Truck and Van Contest - Hardwood Floors Magazine

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Truck and Van Contest
E
arlier this year, we asked contractors and
retailers to send us their best truck and van
designs. Our panel of industry experts carefully considered all of the entries and determined
the winners in each of three categories: Best Exterior Graphics, Most Organized Interior and Most
Unique Work Vehicle. The four lucky winners will
enjoy a free trip the NWFA convention in Charlotte,
N.C., or to an NWFA technical school of their choice
courtesy of Hardwood Floors magazine and the
NWFA. To see the winners, turn the page.
October/November 2003
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Best Exterior Graphics (tie)
Woodchuck Flooring
Scarborough, Ontario
T
aking a break from the same-old-same-old of the
daily grind is usually the highlight of a trip to a foreign country, yet Tim Nassis’ trip to Paris held an
element of the familiar. While strolling through the
exhibits at the city’s famous Musée d’Orsay, he came
across the 1875 painting “The Floor Planers” by French
artist Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) and was immediately reminded of home. “That was the first place I had
seen the painting,” Nassis says, adding that it was especially moving because it evoked a strong image of the
industry into which he was born.
Nassis is “heir to the throne” of Scarborough, Ontariobased Woodchuck Flooring, a business started by Nassis’
father in 1970. Prior to his trip to Paris, Nassis had been
searching for the perfect vehicle graphics for his three
new vans. The Caillebotte painting seemed to fit the
ticket, and it has become a kind of company icon. Not
only does the picture have a prominent place above the
showroom fireplace, the company’s vehicles also wear
the painting on their back doors and sides. “We do have
a company logo, but I wanted the vehicle to drive by and
have absolutely everyone look,” Nassis says, adding that
the graphic is particularly eye-catching when submerged
in heavy Toronto traffic. “It makes a huge impact. You
don’t drive by our vans and not notice them, and that’s
what I wanted. If I’ve made an impact with just the fact
that ‘those guys have really neat trucks,’ between that
and our company name, we have a better shot.”
The driving force behind the van graphics was to differ-
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entiate the vehicles from all the other vehicles on the
road. “If it’s just lettering on the truck, you haven’t made
someone look at your vehicle. You haven’t differentiated
yourself from that SUV beside you,” Nassis says. The
Woodchuck Flooring vans, however, do a good job of capturing the attention of potential customers, and Nassis
says the money spent (C$2,000 per van) on the fullcolor, vinyl renditions of the famous painting that are
melted onto the van, is well worth it. “I can’t even drive
like an idiot anymore because everyone is looking at me,”
Nassis jokes. “It’s what I pictured. I get people calling and
stopping me on a weekly basis, and I only drive back and
forth to work.”
The graphics have worked out so well, in fact, that
Nassis considers them his best form of advertising.
“Based on our experience, van graphics and doing your
van up is important. You can’t find a cheaper form of
advertising,” Nassis says. “With the number of vehicles I
pass on the highway just driving back and forth to work,
if half of them look at my vehicle, I am down to pennies
per customer at the end of the year.” Nassis has considered supplying vehicles for his estimators, or even just
for regular Joes on the street. “If someone wants to drive
a full-size van, it’s worth it just to pay the lease and the
gas [in order] to put your graphics out there. It’s
absolutely phenomenal.”—N.S.
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Best Exterior Graphics (tie)
Parquet Floor Service
Hoboken, N.J.
A
s with Woodchuck Flooring, Caillebotte’s 1875
French painting “The Floor Planers” also provided
the inspiration for a winning van entry. Lorenzo
Johnson, owner of Parquet Floor Service, found inspiration
not in Paris, France, but hanging on the wall in his office in
Hoboken, N.J. “One day, I was just sitting there doing
some paperwork, and I just looked up at it and thought, ‘It
would be amazing if I could use it as my logo and wrap my
van with it,’” Johnson says. After a few phone calls, he
found a place that could scan the image and reproduce it
on a vehicle; and just a couple days later, his vision
became a reality.
Johnson has always admired the painting for both its artistic composition and its traditional representation of hardwood
flooring professionals. The rustic look and old-world European
craftsmanship embodies his company’s philosophy. “It represents the old-fashioned way of doing the right thing—no
short cuts,” he says. “If you’re going to do anything with your
floors, take a look at that—you’ll know what we do.” That
basic emphasis on quality has helped turn Parquet Floor Service, which Johnson started in the basement of a church 19
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years ago, into a successful business that has grown into
doing major commercial and residential installations and
repair in the New York/New Jersey area.
Contributing to the success of the company are the eyecatching graphics on Parquet’s cargo van. The van’s image
has been so successful at building name recognition and
garnering new business, the company has added the
graphic to its other two vans. Johnson and his staff field
calls daily from people curious about the vans and the
company. “It’s like a moving billboard,” Johnson says.
“We’ve been at job sites where people have gotten our
name off the vans and have called and said, ‘Your van
was parked outside and we need our floors done,’” says
Martha Torres, office manager at Parquet.
