Doug DalsingDoug Dalsing is a former associate editor at Hardwood Floors.HistoryVintage Moment: Waterlox Traces Roots to 1910Cleveland's advantageous location near international sea lanes made it a manufacturing heavyweight in the early 20th century. One company from that era that still calls the Rock 'n' Roll Capital of the World home is Waterlox Coatings Corporation, founded in 1910. At the heart of the company are its resin-modified tung oil varnishes, which are made today much the same as they were during the company's early days, testament to the family-owned company's longevity. Tung oil and resins are combined and heated so that they crosslink, and then an expert varnish maker (pictured, circa 1916) thins the viscous liquid until it's ready for use in a number of the company's products, including wood floor finish.August 14, 2011Green IssuesArchitect Builds Homes With Whole TreesAugust 14, 2011Green IssuesManufacturer Greens Operations With Kiln RetrofitAbout three years ago, Tim Kelly was gassing up his vehicle for a trip back home to Ashland, Maine, from Montreal, Quebec. The price tag on the Kelly Lumber vice president's full tank was $175. Frustrated by the exorbitant price of fossil fuel, Kelly tuned into public radio and found himself listening to a story about people who had retrofitted their diesel-burning vehicles to burn used vegetable oil instead. Then it flickered-he thought, why not use vegetable oil to power his company's kiln boilers? "I started thinking about it, started doing some research, and I found it was a viable alternative," Kelly says. Back in Ashland, his family-owned company made a significant investment in retrofitting its boiler engines with new equipment to handle the higher acidity of vegetable oil. The company set up centrifuges to clean the vegetable oil, which it gets from a local french fry manufacturer, and it brought in holding tanks to store the oil until it's burned. Fossil fuel prices have somewhat softened, so Kelly now pays about as much for vegetable oil as he would for diesel fuel (or No. 2 heating oil), but now his company is recycling even more industrial waste, and its input costs are less volatile due to a long-term agreement with the vegetable oil supplier. What's more, the vegetable oil burns cleaner, producing less soot and fewer emissions. All in all, the operation's upgrade was a step in the green direction.August 14, 2011Green IssuesThe Forester's Toolbox: Technology Shores up Supplies for the FutureAt this very moment, about 466 miles up in space, NASA's Terra satellite is recording atmospheric data across a 1,400-mile-wide swath of Earth. It uses a moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer, or MODIS for short, to record phenomena like volcanic eruptions, floods, storms, droughts and forest fires. It may sound irrelevant to daily life, but all of these events can disrupt supply chains wood flooring professionals depend on to get product in the right place at the right time. Forest managers (along with scientists and researchers) are monitoring data from Terra, playing their role in a long line of wood products industry stakeholders, in order to ensure our forests provide satisfactory yields year after year. And they are fighting a winning battle. Though threats to the forest are many, the industry is moving toward global forest sustainability by combining technology onboard Terra with advances in computing, biotechnology and policymaking-making our industry greener than it's ever been.August 2, 2011HistoryVintage Moments: Long-Term Growth at Derr FlooringMay 31, 2011DesignBoundless Imagination: German Company Offers Custom-Printed BaseboardsFN Neuhofer Holz says its FN Digiprint baseboards are better seen than explained-which is right on the money. FN bills it as the ultimate complement to any floor décor because they can take any graphic-a logo, photograph, digital design, whatever-and apply it to a baseboard (or even vertically hung blinds). With an upcoming online design center, users will be able to upload any graphic file and instantly see how it complements a room's design. And because the process is digital, the custom products can be produced quickly. So, go ahead and let your imagination-or your customer's imagination-run wild. (For more examples and information, visit www.fnprofile.com/en/fn_digiprint.)May 31, 2011ReclaimedReclaimed Reprint: Artistic Duo Puts Cityscapes on Wood Flooring"Instead of throwing away that flooring, we're going to give it a new life," artist Hugo Garcia Urrutia says. Garcia Urrutia and fellow artist MK Semos are currently in residence at the Fairmont Dallas, creating new works in exchange for studio space and displaying their "Wooden Postcards," an art series made from reclaimed wood flooring. The pair starts with film images snapped with Semos' Holga camera, and then Garcia Urrutia constructs the wood floor medium on which the images are printed. (To view more from the series or to purchase a piece, visit decorazongallery.com.) The wood flooring was reclaimed from homes in the Dallas area. Semos and Garcia Urrutia-who are married-chose wood flooring for its green qualities, namely the fact it can be torn up and re-used (even in completely different applications, like art). "We like the concept that the wood was once used as flooring, and now it is on your wall," Garcia Urrutia says. When creating the composite works of art, Garcia Urrutia takes into account the physical characteristics of the wood. "I like to find interesting pieces of wood with the right notch or grain that could even be incorporated into the image," he says. "We've used mainly white oak since it seems to be the right color and grain. Maple would also work, but you don't find maple too much in this area." So how does the duo print its images on wood? Sorry, but they're not telling. "It's kind of an ancient Chinese secret," Semos jokes.May 31, 2011ReclaimedMuseum Goes Green With Reclaimed Gym Wood FlooringMarch 24, 2011Green IssuesPlanters Pimps Out Mr. Peanut's Ride with Wood FlooringHow does the monocled Mr. Peanut move from place to place? With the latest Planters Nutmobile, a vehicle that is simply as green-and nutty-as they come, what with its interior reclaimed oak flooring and bevy of other eco-conscious features, including a wind turbine and solar cells. The dimpled vehicle also sports recycled windows and window frames, a recycled windshield, VOC-free vinyl graphics, non-toxic and solvent-free epoxies, an engine that runs on a mixture of biodiesel fuel and diesel fuel, and a catalytic converter to meet EPA emission standards. You might think it would be tough to bring a cartoon peanut bedecked in top hat, monocle, gloves and spats into the 21st century, but Planters makes it look easy by giving the anthropomorphic fruit a contemporary carriage that's green to the teeth. Looks like the ball is in the Wienermobile's court.March 24, 2011HistoryVintage Moments: Wood Flooring Maker Has WWII RootsMarch 24, 2011Previous PagePage 5 of 7Next PageTop StoriesSurveys2026 Wood Floor Business Contractor SurveyHere are the results from our exclusive survey of wood flooring contractors.ManagementHow Online Quoting Saved My Sanity and My BusinessTechniquesHow We Did This Floor: A Mixed Media Floor Fit for a Texas CastleLegal AdviceWood Floor Pros: Legal Risks of Working for Friends and FamilyDesignEnter the 2027 Wood Floor Business Design Awards
