Hardwood Floors June/July 2026

CATEGORY: Manufacturer Spotlight

Graf Custom Hardwood | Portsmouth, Ohio

CATEGORY DETAILS: This category gives manufacturers an opportunity to submit any projects that use their products. WHAT MAKES THIS FLOOR UNIQUE: Graf Custom Hardwood in Portsmouth, Ohio, has earned the 2026 WFOY Manufacturer Spotlight award for producing a nearly 31’ medallion and thousands of square feet of custom parquet for the Sacred Heart University Guest House in Fairfield, Connecticut. The scope of the work was unlike anything founder Jim Graf had previously undertaken, and he spent the first

100 hours of the project inside a CAD program, working through every measurement, angle, and component count before any wood was touched. All told, the project consumed 400 hours roughly during six months. The medallion is built from rift and quartersawn red oak and walnut, both milled at Graf Custom Hardwood. A CNC machine handled the innermost section, while the remaining pieces were produced entirely by hand using a table saw outfitted with custom jigs. Because each full circle in the design requires 44 individual pieces, maintaining absolute dimensional consistency was essential. Graf built a series of work tables that were locked together and leveled to create a flat assembly surface large enough to hold the entire medallion as it took shape. Small gaps were incorporated between pieces to account for movement during the transition from the shop environment to the installation site. Before the medallion was broken down for shipping,

the installation crew came to the shop to review the assembly and understand exactly how it would go back together. Each of the more than 2,000 pieces was then assigned a unique identifier, packed into crates, and shipped to Connecticut. The surrounding field included Fontainebleau parquet and herringbone, all produced by Graf, with the full project totaling approximately 8,000 square feet. Dalene Flooring handled installation and finishing, applying Bona waterborne finish throughout. Graf Custom Hardwood has been part of the NWFA since its earliest days, and this project reflects what the company has always stood for. As Graf puts it, “The word custom describes us in a nutshell. If you can dream it, we can come up with a way to do it.”

Nail Down Bona Waterborne Rift and Quartersawn Red Oak, Walnut 5,072

INSTALLATION METHOD: FLOORING FINISH: SPECIES: SQUARE FEET:

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