All Things Wood Floor

In this episode Josh Hansman of Cincinnati-based 50 Grit Flooring shares his unconventional journey building a thriving, referral-driven business in the competitive Cincinnati market. Hansman offers a candid look at what it really takes to grow a company—balancing craftsmanship with leadership, learning through mistakes, and staying grounded in the day-to-day realities of the trade. His story refl...

In this episode, we sit down with Steve Osborn of Spokane, Wash.-based Black Forest Hardwood Floors—Wood Floor Business’s 2025 Ultimate Floor Guy and a WFB contributing author—to unpack his journey and the lessons learned as he built his business. From managing Domino’s Pizza to becoming a master craftsman and business owner, Steve shares how he fell into the flooring trade and built a thriving co...

In part two of this fascinating conversation, Michael Purser of Rosebud Company takes listeners deeper into the art and judgment behind true wood floor restoration. From chemically removing old finishes without damaging historic wood to testing modern hardening oils for durability and maintenance, Michael explains how preservation work balances craftsmanship, chemistry and common sense. His storie...

In this episode, host Stephen Diggins and wood floor historical restoration expert Michael Purser of The Rosebud Company in Atlanta take a deep dive into wood floor finishes: the rise of urethane finishes, which helped revive wood flooring after wall-to-wall carpet nearly crushed the trade; how homeowners drove the change because they were tired of the constant upkeep of wax floors; and the shift...

Part two of "All Things Wood Floor" with lifelong wood floor pro and tool-repair wizard Tom Wimberly digs into the real-world habits that separate smooth, profitable jobs from headache callbacks. Wimberly breaks down dust containment the way only someone who’s lived it for decades can—why bags matter, how to keep them breathing, and the simple end-of-day routines that prevent clogs, fire risks and...

In Part 1 of this episode, Tom Wimberly of TNT Machine Repair shares how a 40-year career in hardwood flooring evolved into a full-time machine-repair calling. Raised in the trade and naturally mechanical, Tom started fixing his own equipment after a costly early experience with a bad repair job. Over time, his reputation grew, leading to certifications with American Sanders, Lägler, and Bona and...

In this episode of “All Things Wood Floor,” host Stephen Diggins welcomes New England legend Charlie “Big Charlie” Auditore, who was born in 1942, for an unscripted oral history of six decades in hardwood flooring—from post-WWII union jobs and on-site fistfights to million-foot parquet installs at Boston’s Prudential Center and iconic spaces like the Hatch Shell. Charlie traces his path from his f...

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 conversatio...

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 asle...

Josh Johnson, owner of Johnson Flooring in Decherd, Tenn., 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...

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...

In this episode of All Things Wood Floor, host Stephen Diggins welcomes legendary wood floor pro and trainer Daniel Boone. A direct descendant of the iconic frontiersman, Daniel shares his own pioneering journey—from running an edger at age 12 in the family wood floor business to training wood flooring pros across continents. With a life steeped in the wood flooring trade since childhood, Daniel r...

In this sponsored episode of All Things Wood Floor, host Steve Diggins sits down with Milton Goodwin, VP of product management-hardwood at AHF Products—the powerhouse behind the iconic Bruce brand—to explore how innovation, heritage and craftsmanship are shaping the hardwood flooring industry. From Bruce's roots in 1884 to AHF's modern approach to unfinished solid and engineered flooring and domes...

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 che...

In this episode of All Things Wood Floor, host Steve Diggins of Specialty Forest Products talks with young wood flooring pro Israel Alejandre, the owner of Cedar Oak Flooring based in Middlefield, Ohio. Featured as part of Wood Floor Business’s annual discussion about the Next Generation of emerging talent in the hardwood flooring industry, Israel shares insights into his journey as a young profes...

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 D...

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...

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 wa...

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 el...

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 floori...

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...

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 w...

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...

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 Euro...

Occupational therapist Jennifer Hale spends all day every day helping people do their jobs without pain, and in this episode, she's concentrating on hardworking wood flooring pros. Jennifer and host Stephen Diggins talk about how pros are really "industrial athletes," and how they need to train just like any other athlete to perform their jobs without injuries or pain. She explains why nutrition a...