Even the dogs are smiling about these hardwood floors…

It seems to me the world would be a much better place if we could all love each other like good dog owners love their dogs, and vice versa. When I see a dog lover coming along with a loyal dog, the dog’s tail wagging happily, it makes me feel good.

That’s why when a couple recently visited our showroom and told me they had two large dogs that were like children to them, I was happy I could keep them from making a costly mistake.

They already had a floor in mind—a fir floor with saw marks on it, like they had seen at their friends’ house. But I explained that with their dogs, Katie and Vinnie, they were going to need a harder, more-durable floor. The fir floor would scratch and dent too easily.

But that didn’t mean they had to give up on their dream floor!

We recommended a skip-sawn hickory floor instead, and we put together some samples. Our salesperson, Tom, and I took the couple out back and stained up boards for them, so we could get just the perfect color. They liked what they saw—it fit their vision for a floor with a lot of character—but they still didn’t like the even, consistent look of that flooring’s machined bevels. So we hand-scraped the edges for them.

That’s the type of commitment we bring to our customers—what matters to them, matters to us. The couple ended up with floors that they loved—and which put a smile on Katie’s and Vinnie’s faces. 

And that made me smile, too.