Episode 104: Beyond the Surface: Steller Floors Hardwood Innovations

Рет қаралды 14,060

9 ай бұрын

Step into the world of hardwood flooring with this episode of The Build Show Podcast, where Matt is joined by Steller Floors founders, Evan Stover and Britta Teller to explore the unique aspects that make Steller's floors stand out. Whether you're a hardwood enthusiast, renovating your home, or diving into the intricacies of the flooring industry, this episode covers it all.
Learn about Steller's innovative board-to-board connector system that brings a traditional finish, the origins of their unique suction cup, issues with laminate and cheap hardwood, and the nuances between different hardwood types. Also: tips on installing hardwood, the debate on flooring underneath cabinets, and the environmental considerations behind choosing North American hardwoods. As a bonus, take a peek into Steller's collaboration with Brent Hull on "Old House, New Soul."
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Пікірлер: 58

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

Thanks for a great conversation, Matt! We love working with the build show. You guys are absolutely the best in the business!

@Bortnm 9 ай бұрын

I have such an appreciation for how much of the craftsmanship of this product is driven by in depth knowledge of wood, how it works, how it breaks, and what the right way to make use of it.

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

Yes indeed! Wood is a fantastic material and like a hunter who uses every part of the animal, we owe it to the tree to make the best use out of it. Thanks for this 🙏

@grantmelcher6865 9 ай бұрын

This is the true definition of a game changer. Every once in a blue moon, and in the construction business it's more like every other blue moon, a product so well designed and thought out hits the market. This just has that feel. If I was in sales, I'd call you guys immediately and ask for a job because this will sell itself. Shout out to you Matt from the 78745 for bringing this company to our attention. I've been watching your videos since you were demoing how to clean a tankless water heater years ago.

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

We work really hard to make everyone in construction and flooring proud - and we can't wait to keep going. Thanks for this comment 🙏

@TheZambie1 8 ай бұрын

This video just changed my plans. I have to admit, I was totally planning on high-end LVP for my new & final home build. Not any longer. I'm sold on Stellar. Thanks for having them on!

@arielscherzer6820 9 ай бұрын

Love it!! Amazing company and founders Great to watch 🎉

@carlrasmussen2778 3 ай бұрын

Just found my flooring for a remodel. Great show

@pavelstolarczyk9699 9 ай бұрын

Great podcast. I’ll consider using Steller Floors on my new build next year. My one gripe is that I don’t think it’s fair to bash the “traditional” flooring mills while also claiming that Steller Floors is a 100 year floor that we’ve come to appreciate. The floors that are 100 years old today weren’t milled to a .0015” tolerance, they were more or less milled the same way that is done today. I think the issue lies more in the quality of the install. I just sold an 80 year old house with “character” grade red/white oak shorts and the floor was in great shape.

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

I think you're right and we probably got away from ourselves joking around in that part of the episode. Wood is a great material and it can last forever even when it isn't milled precisely. Our gripe is with mills that underpay their workers or ship labor abroad to get the cheapest product possible. Not only does it give the material a bad name, it gives the entire industry a black eye. Of course, installation is another industry full of bad actors as well, but in our experience, mills (especially family mills that have been purchased by private equity groups in recent decades) have a lot of work to do to make products worth buying.

@a-carpenter9229 9 ай бұрын

How does Steller floors tie into stair nosings so there's no gaps left after movements in the floor?

@crisrobinson4146 9 ай бұрын

This is what I want in my new build!

@ej115 9 ай бұрын

Just talked to this company via a Zoom call. I am impressed.

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

Our team is the best! Everyone has years of experience and a strong commitment to keeping our company 100% in the USA. Thanks for reaching out!

@ZachAshcraft 9 ай бұрын

Such a brilliant product

@Letch54 9 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for sharing this with us. Definitely interested.

@JT-rc7vx 9 ай бұрын

Game changer

@a-carpenter9229 9 ай бұрын

Since I haven't seen this product in person I was wondering if each board has that same clip on the ends so the floor doesn't pull apart in the ends? We're working for a homeowner now that's remodeling a house into a passive home and will be using Steller floors

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

Yes, we call it end matching and we do it with a tennoner designed to keep the planks perfectly square. Works for herringbone, too!

