellbeing and enjoyment.” So says to the ninth edition of “The Story of Oak Floors,” which was ...
TechnoTip: To the Cloud!
(December 2011/January 2012 - HF Editors)
Cloud computing gives you access to almost any type of electronic file from anywhere you can access the Internet. When you wield a smartphone, you can have access to these files while ...
Trick of the Trade: Cautious Cuts
(December 2010/January 2011 - HF Editors)
When you're pulling up hardwood for a remodel, you run the risk of damaging door frames...
TechnoTip: Google's Greatest Hits
(February/March 2012 - HF Editors)
Google’s reach into our personal and business lives is impressive, and for good reason. The technology company offers many valuable services, and many of them ...
Q&As: Double Staining, The Right Drum Pressure, Loose Wood Floors
(April/May 2010 - HF Editors)
Q&As on whether you can stain twice, the right drum pressure on a big machine, and why wood floors turn loose
Trick of the Trade: The Happy Handy Tacker
(April/May 2010 - HF Editors)
Kent Bedke likes to use microfiber cloths for tacking floors because of their grab...
Tales From the Front: Canine Crisis During Wood Floor Finishing
(February/March 2012 - HF Editors)
Industry veteran Tony Ziola recalls a close call that happened in his own Chicago home while he was testing application of conversion varnish finish. One afternoon ...
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