Case Study: Mullican Flooring Continues to Expand its Product Line with Engineered Hardwood Floors
Already the nation's second largest manufacturer of Unfinished 3/4-inch Solid hardwood flooring and a rapidly growing producer of Prefinished 3/4-inch Solid hardwood floors, Mullican has also become well known for its continually expanding line of Prefinished Engineered flooring.
"Engineered flooring has become an increasingly popular product, and we knew that this expansion would be a tremendous addition to our product line because it allows us to get into markets that were previously beyond our reach," says Brian Greenwell, Mullican's vice president of sales and marketing. "The engineered product's variety of installation options is extremely attractive to the southeastern and southwestern parts of the United States, and that has enabled us to significantly increase our market penetration in those regions."
Mullican's traditional offering of solid flooring is suitable for above- or on-grade surfaces, which require a wood subfloor for nailing or stapling. However, engineered flooring can be stapled or glued to above-, below-, or on-grade surfaces that contain a concrete, plywood, wood or oriented strand board (OSB) subfloor.
Featuring 5-ply and 7-ply configurations for added stability, Mullican's engineered product also contains sliced cuts for enhanced grain definition and sawn cuts for a solid floor appearance. The product's colors are coordinated with Mullican's solid line of flooring and complementing moldings are also available.
Available in 9/16-, 1/2-, 3/8- and 5/16-inch thicknesses, Mullican's engineered product comes in three- and five-inch widths and carries a wide selection of species including oak, walnut, hickory, maple, cherry, teak, Santos Mahogany and Brazilian cherry. Mullican also offers a 1/2-inch hand-sculpted product available in five-inch widths of oak, hickory, maple and walnut. Engineered flooring is available in six-foot lengths.
"Engineered flooring offers a number of selling points, so each individual has his or her own reason for choosing this type of flooring," Greenwell said. "Engineered flooring has certainly exceeded our expectations thus far in 2005, and we're confident that trend will continue in 2006."
The wood for Mullican's engineered product is selected from the company's manufacturing plant in Ronceverte, W.Va., and sent to an international partner specializing in manufacturing the product to meet Mullican's strict quality guidelines.