@rzh3443 9 ай бұрын

I went to their website. Very interesting and I think I’ll consider them for a kitchen floor replacement.

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

Thanks for checking us out!! ❤

@jkroiss 2 ай бұрын

i could have watched another hour of this

@ShawnBusse 9 ай бұрын

First, love the podcast. So, some critical feedback from a place of heart: The last episode, Rinnai, was a 45 minute promo for the brand and their political agenda. That’s fine, except the next show, this one, is effectively a 45 minute infomercial. The product and founders are rad! I want them to succeed. But I highly encourage a balance of true informational content balanced with dedication to a show all about one product. Otherwise, i give the show 5 stars.

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

I hear you about wanting balanced content, and as a sponsor of the New House, Old Soul series, we aren't strangers to criticisms of this channel for product features. But, we are still sponsoring it, and hear me out: Matt and his team have done unsponsored videos of our product and others for a very long time, and sponsorship is the only way this channel can fund their team. As a small business ourselves, there is so much pride in being able to contribute something back to the Build Show Team who has done so much for us - I am confident their other sponsors feel exactly the same way. In the absence of sponsors, there is no content. Beyond that, Matt and his team are super critical of products that don't work and have a not-insignificant vetting process for all of their sponsors. If there's a way to do balanced content on a high profile channel, Matt and the Build Show team do it and we are proud to sponsor their extremely hard work in the construction space. Meanwhile, as someone in this podcast episode, this is informational content. This is why we started a business in America at a time where every deck is stacked against us. I'm glad you're rooting for us, but you wouldn't know you had to root for us if you hadn't seen this episode. So, from a place of heart, I am actively defending both this episode and this channel for being about more than just the basics. From my perspective, on the inside as a sponsor, The Build Show is an absolute gem and a gift to the construction industry, hands down.

@Ed-jg3ud 9 ай бұрын

What about the idea of pulling all the planks to refinish offsite? The dust of sanding an entire floor of a house, and then smell of refinishing- the whole process can be 4-5 days and be very disruptive to a family living in the house and potentially unhealthy (VOCs, air pollutants), and offsite refinishing could be more efficient? I know there’s a labor cost to pull and reinstall all the planks of an entire floor but have they explored this as an option? How much extra cost? Maybe it would be worth it?

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

Check out our ideas mid way through the podcast ❤ we'd love to be that company one day!

@Ed-jg3ud 9 ай бұрын

@@StellerFloors lol, I posted that 5 min in:) and then came upon where you talked about it. One question I’d have that was never discussed… from a business perspective do you ever think you could scale your product to a level where you could drive the cost all the way down to full price equivalency with straight hardwoods. You mentioned you are within $3. I know your product is of a higher grade material & tolerance plus there’s the engineering of the poly spacers so fully recognizing that you would in actuality have to get your costs lower than traditional hardwood or absorb margin assuming you could scale market share large enough but could you ever scale enough to do that and price it dead even (@ $7). If you don’t foresee that, have you ever considered licensing the patent/tech to others? Or is the tolerance/engineering just too high for mass market players to get it right so to speak as you do? Basically is there any chance to ever getting the product to sit on the store shelves of Home Depot, with even more time and perhaps market share where do you see the lowest entry price point for your product ever getting to. Will $10 be it?

@2chipped 9 ай бұрын

No quality company wants to sell to home depot. You don't buy quality food at macdonalds,quality sandwich from a gas station, and absolutely don't buy quality at HD. Cabinets lol,appliances lol,lumber lol,windows lol. Do you have any idea on the losses from being damaged per new shipping areas. These are are carefully packed and shipped once,probably change in several terminals. I do not know these people from Adam's house cat,but I believe its highly doubtful they want to lower there standards too. High quality is difficult to scale. McDonald's,hd,lowes,and wallmart are not a place to find quality.

@Ed-jg3ud 9 ай бұрын

@@2chipped as a very loose rule you may be correct but plenty of exceptions. Schluter products are sold at HD & those are very high quality for example

@2chipped 9 ай бұрын

@Ed-jg3ud sure agreed,they sell commodities well. Add Advantech,possibly zip and many others. However they are not finished materials, simply the backer.

