Bowling Green, KY, March 24--It sounds like an old Chinese proverb, but the reality could be thousands of dollars in repair or replacement costs for your premium Brazilian cherry hardwood flooring, according to the Bowling Green Kentucky Daily News.
Tim Sloan has 12 years experience in installing and repairing hardwood flooring and in February opened S&S Hardwood Outlet.
"I've dealt with wood all my life and basically fell in love with it," Sloan said in his 10,000-square-foot, Vanderbilt Drive showroom. "Twelve years ago I started doing hardwood consulting for builders, residences and historic homes with my wife, Shelly, and brother out of the back of a minivan." Sloan made a name for himself and was eventually able to expand his business.
"I've got five crews now and they are all excellent craftsmen," he said. "And that's hard to find. I'm very picky about my crews. My brother and I have hand-trained all our crews. You have to have years and years of experience to be a true floor finisher," he added.
Sloan said flooring is a signature of elegance.
"When you walk into a house, it's the first thing that pops out at you. It's a big seller." Hardwood flooring is reemerging as a popular alternative to carpet and tiling, Sloan said.
"Custom flooring is really starting to come back," he said. "In the '70s, everything got covered with carpeting. Now hardwood is becoming popular again stylistically and also for health reasons. Some people just can't live with the dust." Having hardwood installed in a home, or selecting a home with pre-installed hardwood, will "help the resale value of the home tremendously," Sloan said.
But improperly done, hardwood flooring could be a big problem.
"I've gone in and seen sanding jobs and finishing jobs that were total losses," he said. "In some cases we would have to come in and replace entire floors." Hardwood is ideal for kitchens, living areas, foyers and dining areas, he said. Not every room is suitable for wood flooring though.
"Utility rooms and bathrooms are not suitable for hardwood," he said. "In time the wood can get damaged by excess water that's present in these areas." Durability is perhaps the most appealing feature of the flooring, besides its glossy appearance in the home.
"A lot of people think you can't live on a hardwood floor," he said. "You can live on them. I've visited homes where I put in floors 10 years ago and they still look new.
"A lot of times, people may take off the top coating of the polyurethane and that's not a big problem," he said. "If it gets all the way down to the wood, then we have to take extreme measures like replacing some panels and refinishing." Once installed, hardwood flooring requires only minimal maintenance.
"It's raw wood when it's laid," he said. "We sand it and finish it in the home and if properly taken care of, it can last a lifetime. All you have to do to maintain a hardwood floor is damp mop it with a water/vinegar solution. And if it needs it, you can apply another coating of polyurethane." Hardwood flooring is sold by the square foot at S&S Hardwood. Sloan said despite a fluctuating lumber industry market, he keeps his prices steady.
"Even if the price of lumber goes up, I don't raise my prices to my contractors," he said. "Our biggest seller is No. 2 white oak. It sells for about $5 a square foot installed. We also sell uninstalled panels for do-it-yourself projects and those prices vary." Monica Burr lives in Alvaton and had Sloan do some flooring in a home she was selling. She said "without hesitation" she will contact Sloan for any future work she needs.
"He laid 4-inch walnut panels throughout the house," she said. "It's just beautiful. It makes the house. I showed him a picture of a special design I wanted in the foyer and he did exactly what I wanted."
