NWFA Floor of the Year 2002

The National Wood Flooring Association's (NWFA) Floor of the Year Awards annually showcase the finest craftsmanship in wood floor design and installation. The 2002 edition of the contest was no exception, netting 141 entries in 11 categories.

Entries are supplied by NWFA members in good standing to be judged by a panel of professional designers from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). Traditionally, winning floors are announced at NWFA's annual Education Conference and Wood Flooring Expo, which this year was conducted April 18-20 in Orlando, Fla.

For the second straight year, top honors in the Master Division went to Chicago-based Birger Juell Ltd. The award-winning installation in a private home office in Florida makes use of hickory with faux alligator leather inserts. The floor was designed as a large square grid with smaller diagonal grids within each square. Sam Rosenberg designed the floor. Birger Juell installed, manufactured and finished it.

A win in any category in a past Floor of the Year competition is required for consideration in the Master Division. Overall quality and appearance are two primary criteria used in judging Floor of the Year winners.

Old Country Hardwood Flooring Ltd. of Calgary, Alberta, won two awards for their 2,300-square-foot family room installation. The company won for Floor of the Year in the Expert Division, as well as for Best Limited Species Design. The installation incorporates maple and black walnut, and features hardwood planks within an oblong grid. Connie Young, an architect in Calgary, helped design the floor. Old Country Hardwood designed and finished it. Madawaska Hardwood Flooring Inc. provided the flooring. Basic Coatings manufactured the finish.

To win in the Expert Division, the entrant cannot have previously won in any Floor of the Year category. To win for Best Limited Species Design, the company's installation cannot use more than two woods or stained components.

Another Expert Division entrant, Prairieville, La.-based Crescent Hardwood Supply, won the 2002 Member's Choice Award for a 685-square-foot showroom installation. The installation features a "path" of darker wood used to mark traffic lanes, as well as insets and border work. Species used for the installation include white oak, red oak, clear Brazilian cherry, royal mahogany, light and dark cumaru, tigerwood, ivorywood, hickory/pecan, ash, new heart pine, Australian cypress, and select walnut and maple.

Crescent salesman Marc Sholar and company President John Troendle designed the floor. Sholar and Crescent installed and finished the floor. Manufacturers of the flooring include Zickgraf, Buchanan, Robinson Lumber and Historic Floors of Oshkosh. Glista American provided the finish.

A private apartment in Moscow housed Integraf's winning installation for Best Job Site Finished Craftsmanship and Design. Entries in the category include all types of jobsite-finished wood flooring, from hand-cut designs to mixed-media work. The 152.85-square-foot dining room installation uses wood species ranging from American walnut to Austrian pear. One distinctive feature of the design is the use of a lighter-colored wood to form a circle that lies beneath the dining room table. All wood was machine cut. Integraf designed, installed and finished the floor. BonaKemi USA provided the finish.

Integraf also won for Best Use of Wood Technology, a category covering all types of wood flooring -- both factory finished and jobsite finished -- that feature laser or machine-cut designs such as inlays, medallions and mixed species. The Integraf design incorporates intricate border and pattern work in a 132.4-square-foot apartment living room in Moscow (a different residence than Integraf's other winning entry).

Wood species used include quarter-sawn oak, Karelian birch, American walnut, and Austrian pear. All wood was machine cut. Integraf designed, installed and finished the floor. BonaKemi USA provided the finish.

DM Hardwood Designs Inc. of Mission Viejo, Calif., took home the Best Manufacturer Finished Design Award for their compass rose inlay in a private residence in Newport Beach, Calif. This award category includes all types of manufacturer finished wood flooring and mixed media.

The three-day installation incorporated hand-scraped prefinished maple, river-recovered heart pine, and various exotic and domestic woods. DM Hardwood designed and finished the floor. The company installed the inlay with the help of installer Brett Elliott, a friend of DM Hardwood owner Dave Marzelek. Harris Tarkett, Galleher and Goodwin Heart Pine provided the flooring. Berger Siedell supplied the finish.

In the Best Commercial Application Design category, SCS Hardwood Floors Inc. of Orlando, Fla., earned an award for its installation in a 3,000-square-foot hotel bar. This category includes all types of factory- or site-finished wood floors that incorporate hand, laser or mechanically cut design elements and mixed media for commercial applications. The SCS design features an offset grid pattern with maple with gray borders. SCS installed and finished the floor. Permagrain manufactured the prefinished flooring.

With their 256-square foot showroom installation in Ohio, Schumacher & Co. Inc. of Newport, Ky., captured the award for Best Showroom Design. The category includes either factory- or site-finished flooring with hand, laser or mechanically cut design elements and mixed media.

Schumacher's home design center showroom installation features American and Brazilian cherry species, quarter-sawn red oak, maple, wenge, and American walnut. Much of the wood was hand cut and grooved for the design's grid-like format. Ken Schumacher designed the layout. Schumacher & Co. installed and finished it. Taylor Lumber, Historic Floors of Oshkosh and Finelines supplied the hardwood. BonaKemi USA provided the finish.

Craftsman Flooring & Finish of Saugus, Calif., received the award for Best Member's Residence Design. The category includes all types of wood flooring -- both factory finished and jobsite finished -- with hand, laser or mechanically cut design elements and mixed media for use in a home of an NWFA member of good standing.

The installation, in Newhall, Calif., incorporates large square borders and makes use of walnut, Brazilian cherry, maple, and black walnut. Marc McCalla, owner of Craftsman Flooring, designed the floor and his company installed and finished it. Galleher provided the flooring and BonaKemi USA manufactured the finish.

Oy Karelia Parketti Ltd. of Kuopio, Finland, won an honorable mention for Best Manufactured Finish Design. Professor Alvar Aalto designed the floor for a home installation. Northern birch was used in the design, which includes lighter squares of hardwood against the grain of the darker flooring. Oy Karelia Parketti, which recently changed their name to Karelia Ltd., installed and finished the floor. According to NWFA, Aalto came up with the original design in the 1950s. The category includes all types of manufacturer-finished wood flooring, including mixed media.

The 2003 Floor of the Year Awards will be presented during NWFA's 14th annual convention scheduled for April 9-12 in St. Louis.