Hardwood Floors April/May 2026

CONTENTS

Industry Insights

PUBLICATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Robert McNamara | Chair, Sheoga Hardwood Flooring Jason Elquest | Blackhawk Floors Inc. Steve Brattin | Chair Stephanie Owen | President & CEO Matt Casey | Technical Services Officer Anita Howard | Membership & Meetings Officer Libby White Johnston | Marketing & Communications Officer Katie Norton | Education & Certification Officer Dana Rogers | Chief Financial Officer NWFA LEADERSHIP

24 Government Affairs Attention turns to housing.

By Dana Lee Cole

28 Design Trends Craftsmanship and collaboration.

By Karen Asprea

Business Best Practices

32 Legal Managing risk and liability

By Barbara F. Dunn

in your contracts. 36 Finance Accounts receivable management.

Lenny Hall | Endurance Floor Company Inc. Kevin Mullany | Benchmark Wood Floors Inc. Jim Schumacher | Mirka

By Dana Rogers

44 Sales Savvy Leveraging AI to win more flooring sales. 48 Special Content Being the leader your company deserves.

Libby White Johnston | Publisher | libby.johnston@nwfa.org Burt Bollinger | Editor | burt.bollinger@nwfa.org Rhonda M. May | Asst. Editor/Creative Manager | rhonda.may@nwfa.org Brett Miller | Technical Editor Bridget Norlie | Engagement Manager | bridget.norlie@nwfa.org PUBLICATION TEAM

By Andy Iamaio

By Doug Howard

At the Site 100 Tech Talk

14 Research Park Drive St. Charles, Missouri 63304 P : 800.422.4556 Local : 636.519.9663 F: 636.519.9664 E: news@hardwoodfloorsmag.com W: hardwoodfloorsmag.com

Edging techniques. 102 Maintenance Modern sports floor maintenance.

By Jeff Iverson

108 Hardwood Hints Cord safety.

By Jason Elquest

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Karen Asprea Burt Bollinger Steve Brattin

Barbara F. Dunn Avedis Duvenjian Jason Elquest

Andy Iamaio Jeff Iverson Libby White Johnston

110 Inspector’s Report

By Bryan McCue

Insect infestation. 114 Five Things I Wish I Knew 116 WFOY Winner Spotlight Best Staircase: Henschen Hardwood LLC 118 Technical Publication Tips: Grit Sequence

By Avedis Duvenjian

Welton Hong Doug Howard

Chad Bulen Zack Clavin Dana Lee Cole

Bryan McCue Dana Rogers

By Burt Bollinger

ADVERTISING SALES

Katie Schenk Advertising & Brand Growth Director katie.schenk@nwfa.org | 314.488.4669

Product Focus

120 Sanding Equipment/Abrasives

Hardwood Floors (Print: ISSN 0897-022X and Online: ISSN 2475-5125) is published on a bi-monthly basis, plus the Annual Industry Guide, by the National Wood Flooring Association and distributed as a membership benefit to its member companies and without charge upon request to qualified individuals throughout the wood flooring industry. Single copy price is $8, annual Industry Guide is $50. Subscriptions: $40/year (includes 6 issues and Industry Guide) in the U.S. and Canada. Publication office: 14 Research Park Drive, St. Charles, MO 63304. Phone: 800.422.4556. Printing office: Walsworth, 306 N. Kansas Ave., Marceline, MO 64658. Printed in the U.S. Periodicals postage is paid at Chesterfield, MO and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Hardwood Floors, P.O. Box 9147, Lowell, MA 01853. Copyright © 2026 by the National Wood Flooring Association. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. Hardwood Floors' subscription base is AAM audited. An AAM audit provides advertisers and agencies with assurance that what they choose to invest in does, in fact, reach target audiences for specific ads. The AAM audit also helps media companies by documenting the quality of their audiences.

Also in this Issue

6 Chair’s Cut

By Steve Brattin

8 Business Briefs 12 Wood Stock

By Burt Bollinger

109 Sponsored Content Company Profile: Appalachian Lumber Co. 122 Seen at Schools 124 New Products 126 Special Content

NWFA welcomes new Certified Professionals. 127 Meet our Members: Oliver R. Barajas 128 Ad Index