Hardwood Floors December 2017/January 2018

CHAIRMAN’S CUT

By Chris Zizza Chairman, NWFA

As 2017 comes to an end, let’s look into 2018 with hope and promise. As those of you who knowme personally

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WHAT’S DREAM HOME? IN YOUR

As we look toward a new year, we have much to be thankful for – we have customer preference. We have an environmentally friendly product. We have more work than we have installers to perform. We have more demand than we have mill workers to produce, or distribution sales experts to meet and grow demand. In the “dream home” of the wood ooring industry, I see something more than just wood…I also see a wood ooring professional who not only does the install right the rst time, but follows up with the consumer on a regular basis for maintenance and repair. Consumers like to take care of things they spend a lot of money on. Our consumer research shows that homeowners still don’t know how to care for and maintain their oors – and this is a huge problem. You can’t ruin look-a-likes with excess water and vinegar, but you can ruin wood ooring with the wrong products and maintenance. It’s up to you to become the expert your client relies on for advice and service a er the initial install. So what’s in your dream home? Be er yet, what’s in your customer’s dream home? Hopefully, the answer will be you and your team in 2018.

who already have wood oors responded with wood. ey want more wood. More than 50 percent of consumers who don’t already have wood oors responded with wood. ey also want more wood! All told, 66 percent of respondents would put wood in their dream home. at’s nearly three times the preference than for any other oor covering. Tile in dream homes, 16 percent; carpet, 10 percent; laminate, 6 percent. So, despite all of the look-a-like products in the marketplace, consumers want more wood in their dream homes. And most of them think they can tell the di erence. e question is: What are we all going to do about it as an industry? We need to protect the consumer’s clear desire for wood above all other ooring types. We all have a responsibility to protect the end users by providing quality products at the manufacturing and distribution levels, and as installers, we need to pay a ention to the details and avoid silly callbacks (like cupping because you don’t have a moisture meter to help educate your homeowner, or worse, you do own one, and you ignore the rules anyway). Please, let’s all follow the rules of our industry and help the consumer as well as ourselves.

are aware, I’m an eternal optimist. I like helping people. I like believing in our industry’s future. And I like the Patriots. But, in this issue, there’s something I like even more than Brady’s Bunch, and that’s the NWFA’s rst-ever homeowner research study. is study brings all of us hope and promise. Wood is good, and it’s here to stay. Let’s start with the worst thing consumers said about our product: it’s expensive. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Consumers should see wood ooring as a luxury design element in their home, not a disposable commodity. But my favorite part of the study (see page 40), asked homeowners what kind of ooring they would choose for their dream home. More than 80 percent of consumers

80% OF CONSUMERS SAY THEY WOULD CHOOSE WOOD FLOORS FOR THEIR DREAM HOME

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