@Californiansurfer 9 ай бұрын

General veneer Southgate California. They sold Balsa boards back in the day to Velzy and hobbie. If,you visit Southern California , Please visit Manhattan beach surf museum , we just celebrated a plaque made for Velzy. Velzy first surf shop. They used balsa wood. Surfer Frank Downey

@TheArborNut 9 ай бұрын

This is an impressive product! How does it handle decorative bandings between rooms or border details? Can you get router bits to add the clip receiver slot on the end grain or on diagonal biases for these instances?

@buildshow 9 ай бұрын

Great questions. Call them to ask. They would love to hear from you

@ggrow4453 2 ай бұрын

Can you ask the manufacturer how it's installed if used in conjunction with radiant floor heating

@gregshaffer6067 9 ай бұрын

You mention how wood expands, is there a limit on how far a span can go before it starts to separate. I have two rooms that have a 4 foot wide opening between each room and the total distance is in the about 50 feet. I dealing with a gap that shows up in this 4 foot wide opening due to expansion between the rooms flooring.

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

I'm not sure where our reply went, but we have great solutions for this and our flooring is specifically designed to manage expansions and contraction! Give us a call to learn more :)

@rodhansen3867 9 ай бұрын

Any concerns with wheelchair traffic with this product? Struggling to find a warrantable floor for our new home in light of our son in s wheelchair. Thanks!

@JER9279 9 ай бұрын

Hey Matt, great show! Just wanted to ask if you could do an episode on insulating your own garage door for us poor people who can’t afford thousands of dollars for a new garage door. I live in Florida and my garage faces south so it gets extremely hot. I checked to see if Rockwool sells insulating kits for garage doors but they don’t. I think they are missing out on a lot of business there. Would love to hear what you recommend! And if you tested multiple products and did temperature tests before and after that would be a really good show!

@morgan3688 9 ай бұрын

Uininsulated doors are not designed to carry the extra weight on the tracks, hardware, or opener. You have to be very carefull before adding weight to that delicate system.

@gurban333 9 ай бұрын

@stellarfloors how does install and product handle radiant floor? and what is recommend substrate / install with the product

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

Come see us! We love warmboard and quietwarmth :)

@tech8mark464 9 ай бұрын

WE ARE!

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

WE ARE!!

@Mark-rw3kw 9 ай бұрын

The Steller website says that 6 mil polyethylene underlayment should be used as a moisture barrier. What about some kind of under-floor cushioning material such as might be specified by some high-rise residential buildings? If that is OK, what specific brands and specs are recommended.

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

Our typical favorite is quietwalk LV :) we have also had folks nest a layer of acoustic foam between the concrete and lay plywood on top for higher end builds. The key is something that isn't *too* compliant, but it is also easy to test if we haven't ever seen a material before!

@RandySmith-iz1ml 9 ай бұрын

What about using Steller Floors over Warmboard, no problem?

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

Yes, we stick to NWFA guidelines to keep the heat below 80F

@tifacola 5 ай бұрын

Do I need a humidifier? My relative humidity is 20% today.

@wink9970 9 ай бұрын

cool

@500iq6foot8 9 ай бұрын

Didn't know you were from PA? What brought you to Texas?

@terrystrobel6857 9 ай бұрын

How does that system work with a radiant floor system.

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

We love warmboard and quietwarmth! Come see us :)

@donlourie769 9 ай бұрын

Wish you would turn up the audio

@KetoRitas 9 ай бұрын

Can we talk about how almost everything is code simpson tie required Im a fan but still

@DrMJJr 9 ай бұрын

$10 a square foot?!? 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️ Yes it’s 5” wide, solid wood fully finished…but it HAS TO come down to $7 to be really affordable to regular consumers.

@StellerFloors 9 ай бұрын

Come check us out! We recently (after this podcast was recorded) launched a 5/8" product called sylva. It starts at $7.99 :)

@tysleight 9 ай бұрын

I just looked at the cost on my last hardwood floor install ( think I want to look rich but don't want to spend extra on quality customers) with waste and extra under the cabinets we were right in the 9 dollar range. This was only a 850sqft floor with a few bar cabinets. Just the made in USA tag I think I could justify to customers the extra buck not counting the repairability and flexibility in the installation timelines. My next build that has hardwood I think I will try it out