Hardwood Floors October/November 2025

CONTENTS

Steve Brattin | Chair Stephanie Owen | President & CEO Anita Howard | Sr. VP, Industry Partnerships & Meetings Brett Miller | VP, Technical Standards, Training, & Certification NWFA LEADERSHIP

Industry Insights

20 Government Affairs Washington’s fall agenda.

By Dana Lee Cole

24 Market Matters AHF Products’ new CEO discusses

By Libby White Johnston

the wood flooring category.

PUBLICATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Robert McNamara | Chair, Sheoga Hardwood Flooring Jason Elquest | Blackhawk Floors Inc.

Business Best Practices

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

28 Finance Midyear Outlook 2025: Pragmatic optimism – measured expectations. 34 Technology Don’t neglect half of your business.

By LPL Financial

PUBLICATION TEAM

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

By Craig Schertler

38 Marketing Five simple steps to protect and boost market share.

By Welton Hong

At the Site 68 What is Hysteresis? A deep dive into acclimation and why wood floors often gap. 72 Hardened Wood Flooring Smarter floors for shared spaces. 76 Tech Talk Lacing into a crooked wood floor. 78 WFOY Winner Spotlight Best in Parquetry: All American Floor Sanding and Installation. 80 Hardwood Hints Measuring moisture on a cupped floor.

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

By Ryan Jazdzewski

By Tim Colgan

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Burt Bollinger Steve Brattin Dana Lee Cole Tim Colgan

Libby White Johnston Craig Schertler Mike Somodean

Shannon Gayton Avi Hadad Welton Hong Ryan Jazdzewski

By Burt Bollinger

By Mike Somodean

ADVERTISING SALES

82 Technical Publication Tip Dimensional change coefficient.

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

Product Focus

84 Engineered Wood Flooring 88 Floor Manufacturing Equipment

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 © 2025 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 14 Wood Stock

By Libby White Johnston

90 Seen at NWFA Schools 92 New Products 94 Overheard on NWFA Podcasts 95 Wood Talk: Rose Fall 96 Ad Index