We recently asked Kim Wahlgren, longtime editor of Wood Floor Business, for her insight on what she thinks will be popular this year in the wood floor industry––what homeowners are demanding, what contractors are seeing, and some industry trends. Check out our Q&A for some interesting insight into where the industry and design trends are headed this year. The full Q&A is published on the Wide Plank Floor Supply website.

What are you seeing in terms of technology and social media? Do you see contractors using new apps to help them on the job site? What social media platforms are the most popular with contractors looking to promote themselves?

Every year we see more wood flooring pros putting social media to use. Although Instagram gets a lot of attention, our data repeatedly show that Facebook is still, by far, the most popular for pros. Among wood flooring contractors we surveyed, 57 percent use Facebook and 29 percent are on Instagram for their businesses. (For wood flooring retailers, 85 percent use Facebook for business and 25 percent use Instagram.) This is likely a reflection of the typical age of a wood flooring pro: Our WFB Contractor Survey showed that the average age of a typical wood flooring pro is 52.5 years old.

Regarding apps, there are so many now that can make contractors’ lives easier, and they tell us they are using them for everything from measuring jobs and creating estimates to figuring out fractions and calculating moisture content. 

Click here to read the full Q&A on the Wide Plank Floor Supply website.