A unique install by Olde Wood Limited of Magnolia, Ohio, recently served as a reminder of why attention to detail and a willingness to go above-and-beyond for a client is what can elevate a merely acceptable installation into something truly unique, memorable, and magnificent.
“People often come to us with an idea or a vision that may or may not be fully formed. We work with them to bring things to life that are unique and one-of-a-kind. We are a custom shop that does our own engineering work in-house,” explains Tommy Sancic, owner of Olde Wood Limited. “Our approach is that nothing we do is subbed out to others. We even do our own kiln drying here, as well. It’s all under one facility where we can control all aspects of what we produce.”
Sancic explains that this approach gives his company the ability to offer his customers options that they may not be able to get elsewhere.
“I think that, too often, consumers are force-fed whatever options are most profitable. An approach that has been good for us instead is offering our customers the freedom to create the dream floor they had envisioned for their home,” says Sancic.
For a recent client, that dream floor was something unique, contemporary, and elegant.
“A mentor of mine asked me to do a certain look for his home. It is not a big home, but it is one of the most elegant homes I have ever been inside of in my entire life,” recalls Sancic. “His wife had recently been to Italy, and on her return, she brought back an array of pictures and colors. Together, we had created a vision for a certain type of wood that she wanted to see.”
Sancic’s next step was to take the ideas that had inspired her and create a variety of samples of different species of woods with different colors on them that were similar to what she was envisioning.
“After producing approximately 20 samples, we had pretty much nailed the look. They liked it, and we settled on an 8” wide plank, ¾” engineered floor with a 6mm wear layer. It was a select grade bigleaf maple, which is a type of maple we get that has a very tight grain pattern and a lot of burl,” explains Sancic. “We took the flooring to the site and mixed up the custom color. The homeowners then came in prior to staining the floor, signed off on the color, and we went in to finish the job.”
During the install process, Sancic said there were certain boards that installers saw that were more unique visually than others. They made certain to put those boards in places where they knew there would not be furniture sitting on them.
“We put a lot of thought into that. When we put so much time and effort into making a product like this for a customer, the last thing you want to see is somebody placing certain boards in areas that are just going to be covered up,” says Sancic. “A great installation crew that gets and understands wood flooring is going to make sure to pay attention to that kind of thing. They understand the importance of placing specific boards that they see in certain areas in order to make the floor come to life.”
With the installation underway, Sancic soon received an unexpected phone call.
“We were told that something was wrong. We learned the homeowner wanted a higher gloss level than what she originally had approved on the floor,” says Sancic. “We brought a gloss meter to the home and matched it to the original sample, but the bottom line was, with everything brought together in the house, she wanted it to be a little bit higher gloss-level.”
To ensure the homeowners were happy with the final product, Sancic made the decision to make the necessary revisions on-site.
“We prefinished the flooring in-house at Olde Wood, but we do have the capability with the installers that we know to actually do revisions on-site. My guy came back from Colorado and recoated the floor with a higher gloss level and brought it up to what she wanted,” explains Sancic. “We ended up doubling the gloss level to make sure the customer was happy.”
To Sancic, customer satisfaction is the cornerstone around which his company is based.
“While we knew that what we had accomplished with the floor was something totally unique and one-of-a-kind, it doesn’t mean much if the customer is not happy,” advises Sancic. “Integrity is key for a business like ours. It’s the small details and the commitment to customer service that companies should focus on as they look to take their floors and businesses to the highest level possible.”
Gorgeous.