Here’s how Guhde Flooring America makes sure the process for every job flows perfectly

By Patricia Nugent

In 1512, Michelangelo finished what became his most famous masterpiece, the Sistine Chapel. But here’s a teensy little footnote in history not many people know: He is also credited with designing the intricate system of wooden platforms attached to the walls by brackets—today known as scaffolding—that allowed him and his assistants to spend four years of their lives painting the majestic frescoes from a standing position.

Without keen vision and attention paid to the process, he never would have achieved the result.

The folks at Guhde Flooring America have been dedicated to the process since the family started the business back in 1957.

“Home renovation usually begins with an ‘aha’ moment, a time when a homeowner sees a room design on Pinterest or in someone else’s home and decides it’s time to update their own,” says Office Manager Monica Guhde-Rosa. “Often customers come in just for new flooring, then once they see samples of it next to older cabinetry in their home, they realize they need to update everything. Sometimes people know exactly what they want and other times they have no idea what they want.”

The Consultation
This is the getting-to-know-you phase.

“We ask people to stop in our showroom and sit down with us, asking lots of questions about their lifestyle and expectations from broad-based topics to nitty-gritty details,” says Sales Manager Shawn Rosa. “Do they have dogs and children in the home? Do they do a lot of cooking and entertaining? How long do they plan on staying in the home? What’s the budget? What color are their baseboards and trim?”

Within the showroom there’s a nice variety of life-sized displays of kitchens and bathrooms to give people a realistic idea of how a product will look. After the consultation, Shawn and Monica send people home with lots of samples (there are literally thousands in their showroom) to see how they’ll appear in their home.

Design
At every step of the process, what’s unique at Guhde is how much each point person knows about the other’s operations. For instance, Kitchen and Bath Design Center Manager Philip Rogers used to be an installer here. With a degree in IT, he’s uniquely qualified to use software to help people map out their ideas and visualize them on a practical platform during the design phase. Having been on countless jobs, he can easily recommend what will function best in a design. After a homeowner’s rooms have been measured and their products selected, he puts together a computer-aided design for them to approve and the contract is drawn up and signed. Then the flooring, cabinets, tile, hardware, lighting and anything else in a job is ordered. Once all materials for a project have arrived, Guhde reaches out to schedule installation.

Installation
Before the seasoned installers can take the product to the job, it has to be inspected.

“Catching any damage or incorrect material before installation is imperative to the installation timeline,” says Shawn.

With every job, the installers use their creativity and expertise to troubleshoot unexpected things that might pop up. Just as there’s a domino-like effect in the process planning, so, too, is there in installation. One aspect of a job cannot be done until another one has been finished.

“Are there steps along the process where things can go wrong?” asks Shawn. “Of course, but we’ve been doing this for 64 years and there aren’t any challenges we haven’t already dealt with.”

Guhde Flooring America is located at 1880 Mentor Avenue in Painesville Township. Call 440-639-1990 or visit GuhdeFlooringAmerica.com.