Mark Woodward

Ok, it is January 15, 2011. Just 2 weeks into the new year. Remember just a short while ago we were all so pumped up with our new years resolutions? How are we doing?

Well with only a 2 week gauge, my #1 goal was to have a better work/life balance, spend more time with my family what blown out of the water. Wow, this was a much tougher one than I thought!!! Actually the the opposite has happened, but it is a work in progress.

So far the healthier eating goal has been successful. I actually starting packing a healthy lunch consisting of turkey on wheat with carrots pears and apples for daily snacks. Now this one was much easier than I thought. I also have been verry good with the breakfasts (usually fruit or oatmeal) too. Breakfast was a killer for me - always on the run. I would usually just grab a couple of granola bars or pick up a bagelat the coffee shop. I really thought I would have a much tougher time with this, but so far, so good. And I started my bow-flex exercise program. I gotta tell you, I really feel like I have more energy

One of my business resolutions was to block out 1 day for cold calls and B2B "drop-ins". This has been going well. I have an appointment today as a result of this resolution. There is a restoration company that I have been trying to get in with for quite some time. Well, persistence pays off. I got a call from them yesterday to meet them at a house in Summit today that had water damage. It is a sand and refinish job (just as long as moisture content in the hardwood is at or below acceptable levels)

So, how are you doing? Do you even remember your resolutions? A little trick I did as to print them out and hang them on my office wall as a DAILY reminder. This has helped greatly.

Have a great 2011!

OK, I am still pumped, running on pure adrenaline! What an amazing day. Between ALL the invaluable information, new friends, new strategies, and cool new tools, I do not know what to start indulging in first. Plus catching up with my favorite 8:30am phone call buddy Debbie Gartner is always a good time.

This was my 1st ReBar Camp and I was so impressed. First I need to thank Patrick Healy for all his hard work organizing the day. I especially enjoyed his session on Google Voice. But even more impressive was his session on Wordpress. NOW I understand why Wordpress.org and not Wordpress.net! Thanks Patrick.

I had the pleasure of spening the majority of the day with Jeff Belonger. I think Jeff sensed this was my 1st ReBar Camp and he basically took me under his wing and guided me through the entire day. I can not thank him enough. I gain so much valuable insight from Jeff which put me worlds above where I was at 9:00 am.

My favorite session was the one by Mike Mueller on the PROPER way to set up a Face Book business page. Great, now I have to create a new one because I did just about everything wrong.

One of the biggest surprises of the day - I ran into Perri Feldman! Perri and I are in the same BNI group and I had no idea she was one of the founding members of the Lucky Strikers. Perri is a very well respected Keller Williams Agent and knowing her from BNI, her professionalism and passion for her industry is second to none.

After the day was over, I had the pleasure of sharing a cocktail with one of Debbie's friends, Angela Johnson. She is apparently relatively new to AR (just like me!) but you would never know that by reading her posts!

Also, another New Jersey-ite, Sal Poliandro, stopped by to chat. He is a man of many layers. You should take some time to get to know him.

I can not thank all those who put this ReBar Camp together enough. You all did an amazing job and I learned a TON!

Now I have to log off and go on Face Book and build my business page the right way!

Here is part 3 of 3 - Why does oak hardwood flooring costs vary. In this final segment I would like to address the drying process and how it relates to quality.

There are 2 ways of which to dry hardwood - air and kiln.

The definition or air drying is the drying of timber by exposing it to the air. "The technique of air drying consists mainly of making a stack of sawn timber (with the layers of boards separated by stickers) on raised foundations, in a clean, cool, dry and shady place. Rate of drying largely depends on climatic conditions, and on the air movement (exposure to the wind). For successful air drying, a continuous and uniform flow of air throughout the pile of the timber needs to be arranged."

On the opposite end of the spectrum is kiln drying. "The process of kiln drying consists basically of introducing heat. This may be directly, using natural gas and/or electricity or indirectly, through steam-heated heat exchangers, although solar energy is also possible. In the process, deliberate control of temperature, relative humidity and air circulation is provided to give conditions at various stages (moisture contents or times) of drying the timber to achieve effective drying. For this purpose, the timber is stacked in chambers, called wood drying kilns, which are fitted with equipment for manipulation and control of the temperature and the relative humidity of the drying air and its circulation rate through the timber stack."

