All Things Wood Floor

Host Stephen Diggins continues his conversation with lifelong wood floor pro Tom Wimberly about practical machine maintenance, dust containment, and sanding techniques for drum, belt and edger machines. Tom shares hands‑on tips for preventing wave, keeping vacuums and buffers running, and dressing pads correctly. He also discusses business lessons he learned the hard way as a wood flooring contractor—how to price work, build cash reserves, and run a sustainable, less stressful company. Read Tom's articles "How I Learned To Charge What I’m Worth" from the December 2025/January 2026 issue of Wood Floor Business, and his article "Things Your Wood Floor Sanding Equipment Wishes You Would Do" from the April/May 2025 issue of WFB. Find all the industry news, a massive archive of wood flooring articles, the latest blogs and more at woodfloorbusiness.com. Follow Wood Floor Business on social media: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn TikTok YouTube Pinterest X Join the Wood Floor Business Community + USED Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook Group.

Tom Wimberly of TNT Machine Repair walks through his journey from 40 years of floor sanding to becoming a go-to machine repair expert. He shares practical habits for preserving sanding equipment, such as blowing out dust, listening for odd noises, warming up machines during cold weather, and emptying vacuums, plus tips on belt tension, dust containment, and crew training. This episode gives clear, hands-on advice to keep crews running, reduce breakdowns on the job and extend the life of your sanding and vacuum equipment. Read Tom's articles "How I Learned To Charge What I’m Worth" from the December 2025/January 2026 issue of Wood Floor Business, and his article "Things Your Wood Floor Sanding Equipment Wishes You Would Do" from the April/May 2025 issue of WFB. Find all the industry news, a massive archive of wood flooring articles, the latest blogs and more at woodfloorbusiness.com. Follow Wood Floor Business on social media: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn TikTok YouTube Pinterest X Join the Wood Floor Business Community + USED Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook Group.

Find all the industry news, a massive archive of wood flooring articles, the latest blogs and more at woodfloorbusiness.com. Follow Wood Floor Business on social media: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn TikTok YouTube Pinterest X Join the Wood Floor Business Community + USED Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook Group.

In this episode, the "Dutch Wood Artist" Jakko Woudenberg describes how, as a typical wood floor pro, he felt compelled to create something more. That journey has led him to creating some of the most incredibly wood floors in the world, including the phenomenal massive tree-ring floor and, most recently, a 195,000‑piece wooden mosaic re-creation of Rembrandt’s "The Night Watch". In his conversation with host Stephen Diggins, he shares his philosophy on creativity, craftsmanship and mentorship. Jakob also discusses collaboration, teaching the next generation and his vision for creating a global, pay‑it‑forward flooring artwork that connects elite wood floor pros around the world. See the article about Jakko Wounderberg's “The Night Watch in Wood” from the October/November 2025 issue of Wood Floor Business here. See his phenomenal tree ring floor in this article. Find all the industry news, a massive archive of wood flooring articles, the latest blogs and more at woodfloorbusiness.com. Follow Wood Floor Business on social media: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn TikTok YouTube Pinterest X Join the Wood Floor Business Community + USED Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook Group.

Troy Stanfield of Plankd Flooring in Mount Baker, South Australia, walks listeners through his journey from furniture restoration to award-winning "timber" floors, sharing how his boutique, quality-first approach built a strong reputation and unique niche in Australia’s timber flooring trade. Troy recounts memorable jobs—from a scissor lift that destroyed century-old jarrah parquet to falling asleep while sanding to plasterers stomping their way through a Baltic pine while dancing Irish jigs—and closes with practical lessons on scheduling, saying no, inventory management and mentoring the next generation of floor pros. Read the articles Stephen and Troy discussed in this episode: The Horrible Wood Flooring Job That Taught Me So Much Trick of the Trade: Keeping Track of Your Finish Made Easier Tales From the Front: The Jig Was … Down on This Job Find all the industry news, a massive archive of wood flooring articles, the latest blogs and more at woodfloorbusiness.com. Follow Wood Floor Business on social media: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn TikTok YouTube Pinterest X Join the Wood Floor Business Community + USED Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook Group.

