I got a call recently from a homeowner who had heard good things about Ralph’s Hardwood Floors but was afraid we wouldn’t travel to work on the floors in her home, which is a couple of hours drive away from our location in Black Creek.
I assured her that we would. We take every job on a case-by-case basis—it has to make economic sense for us, of course—but our goal is to make as many customers happy as possible. If that means driving a few extra miles, we’ll always try to make it work out.
That call reminded me of a time, in the early days of Ralph’s Hardwood Floors, when we traveled all the way to Alaska to get a job done!
My father, Ralph, who started our company, got a call one day from a friend who was also in the hardwood floor business and had somehow taken on a gymnasium floor in Alaska.
It wasn’t going well for him, and he desperately needed the help of an expert in sanding and installing gym floors—like my Dad. So Dad agreed to come to the rescue.
I don’t know exactly what Dad’s motivations were. I’m sure helping out a friend was part of it. He also took my mother along, so maybe they saw it as a good way to mix some business with pleasure by checking out the natural wonders of Alaska.
Whatever the reason, it didn’t work out as Dad had hoped. Mom and Dad flew up to Alaska, but once they got there, Dad’s buddy threw his back out. Dad was able to finish the job, and the client and Dad’s friend were both pleased and grateful with how beautiful it turned out. But there was a problem—how to get the friend’s truck full of installation equipment back to the lower 48? He couldn’t drive it himself because of his back.
Mom and Dad ended up driving the truck back down the Alaska Highway (through the Yukon) and then all the way to Wisconsin across western Canada and the U.S. Dad said the Alaska Highway was a terrible road, sometimes not even paved and full of potholes. They often had to pull over to the side to allow oncoming trucks to pass because the roads were so narrow.
But it was an adventure—and every day they sent us a postcard. We didn’t start getting them until after they were home, but it was cool to see where they had been—all in the name of pleasing a customer with a great hardwood floor installation.
So if you’re thinking about installing or refinishing hardwood floors, and you’ve heard about us but aren’t sure we’d travel from Black Creek to your home, there’s a good chance we would. It’s in our blood to travel.
Just give us a call or shoot us an email and we’ll be glad to talk about the possibilities..
Photo courtesy of JLS Photography - Alaska
