The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) came together for its 35th Expo in Orlando this week, which ran concurrently with the Coverings tile and stone show.
“The majority of NWFA member companies report 2020 was their best year ever, despite volatility during the pandemic," said Michael Martin, NWFA president and CEO. "While we appear to have turned the corner with COVID-19, challenges remain including labor shortages and access to raw material caused by supply shortages.”
The event kicked off with pre-Expo symposium, which was aimed at inspectors, retailers and contractors, and covered the science of field testing; the science of laboratory testing; and where, when and why to apply dimensional change coefficients.
“We had a great turnout,” said Jon Namba, editorial director of FCI and owner of Namba Services in Taylorsville, Utah. “They originally had a smaller room scheduled, but they had so many registrations, they had to get a space twice the size.”
Exhibits opened Thursday morning.
“We’re excited to be here and shake hands and finally get see people in person,” said Jake Stadler, market manager for hardwood installation systems, Bostik. “Our focus this year is our floor system solutions. A lot of people know Bostik as the hardwood installation company not realizing that we have a full system of solutions.”
“I'm trying to come every year to both shows, Coverings and NWFA,” said Philip Neufeldt, president, Neufeldt’s Flooring in Buhler, Kansas. “We’ve been a tile company a long time, but wood flooring has become a stronger part of the business over the last few years. We are here to get caught up with our vendors. I’m looking for whatever is cool and interesting—you know when you see it.”
AHF Products unveiled its new Dogwood densified wood technology. "It's for people with active lifestyles," said AHF President and CEO Brian Carson. "It's got the water features like many products today. It also has antimicrobial properties, which is particularly important in this day and age, but the real and unique invention is it is 2.5 times harder than traditional hardwood—we do it through a patented process through heat and pressure."
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