Josh Johnson, owner of Johnson Flooring in Deckard, Tennessee, shares how he began by knocking on a flooring van’s window and learned the trade hands‑on, including his nightmare first sanding job and the huge mistake he made on that job. He also describes mentorships, equipment upgrades from a 110 sander to a legit big machine and how classes and tools like a multi-head sander transformed his work and business. Josh offers practical advice for newcomers, reflects on pricing and physical demands, and outlines plans to open a showroom while continuing to balance installations and sand‑and‑finish work. Read the Wood Floor Business article that profiles Josh Johnson here: https://bit.ly/fm25nextgen Find all the industry news, a massive archive of wood flooring articles, the latest blogs and more at woodfloorbusiness.com. Follow Wood Floor Business on social media: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn TikTok YouTube Pinterest X Join the Wood Floor Business Community + USED Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook Group.

Part two of our interview with Daniel Boone dives into machine setup, edgers, training on buffers, and practical classroom-to-job techniques he uses to train wood floor professionals. Daniel also shares stories from international schools, the Train‑the‑Trainer initiative, and why mentoring the next generation is essential for the trade’s future. Read recent articles from Daniel Boone in Wood Floor Business: A Key to Better Sanding: Know Your Scratch Wood Floor Sanding 101, Part 1 Sponsored: A Wood Floor Recognized For Beauty & Craftsmanship Find all the industry news, a massive archive of wood flooring articles, the latest blogs and more at woodfloorbusiness.com. Follow Wood Floor Business on social media: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn TikTok YouTube Pinterest X Join the Wood Floor Business Community + USED Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook Group.

Find all the industry news, a massive archive of wood flooring articles, the latest blogs and more at woodfloorbusiness.com. Follow Wood Floor Business on social media: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn TikTok YouTube Pinterest X Join the Wood Floor Business Community + USED Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook Group.

Find all the industry news, a massive archive of wood flooring articles, the latest blogs and more at woodfloorbusiness.com. Follow Wood Floor Business on social media: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn TikTok YouTube Pinterest X Join the Wood Floor Business Community + USED Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook Group.

Join host Steve Diggins from Specialty Forest Products for this sponsored episode as he delves into the world of wood floor finishes with two experts from Canlak Coatings, the name behind trusted wood floor finish brands like Absco, Poloplaz, Sampson and Wilson Imperial. Laura Posadas and Doug McGrew from Canlak peel back the curtain on the extensive research that goes into wood floor coatings chemistry and innovations at this major manufacturer. Hear their insights on everything from residential to sports flooring, including where the industry has been and where the world of coatings is headed in the future. Find all the industry news, a massive archive of wood flooring articles, the latest blog and more at woodfloorbusiness.com. Follow Wood Floor Business on social media: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn TikTok YouTube Pinterest X Join the Wood Floor Business Community + USED Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook Group.

Brad Rushing of North Palm Beach, Fla.-based California Designs discusses what it is like being a retailer in one of Florida’s luxury markets, what he learned about business and people from his father, how the company has kept both clients and employees for decades, how Brad modernized the family business, including their marketing, and how educating clients boosts their business. See California Designs’ profile in the 2024 Wood Floor Business Outstanding Retailer Awards: https://bit.ly/42bFHpv Read Brad’s article in Wood Floor Business “How We’ve Managed to Retain Employees for Decades” here: https://bit.ly/on24retail

Jack Horton’s father was a doctor, but he encouraged his four sons to go into the trades, and at age 16 Jack was learning to run a sawmill. Today, at age 30, he is a wood flooring contractor who installs, sands and finishes wood flooring he and his brother mill themselves, and they also sell whole-house packages of flooring and millwork to contractors. Jack and host Stephen Diggins discuss Jack’s unique journey into the trade and the insights he has about working with customers, including creating the right expectations for wood flooring and being upfront about the fact that he’s expensive. Jack also shares the biggest challenge in his career. Look for Jack's article in the upcoming April/May 2025 issue of Wood Floor Business (https://www.woodfloorbusiness.com).

