Hillsboro, WI – “We don’t have a website. That’s a non-compete courtesy to the wholesalers who buy flooring from us to re-sell,” said co-owner Salena Ball of Hardwood Floors of Hillsboro LLC (HFH), located here. Ball emphasizes the relational approach for sourcing, production and sales at HFH.
“We provide a quality product for a fair price. Our work is the proof in the pudding. Our customers know that we are going to take care of the product and be consistent. We make it the best we can every day.”
Salena ball, co-owner, hardwood floors of hillsboro llc
She and her husband, Kent Barnes, are co-owners who lead the company’s production of unfinished Hardwood flooring from random widths of Northern Hardwood kiln-dried lumber.
HFH purchases 3 million board feet yearly of Red and White Oak, Ash, Cherry, Birch, Red Elm, Hickory, Hard Maple, Black Walnut and Rift/Quartered Red and White Oak. The majority of purchases are 15/16-inch, No. 1 Common, No. 2A Common and special sorted/graded rustic character.
The Northern Hardwoods are the preferred species. Ball explained the purchasing strategy. “Suppliers typically are within a 250-mile radius, reducing shipping costs. These are trusted suppliers who are vertically integrated which means the supplier typically owns the timber land, sawmill and kiln operation caring for the wood every step of the way. HFH favors vendors who offer consistent quality and quantity. “When you are growing a business, you do everything you can to help grow the relationship with suppliers. We pay our bills on time, which seems to increase our ease of access to the lumber they have. We buy based on their great supply of lumber and on the relationship.”
When Salena Ball moved to Wisconsin in 2000, she thought her floors would someday need refinishing. She clipped out an ad and taped it inside a kitchen cabinet door. Not unusual for Ball, who had worked for Wolohan Lumber in Rockford, IL, in the softwood framing and cabinet department.
“I was in the right place at the right time in the 1990s, when the wood trades were opening up to women,” she recalled. “I find wood very interesting. Even within the same wood species one board can look completely different than another. It’s a very interesting thing Mother Nature can do. If you take the time to smell the roses and really look at a piece of wood, you can find unique characteristics usually in each board. The same thing comes through in a piece of lumber or wood flooring, if we take the time to slow down and notice! That’s sometimes hard to do in life. I try not to take that for granted.”
Two years later, Ball called the number of the ad and Kent Barnes arrived to estimate. Barnes told the homeowner that nothing was needed and what to watch as the floor aged. In the course of their conversation, he learned about her background in lumber. Barnes and his partner soon hired Ball for additional administrative help. Later, the company converted from installation to manufacturing. When Barnes’ partner was ready to retire in 2007, Ball bought his share.
In 2016, Barnes and Ball had a Mayan wedding ceremony in Mexico, which she said, fit their unorthodox personalities. “It was supposed to be a small wedding,” laughed Ball, “but the conch shell call sounded like a foghorn! Curious people at the resort rushed to their balconies and to the beach, so we had almost 1,000 uninvited wedding guests.”
Today the co-owners work as a team. Both handle purchasing and have a deep knowledge of product. Ball is on top of the trends. “White Oak material has been superhot the last two years. It’s a very durable and super-versatile wood species. It stains well or can be used in it’s natural color and you can get a lot of looks just by the grade chosen. Red Oak is a second choice. It’s like having milk and bread at home – everybody knows what that is! A builder of condos or tract homes may use Red Oak because of its familiarity to potential buyers. When people want a naturally dark floor without stain, Black Walnut is the choice. We are near the Mississippi River corridor, which is well known for producing this high-quality dark wood.”
Fourteen employees work in the climate-controlled 12,000 square foot manufacturing building. With such a large manufacturing facility, climate control ensures that lumber stays in the same condition in which it was kiln-dried to 6-8 percent humidity. The building uses radiant heat and air conditioning to prevent any changes from storage to deliver to customer environments. There are two additional storage facilities of 7,900 and 16,000 square feet, where overhead heaters and dehumidifiers control temperature range and humidity.
HFH moulds the 15/16-inch raw material to a perfect, smooth face at 3/4-inch thickness. This is the most common size of Hillsboro’s lumber, which is sold to wholesalers, who resell to the installers and contractors. The end user will cut the flooring to length, sand it and finish the flooring with stain and seal or a topcoat product. Custom orders may vary in thickness, as in floors for log cabin lofts which double as ceilings, or to match a layered flooring level in an older home. Custom plank options and micro-bevel milling options are also available.
“We provide a quality product for a fair price,” said Ball. “Our work is the proof in the pudding. Our customers know that we are going to take care of the product and be consistent. We make it the best we can every day.”
With some of their wholesale customers within 60-70 miles, the company’s goal is to grow the wholesale business, not direct sales. Ball stated, “We want to continue to service the customers we have and help them grow. Our growth will mirror their growth. We want to have that small business feel and personal relationship with our customers, vendors and suppliers. It helps us stay grounded and we know our customers and suppliers very well. Each has a name, not just a number.”
HFH is a member of the National Wood Flooring Association.
To contact company co-owner Salena Ball, email her at hardwoodfloorsnmore@mwt.net.
