NWFA Announces Intermediate Training Courses
Brett Miller, NWFA director of certification and education, center, watches with instructor Keith Long, owner of Thunderheart Flooring in Greeley, Colo., second from left, as students insert a medallion into a wood floor they installed during the Intermediate Installation training course held in June at the NWFA Training Center in St. Louis.
NWFA regional instructor Keith Long, owner of Thunderheart Flooring in Greeley, Colo., left, and Matthew Young, who came from Australia to attend the Intermediate Installation and Intermediate Sand & Finish training courses in June in St. Louis at the NWFA, install the field of an unfinished wood floor before students install borders and learn to drop-in a medallion in an existing floor.
A student in the NWFA Intermediate Installation training class in June in St. Louis benefits from hands-on practice in the "lacing in" technique. Lacing in requires care and precision to remove and replace boards in an existing wood floor in order to interlace it with a new, adjoining wood floor.
Instructor Mark Mukosiej, of Arboritec, discusses abrasion and other fine details of the wood floor sanding process during the NWFA Intermediate Sand & Finish training class, held in June at the NWFA Training Center in St. Louis.
Wayne Lee, of Middle Tennessee Lumber, center, talks about the techniques of sanding a wood floor with students at the Intermediate Sand & Finish training class, held in June at the NWFA Training Center in St. Louis.
Student Allen Townsell hand scrapes a factory-finished floor during the NWFA Intermediate Sand & Finish training class, held in June at the NWFA Training Center in St. Louis.
The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) has announced a new, more in-depth approach to its Intermediate Installation and Intermediate Sand and Finish training courses. Each now is a four-day training event, affording twice the amount of time for classroom and hands-on learning in each skill area, according to the association. The courses are presented in consecutive weeks.
“In our first intermediate training sessions to use the new, four-day format, conducted in June, we had more than 40 students from various segments of the wood flooring industry, including from manufacturer, distributor and contractor companies,” said Brett Miller, NWFA director of certification and education.
“Students came from across the U.S., some with more than 30 years in the industry, highlighting the value of the instruction and the hands-on training opportunities, regardless of one’s level of experience,” Miller continued. “One of the students who attended both weeks’ training, made the trip from Australia. A few more students had participated in our Principles of Wood Flooring course in April, and returned to deepen their knowledge and skills.”
The Intermediate Installation training now includes, for example, time for demonstrating and applying more in-depth techniques, such as “lacing-in,” in which the installation of a new floor is interlaced with a pre-existing wood floor in an adjoining area of the job site. Time also is dedicated to the installation and nuances between factory-finished and unfinished flooring, including installing borders, skirts and aprons.
The Intermediate Sand and Finish class expands the time spent hands-on with equipment, diving deeper into the skills and proper maintenance that help students reach their next levels of performance. In the four-day format, students not only get to apply stains, sealers and finishes, but have time to see the end results and then assess for problems, causes and cures. The training now also covers alternative finishes, including penetrating oils, UV curing, reactive colorants, and hard waxes.
The next Intermediate Installation and Intermediate Sand and Finish training classes will be held in August in Chicago.
View the NWFA Technical Education Schedule at nwfa.org for more information and to register.
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