Kiln drying is a much more uniform and controlled method of drying. It is a more costly process, but yields a much better result. Remember the goal here is to produce boards that have a moisture content under 12% and less that a 3% variation.

Because air drying wood is not a controlled method, erratic moisture levels, warping and cracking can become an issue,. What is even worse is that if you install hardwood flooring planks that have a moisture content of 12% or higher and a variation of more than 3 % the boards will continue to dry over time. This is where warping, twisting and splitting happens. Once this happens, there is little you can do to stop this process.

Please keep in mind just because the wood is milled in the US or Canada does not mean it was harvested or dried there. Some mills will purchase timber over-seas and then mill it here. Over-seas hardwood is generally much cheaper (both $$ and quality) and comes with a cheaper retail price. Make sure you know where your hardwood it is harvested and dried before you purchase. Always ask your salesman.

As you can see, kiln dried hardwood yields a much more stable product. And stability is a major factor where it relates to quality. Most of your better mills in the US and Canada kiln dry, and air dry is much more common over-seas, so it is best to find this out BEFORE you purchase. All these factors are part of the pricing.

I hope this helps shed a little light on why oak hardwood flooring can have such varied costs.

In part one of this blog we spoke about the grading of hardwood floors. Grading is only one aspect of why hardwood floors are priced differently. Grading relates more to the "look" of the planks, not necessarily the quality.

I would like to briefly comment on hardwood floor quality and what to look out for. There are many things that separate a quality hardwood floor from one that is less than desirable. First and foremost, where the wood is milled and how it is dried.

Milling refers to the manufacturing of the individual planks. The goal here is to make sure all the sides and ends are square - sounds like a manufacturing standard right? Well, let me assure you, it is not. Hardwood planks are milled on milling machines. Just like an automobile, there are expensive machines and cheap machines. The cheap machines do not hold tight tolerances and therefore the end result is "sloppy" - ends that are not square leaving large unsightly and uneven gaps in the planks.

In addition to the "squareness" of the planks the second HUGE identifier of a quality hardwood is how well the tongues are groves are milled. Tongue and groves are where the individual planks meet/join. A properly milled hardwood done on a quality milling machine that is held to very tight standards will have accurately milled tongues and grove. Why is this important? You want each plank to meet up and join at the same level. Poorly milled hardwood planks will have what is called"lippage". This is where one plank sit higher or lower than the other. I have seen low quality hardwood planks that had lippage of 1/8"! Lippage is much more critical with prefinished hardwood than unfinished, but it all plays into the quality of the product.

In part 3 we will discuss the drying process and some key questions to ask your flooring salesman.

Part 1 of 3

This is a question we get very often - why is your hardwood price different from "ABC" and why is "ABC" different "XYZ". On the surface, this is a very legitimate question, and I fully understand the confusion. But, first and foremost, when comparing prices, we must make sure we are comparing apples to apples.

One of the biggest price drivers in hardwood flooring (aside from the species) is the grading of the wood. What is meant by grading? Grading is an industry term that classifies hardwood floors into 4 basic categories. These categories primarily relate to the look and characteristic of the planks. There is a lot more that goes into the grading, but for our purposes, we can generalize a bit.

The 4 grading categories are:

Select & Better or "S&B" - "S&B" planks are very clean with no knots or mineral streaks. We all know what knots are but what are mineral streaks? These are the black and dark brown streaks that run perpendicular to the grain.

#1 Common - wood in this category will have some knots and mineral streaks.

#2 Common - wood in this category will have knots and mineral streaks and maybe a few worm holes.

#3 Common - this is the wood with a lot of knots, mineral streaks and some worm holes.

Generally S&B is priced the highest followed by #1, #2 and #3 respectively. Please keep in mind the grading of the wood has little to do with the quality. It is strictly a "look" issue. S&B is VERY clean and sleek while #1, #2 and #3 have more "character".

With pre-finished wood, seldom will you see these grading scales. Most manufacturers sort or "grade" their wood by categories, lines or series. For example, Mullican St. Andrews is considered a S&B, Mullican Quail Hollow is considered a #1 and Mullican Old Virginian is a #2. So when shopping for pre-finished hardwood flooring, ask a lot of questions to determine what you are really getting.