In Part 2 of this episode with T.J. Haas of Mad Science Flooring (www.madscienceflooring.com) in Syracuse, N.Y., T.J. and host Stephen Diggins discuss the right ways to use multi-disc and planetary sanding machines to get a floor flat while removing the scratches, how to choose your abrasives wisely in today’s wood flooring market, how T.J. has made a living out of doing things that nobody else wants to do, and how he charges a premium for his work and also finds new revenue streams for his business every year. They also talk about cool old wood floor sanding machines and funny machine maintenance mistakes. To read T.J.’s article “My Trigger Phrase: ‘Been Doing It That Way for 35 Years’” about his dad and why he cares so much about electrical safety, click here: https://bit.ly/jj23llearn Read T.J.'s article “Do You Need a Power Station? Yes, and Here’s Why” from the February/March 2025 issue of WFB here: https://bit.ly/fm25ftf To read T.J.’s ghost story about working at a bowling alley, click here: https://bit.ly/on24talkback

T.J. Haas of Mad Science Flooring (www.madscienceflooring.com) in Syracuse, N.Y., grew up learning anything and everything about bowling lanes and wood flooring, and today he continues that legacy. In Part 1 of T.J.’s episode, hear T.J. and host Stephen Diggins discuss what it was like growing up in bowling alleys; the story of his dad’s health issues and why he’s so passionate about hooking up electricity safely and correctly; modern advances in dust containment; creepy ghost stories from working on jobs, and funny stories about the first jobs T.J did on his own. Look for Part 2 of T.J.’s talk with Stephen Diggins coming soon. To read T.J.’s article “My Trigger Phrase: ‘Been Doing It That Way for 35 Years’” about his dad and why he cares so much about electrical safety, click here: https://bit.ly/jj23llearn To read T.J.’s ghost story about working at a bowling alley, click here: https://bit.ly/on24talkback

In this sponsored episode, host Stephen Diggins dives into the world of wood floor experts Mike Hoy and Chris Pester, who have decades of experience in wood flooring and are now representing GameTime. GameTime now offers everything from vinyl graphics to coatings for sports floors and residential floors. Mike, Chris and Stephen discuss how vinyl graphics have transformed the world of sports flooring, the sponsorship opportunities they create, the training available to use these products, how to deal with environmental conditions when dealing with maple sports flooring … and much more, including Cosmo the Peacock. Learn more about GameTime Wraps at https://gametimewraps.com.

Lifelong wood flooring pro Ron Teljeur of Acorn Wood Floors in Aldergrove, British Columbia, grew up in the wood flooring business with his father, went to college to study physics and ended up circling right back to wood flooring—a job he still loves. In the years since he graduated, he started his own business, sized up, sized back down, and learned a lot along the way, becoming a specialist in renovations and particularly the top-nail 5/16-inch flooring that is still common in the region and in small pockets in the United States. See Ron’s article about the tools and techniques involved in top–nail flooring here. See his Trick of the Trade for repairing shake here. You can watch his video with a useful trick for board repairs here.

Aaron Sheaves of Sheaves Floors in Weyers Cave, Va., has been on wood flooring job sites as long as he can remember, but one thing he never would have predicted would be how posting on TikTok would transform his business — and generate income. On this episode, he and host Stephen Diggins discuss how he got started on the platform and the impact it’s had on his business, as well as what it’s like working on historical homes in his Virginia area, particularities of working with heart pine, how he ended up working on job sites with his mom, and much more. Find Aaron Sheaves on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@grain_lyfe Watch the video tour of Aaron's "Most Organized" winning van here: https://bit.ly/22sheaves See Aaron’s wavy bent-wood floor here: https://bit.ly/am17sheaves See one of Aaron’s heart pine projects here: https://bit.ly/222wfotwheartpine See the project with the butler bell: https://bit.ly/221wfotwstairs See the tiny pneumatic sander for between balusters: https://bit.ly/am22tot

In Part 2 of this episode, João and Susy Dias of Fino Oficio continue their conversation with Stephen Diggins and explain why they only hire people with no experience in the wood flooring industry, how they manage to charge so much more money than other wood flooring companies, how they work together as husband and wife, how they handle client relations so that customers realize they don’t have to worry about their wood floors, the mindset common to all elite wood flooring pros, and much more.

In Part 1 of this episode, listeners will discover the origin story of how couple João and Susy Dias of Fino Oficio in Lisbon, Portugal, went from no experience in wood flooring to being one of the best-known wood flooring contracting companies in the world, why they are always willing to help other wood flooring pros, what it has been like to participate in the Workcamp Parkett gatherings in Europe, and the inside stories from some of their most out-of-the-box and award-winning wood floors—including why João decided to add fire to the lacewood in their 2024 WFB Design Award-winning floor.