National Oak Flooring Manufacturers Association Applies Certification Standards to Engineered Wood Flooring.

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 1998--The National Oak Flooring Manufacturers Association (NOFMA), which has certified only solid wood flooring makers since 1909, has made a major move in the hardwood flooring industry.

Earlier this month, NOFMA voted to apply its certification standards to qualified engineered, or laminated, wood flooring manufacturers, and Triangle Pacific Corporation of Dallas, Texas, became the first company to apply for the new certification standards.

Triangle Pacific, the world's largest manufacturer of three-quarter-inch solid oak and maple flooring, also represents a major segment of the engineered wood flooring industry in the U.S. Triangle Pacific has four hardwood flooring companies: Bruce Hardwood Floors, Hartco Flooring Company, Premier Wood Floors and Robbins Hardwood Flooring.

With the addition of engineered hardwood flooring, NOFMA now represents the majority of all types of hardwood flooring manufactured and sold in the U.S.

Dwain Plaster, president of Triangle Pacific, said that certification of engineered flooring is especially important now that this type of flooring has grown in popularity.

"Just as NOFMA certification of solid wood floors has traditionally been a mark of high quality, this certification of engineered wood flooring provides consumers with the knowledge that they have purchased flooring that has met high standards in its production and that they have made a wise purchase," Plaster said.

Engineered flooring products by Triangle Pacific will now be certified by NOFMA and will be inspected according to NOFMA standards and procedures. Initial inspections are expected to begin this month and, following approval of inspections, the mills will begin marking those products "NOFMA Certified."

NOFMA President Jon Smith, president of Smith Flooring of Mountain View, Missouri, said that consumers will benefit most from the decision to include certification standards for engineered flooring manufacturers.

"The addition of engineered flooring standards will ensure that consumers who now opt for engineered flooring can receive the same benefits as consumers who choose traditional hardwood flooring -- consistency in grading, milling techniques, installation and quality assurance through NOFMA certification," Smith said. NOFMA was formed in 1909 when a group of lumber mills banded together to define grades of wood and raise milling standards of hardwood flooring.

The organization's original goal -- setting uniform, clearly defined industry standards so that customers would consistently receive the grade and quality of flooring they ordered -- has not changed since its founding. In fact, NOFMA is still the only organization which publishes hardwood flooring standards for both unfinished and factory-finished products and actively enforces them.