Article Number : 4855 |
|
Article Detail |
|
 | |
| Date | 9/18/2009 8:13:55 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=4855 |
| Abstract | When customers come to you looking for hardwood flooring alternatives, they more often than not have specific colors in mind that will compliment their home décor. Your job as a wood flooring salesperson is to make certain you direct them to... |
| Article | When customers come to you looking for hardwood flooring alternatives, they more often than not have specific colors in mind that will compliment their home décor. Your job as a wood flooring salesperson is to make certain you direct them to the products that will best meet their needs. Assisting them with choosing the right wood species will be a big part of that decision making process. Today, wood floors come in a variety of colors, styles and price ranges. Helping your customers choose the right one is simply a matter of deciding which look they like best and then making sure it fits their décor, lifestyle and budget. For example: Light-colored wood floors generally make a room appear more open and airy. Medium-colored wood floors generally make a room appear more warm and cozy. Dark-colored wood floors generally make a room appear more stately and refined. Exotic wood species can run the gamut of colors. Bubinga, which originates in Africa, can appear pink, red or reddish brown with purple streaks or veins. Australian cypress ranges from cream-colored sapwood to honey-gold heartwood, with dark brown knots holes throughout. It looks similar to knotty pine but is much harder. Santos mahogany, which originates in South America, is a dark reddish brown. Purpleheart, which originates in Mexico, has a brown heartwood that will age to a deep purple or purplish brown. Burmese teak, which originates in Asia, varies from a yellowish brown to a dark golden brown. For a totally unique look, wenge, which originates in Africa, will age to a very deep brown, almost black, color. Needless to say, there literally are hundreds of wood species available today that can accommodate any decorating style, but with so many choices available, how can you encourage your customers to think outside the box and consider all the options available to them? One of the easiest ways is to have them “try it before they buy it” virtually. The National Wood Flooring Association offers a virtual “Design a Room” feature on its consumer Web site at www.woodfloors.org. Using this interactive feature, your customers can try a variety of wood flooring species in several room settings. If they want to know what Brazilian cherry will look like in their living room as opposed to common red oak, this feature will let them see it. What’s even better is they can change the wall color to more closely match their own home décor, and can even position the flooring vertically or horizontally to get a better feel for how that can affect the mood and look of a room. Once your customer has decided on a species, you will need to make sure that the species will perform adequately based on her lifestyle. For example, a home with three young children and a large dog will have different wood flooring needs than a home with an older, retired couple with no pets. The young family will need to be certain to select a species that will stand up to the rigorous foot traffic it will likely get during its lifetime in the home, and it is your job to steer them in the right direction. For example, if they love the look of domestic black cherry wood flooring, which is ranked at 950 on the Janka hardness scale, they might want to know that Brazilian cherry is ranked much higher at 2,820, nearly three times the hardness of the domestic species. The Janka hardness test measures the force required to embed a .444 inch steel ball to half its diameter in the wood being tested. It is one of the best measures of the ability of a wood species to withstand denting and wear. So, in the example we just used, Brazilian cherry will withstand potential denting and wear three times better than domestic black cherry. It also is important to note that while Janka values give a general sense of the hardness of a particular wood species, other factors also contribute to the durability of a wood floor. These factors include the type of cut used to mill the wood (for example, plainsawn, quartersawn, riftsawn), the denseness of the wood cell structure and the finish used on the flooring. Finish, in particular, will have a big influence on the durability of the floor to withstand minor scratches and dents, so it is important to be familiar with the different types of finishes available on the market today as well. As you can see, there is a lot more to choosing a wood floor than color alone. Educating yourself to help your customers make good wood flooring choices will result in happy customers and repeat business. |