The vans aren’t the only thing that gets Johnson noticed
around town. He also extends his credo of “doing the right
thing” outside his business and into the community. Johnson frequently participates in fund-raising in Hoboken and
donates to the city’s youth programs. “He’s very active in
the community,” says Torres. “He could run for mayor and
probably win,” she says.—C.L.
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Most Organized Interior
Annandale Floor Finishers
Annandale, Va.
V
ance Hough Jr. began working on hardwood flooring
job sites with his father at an early age—“as soon as I
was old enough for mom to kick me out of the house,”
he jokes. He learned quickly that if he borrowed a tool from
his father, he’d better put it back exactly where he found it.
That lesson has stuck with him even now, nearly 50 years
later. Today, his own work van is so organized that it earned
the top spot in the Most Organized Interior category.
In an industry where a contractor’s van often includes a
jumble of electrical cords, vacuum hoses, endless tools and a
few bundles of wood stacked on top of a big machine,
Hough’s van may be nothing less than amazing. The 2002
Ford F-250 came with gray metal shelves on one side of the
van, and Hough took it from there.
On the back door, a wooden shelf made
of soft wormy maple tucks away putty,
tape and rubber skirting for the buffer.
Next to that, the space between the door
and the metal shelves is a perfect fit for
the vacuum and the buffer.
Plywood with a few clamps creates a great
spot for storing cumbersome vacuum wands
and a tack cloth. Below that, birch and cherry
shelves house slots where edgers can be
securely suspended, making sure there isn’t
any pressure on the edger drums during transport. The edger cords roll up tidily beneath the
edgers. The round white container hold rags.
Next to the back door, a wood “cradle” secures the
big machine. Since Hough often works alone, the
cradle located in the back of the truck makes it easier for him to lift the sander in and out of the van.
Hough also finds that having the sander in the back
of the vehicle helps the van ride better. Electrical pigtails are easily accesible hanging next to the big
machine. Behind the big machine are shelves for
filler, as well as brad nailers in the their metal cases.
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The metal shelves that came with the
van provide a perfect spot for finish,
abrasives neatly organized by grit and
other miscellany.
This dovetailed toolbox was a labor of
love for Hough, who worked on it in the
wood shop at his house. Featuring curly
red oak, walnut and bird’s-eye maple, its
six sliding trays make it easy to find any
tool when Hough needs it, including his
homemade scrapers.
Hough built this cabinet to neatly organize his CDs, stain fans, product literature and other papers. The flower in the vase was actually
a gift from a customer. Hough says customers are often impressed
by his van. “They want somebody who’s going to be neat and clean
up, so I think it’s definitely a selling point, especially when you’re
going into somebody’s house to work,” he says. Hough feels the
same way about his employees. “You don’t want a bunch of slobs
working for you, you want somebody who’s going to keep things
organized,” he adds. Most importantly, a neat truck helps the work
go faster, helping Hough live by a favorite phrase of his: “Work
smarter, not harder.” —K.M.W.
October/November 2003
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Most Unique Work Vehicle
Floor-Aid LLC
Audubon, Minn.
T
raffic pulls quickly to the side of the road to let it pass.
The neighbors rush to their doors or gather in clusters
on the sidewalks as the ambulance pulls into the driveway. The driver of the ambulance jumps out and heads
unconcernedly to the door of the house, chuckling as the look
of worry on the people’s faces changes slowly to understanding—it isn’t a real ambulance. It’s just EFT (Emergency Floor
Technician) Ralph Gaughan, who has come to the rescue of
some floors in need of resuscitation.
Gaughan started his business, which focuses primarily on
sanding and refinishing, in 1997, working out of a pickup with
a topper on it. It didn’t take long for Gaughan to decide he
needed a more practical vehicle, and one that would reflect
the name of his business—Floor-Aid LLC. Just as he began
his search, Gaughan heard about some ambulances being
sold as part of government auctions, so he went to check
them out and came home with one.
Having such a noticeable vehicle has been good for business; people see the van and never forget it. “I can go to a
Wal-Mart or any store, and I will get a call a few days later
from people saying, ‘We saw that van in the parking lot.’ It’s
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something that stands out,” Gaughan says. “Other than word
of mouth, it’s the only advertising I do besides the number in
the phone book.” The vehicle also generates interest on the
job site. “I will pull up in the driveway of a house where I am
going to refinish some floors, and the neighbors will come
over. They are all excited because of the ambulance,”
Gaughan laughs. “After they find out it’s only a flooring contractor, they kind of settle down. But, it’s kind of neat … I
even get cars that pull over to let me by.”
All the bells, whistles and lights (other than the red ones) still
work, and although he’s not legally allowed to use them, he
still gets requests from the people on his street to turn the
lights on. But, the novelty of the ambulance is not its best feature. “The only thing I had to do to it was to take off the ambulance markings and put on my own lettering,” Gaughan says.
As for the interior of the ambulance, it too was already suited
to his needs—it had shelves and was wide enough and tall
enough for Gaughan to comfortably move about and store his
flooring equipment. “My van sure works well for what I use it
for,” he says. “Everything fits in its place. Before long, everyone
will have one.” He might be on to something there.—N.S.