Wood as Art

Didn't you know that hardwood installers and refinishers were artists, too?National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) President and CEO Michael Martin announced the 2014 Wood Floor of the Year winners during the Awards Dinner at the NWFA Wood Flooring Expo in Nashville, Tenn., on April 18.Here are photos and brief descriptions of all the winners:
Members' Choice: Ourada DesignsThis solid plank wood floor was glued down and finished on site. The design uses a mix of pine, ash and cherry wood.
Best Residential: Natural Wood Floors and DesignThis solid, nail-down project was finished on site for a homeowner in Florida who wanted a floor that would highlight his art collection.
Best Reclaimed: Precision Floorcrafters Inc.About 2,000 square feet of antique heart pine reclaimed from old buildings went into this floor.
Best Limited Species: Precision Floorcrafters Inc.This floor features river reclaimed cypress rounds with water washed edges. The cypress trees had been ax-cut in the 1800s and were lost in the river during transportation to the sawmill.
Best Commercial: Archetypal Imagery Corp.The hallway of this traditional brandy tasting club in Armenia is made of thousands of 5-by-5-inch wood end-grain wood blocks cut from 150-year-old barn beams and hand-pillowed on site.
Best Restoration: Brookens Wood Floors Inc.The company used quarter sawn red oak, beech, afrormosia and kempas wood to restore a 1920s linoleum on red oak.
Best Extreme Makeover: Czar FloorsThis Boston Celtics medallion was placed in a client's "man cave," and uses maple, walnut and ash, along with a custom green stain.
Best CNC/Laser Cut: MP Carroll HardwoodThis laser-cut wood floor is located at the company's showroom in Buffalo, N.Y., and uses white oak, wenge and walnut.
Best Manufacturer Factory Finish: WD FlooringThis floor, a mix of white and red oak wood, was finished with a UV-cured hardwax oil from Rubio Monocoat.###Source: Hardwood Floors Magazine