Flooring company closes amid market shift away from hardwood

No, the puke-green vinyl flooring so common in 1970s-era homes isn’t making a comeback.

But another kind of vinyl floors have surged onto the market in recent years, builders say. Advances have brought so-called luxury vinyl planks that mimic wooden flooring into houses marketed to budget-minded homebuyers. Proponents say the planks are often cheaper than wood floors and stand up better to spills, while being easy and fast to install. They also come in gray, purple and other colors that wood doesn’t.

So could a rise in hardwood lookalikes and other flooring alternatives be to blame for layoffs at a La Crosse-area wood-flooring plant?

On Tuesday, Lacrosse Hardwood Flooring, a plant in Westby that makes untreated hardwood flooring, said it would lay off 65 workers by March 18, according to a notice the company was required to submit to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. A company executive told the Vernon County Broadcaster newspaper that demand has been on the wane for the sort of solid, unfinished flooring that’s produced at the plant.

“There is engineered, vinyl, carpeting, there is only solid unfinished product offered at that location,” said Jeff Bannister, chief operating officer at Midwest Hardwood Corporation, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Lacrosse Hardwood’s parent company. “The biggest thing is it’s a product with a lot of substitutes.”

Bannister did not return a message seeking comment by press time on Thursday.

Brode Mashak, of Onalaska-based Floorcrafters, said luxury vinyl planks are now used in about 80 percent of the company’s installations. Customers are choosing vinyl flooring over both real wood floors and carpeting, materials whose sales are “way down,” he said.

It’s a relatively recent trend, Mashak said. Vinyl flooring became a real alternative to wood floors only between three and five years ago, a period in which the number of suppliers increased along with the variety of designs and colors offered by luxury vinyl products.

“(Luxury vinyl) is a little cheaper, it’s more durable and it doesn’t scratch and dent,” Mashak said.

But Kraig Lassig — president of both Lutz and Lassig Custom Builders, of West Salem, and the La Crosse Area Builders Association — said he was skeptical that layoffs at the Lacrosse Hardwood plant could be pinned on weak demand for wood floors. The company, he noted, supplies national clients and is thus subject to more than just local economic pressures.

He estimated that demand for wood flooring was stronger last year than at any time in recent memory — a sign that wood floors are once again in-vogue. Lutz and Lassig Custom Builders primarily put up luxury homes, he said, and many of their clients still want real wood flooring. Lassig Custom Builders primarily uses so-called engineered wood floors, which might have, say, a layer of oak glued to plywood to prevent planks from contracting.

“It’s just come back strong,” Lassig said. “Most of the people are using engineered, laminate or real wood.”

But for homeowners on a tight budget, luxury vinyl flooring is becoming the preferred material.

“Most of the mid-range priced houses are going with the laminates,” Lassig said. “Higher-end houses are going with the real wood.”

Luxury vinyl flooring has become more popular among homeowners and builders alike, said David Belman, president of both the Waukesha company Belman Homes and the Wisconsin Builders Association. For builders struggling with slim profit margins on sales of new homes, savings in any form are welcome.

“I think we’ll see more of it — more variety, bigger suppliers and installers,” Belman said. “It’s like anything where there’s a product that will give you a decent benefit.” Follow @natebeck9