Our journey this time around took us to Leftwich Chapman Flooring store located at 5417 50th Street. The owners are Larry Leftwich and Jo Chapman. Both have over twenty-one years of experience in the flooring industry. Their business has been at this location for nine and a half years. Ten employees currently work in this location. They also have seven to eight crews out in the field doing various installations. The products offered in their showroom are carpet, tile, wood flooring, and rugs.
In the wood flooring section we learned that placing them in the bathroom is a definite no no. Kitchens are doable but extra steps and precautions will need to be made. Leather and bamboo flooring was shown as a possibility. On the leather flooring, Larry pointed out that felt pads placed on the bottoms of furniture to prevent tearing. Exotic woods are a popular choice of flooring in the West Texas area. One of the things to consider in choosing wood floors is the finish and the Janka Scale. This measures the force necessary to embed a .444-inch steel ball to half its diameter in wood. It’s also the industry standard for gauging the ability to tolerate denting and normal wear imposed on the various species. Doing a darker stain or choosing a hand-scraped style makes for a happier client in the long run.
The carpet and tile sections were a variety of great ideas. One of the new things that carpet manufacturers is adding depth to carpet. Also choices in pile cut, colors, and patterns have been added. In tile, the newest technology to hit this field is digitally photographed images produced surfaces. Glass tile is a popular item right now. Mixing the glass or metal with stone is taking off right now too.
There is experience, knowledge, and a pulse on what items are hot at Leftwich Chapman Flooring store. Wood is ranked according to the Janka scale. Wood floors do not belong in bathrooms but can work in kitchens providing there is extra precautions are made. Adding texture such as a hand-scrapped look blends the denting and normal wear into the finished product easier. Digital photographs are the latest thing to impose onto tile slates. Glass and mixing it with stone or metal is a hot item right now.
References
(1) Notes from field trip
(3) www.countyfloors.com/about_janka.html
This is really informative! Great job on talking about the different techniques that they use. :)
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