We love e-commerce as much as anyone. It’s kind of pleasant not dealing with a salesperson with an agenda that is theirs, not ours. What a great way to buy clothes, shoes, books, cds, etc. It’s really a pity that we are convinced one-click buying of a hardwood floor is not the way to go. We believe a consultation with our customers prior to purchase is fundamental to a happy experience in buying and installing a hardwood floor.
Why?
First, genuine hardwood flooring is a product of the natural world– where every tree is unique, and where every board sawn from that tree is different from every other board. Your floor will never look exactly like any other floor, or any photograph of a floor. We strive to match the right floor to the picture in our customer’s mind, and to help them understand issues like color variation, lengths, widths, and long-term appearance of their wood floors.
Second, we want to be sure that our flooring will perform in the setting in which it will be installed. A number of years ago we were called by a customer on Nantucket, who wanted to buy 8″ Hickory flooring for a cottage on the water with no air conditioning, since they left the windows open in the summer. We told them we didn’t think they would ever be happy with the performance of their floor in that environment. We lost a sale, but we also hope we helped someone avoid long-term disappointment in their beautiful but cupped flooring. We want our floors to provide a lifetime of satisfaction and beauty. Where we think this is unlikely to happen we will frankly say so.
Finally, we want to be sure our flooring will be properly stored prior to installation, properly installed, and then properly maintained for long-term performance. We like those conversations where a customer calls and says, “I bought my floors from you twenty years ago, Now I’m building a new house, and I want to have your floor in it.”
Warranties will one day expire. But when you buy a floor from us, we begin a relationship that doesn’t end. And a relationship starts with a conversation.
We look forward to hearing from you.