Why This Studio Exists
More than samples. A systems lab for wood flooring.
This studio exists so your team can prevent wood flooring failures, test materials you’re considering specifying, and build proven systems instead of copy-and-paste specifications.
We bring structure, testing, and vetted assemblies to the part of the project most likely to fail: the flooring. With the right system in place, your design keeps its shape, its stability, and its reputation long after the space is occupied.
National Wood Floor Consultants is where architects and interior designers come to:
Prevent Flooring Failures
Use us as your second set of eyes before anything goes out to bid.
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Review every drawing, detail, and spec with care. Stress-test your drawings, details, and specs for risk.
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Predict the weak points. We identify where delamination, face checking, buckling, or cupping are most likely to occur—before they become a field issue.
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Protect the design. We align your design intent with realistic performance limits, so the floor you imagined is the floor that actually gets built—and stays built.
Test & Prove Materials
Go Beyond Brochures. Build Proven Systems. We help you evaluate whether what you’re considering will work in your assembly.
- Compare products in context. Evaluate options against your actual substrate, environment, and performance requirements.
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Build on proven assemblies. Rely on systems with a real track record, not just a polished data sheet.
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Retire copy-and-paste specs. Replace generic, ownerless language with coordinated specifications someone truly stands behind.
Diagnose & Solve Failures
When something goes wrong, we help you understand why—and exactly what to do next.
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Forensic review of failures. Delamination, face checking, buckling, cupping, and more.
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Plain-language explanations. Clear causes you can share with clients, contractors, and insurers.
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A path forward. Actionable remediation steps and strategies to prevent it on the next project.
Selected Work
Where Our Wood Flooring Systems Live
From residences to hospitality, commercial to institutional work, our assemblies are trusted wherever flooring performance must be predictable. Every system is calibrated to the substrate, climate, and usage of the space, turning a common point of failure into a quiet certainty.
From Spec Creation to Failure Investigation
Think of us as your wood flooring team — helping you build and protect systems from design through installation and into forensics when projects call for expert analysis.
Project-Specific Specs
We engineer specifications that match the project’s conditions, constraints, and performance targets.
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Comprehensive review and revision of Division 09 wood flooring language.
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Integration of all testing protocols, tolerances, and scopes of work.
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Full coordination across substrate preparation, acoustics, and finishing systems.
Proven System Design
We help you select species, formats, underlayments, adhesives, and finishes that function together as a coordinated, buildable system.
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System recommendations tailored to concrete, wood subfloors, radiant heat, and acoustic requirements.
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Material combinations backed by performance history—not untested experiments.
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Clear guidance on where a system should not be used, so failures are avoided before they start.
Technical & Failure Support
We support your team with rigorous pre-installation verification and, when required, structured failure analysis rooted in real field conditions.
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Pre-installation testing checklists with clear thresholds and acceptance criteria.
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Guidance on moisture, movement, substrates, and environmental controls.
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Root-cause investigations with practical, technically defensible solutions.
TIMING
When to Plug This Into Your Workflow
You don’t need us on every decision — only the ones that can sink a project or strain a client relationship
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Before you spec — when you’re selecting a system, not just a product.
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When testing ideas — evaluating assemblies, finishes, and performance options.
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When a client is anxious — past failures, unusual conditions, or tight tolerances.
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At the first sign of distress — cupping, gaps, checking, movement, or inconsistent readings.
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After a failure — when you need clarity on what happened and a path forward that restores confidence.
VIRTUAL CONSULTATION
A Working Session for System Design
A consultation gives you expert oversight before problems take root. We review your drawings, substrates, and site conditions, then help you choose the right materials and system so the floor performs exactly as the design intends.
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Send Drawings, Context, and Concerns
Floor plans, sections, details, photos, and your existing spec or concept. Flag anything you’re worried about—delamination, checking, buckling, cupping, moisture, acoustics, substrate irregularities, or past failures.
15–45 Minute Working Session on Zoom
We walk through risk points, design or adjust the wood flooring system, and outline all required testing, tolerances, and environmental controls.
Written Summary & Next Steps
You receive a clear summary, recommended assemblies or corrective actions, and specification-ready language you can plug directly into your drawings, specs, or owner/GC communication.
RESOURCES
Tools to keep in your standards and project folders.
Use these to brief your team, coordinate with GCs and installers, and avoid repeating past failures.
Failure Prevention
Cheat Sheet
A one-page list of the most common causes of delamination, face checking, buckling, and cupping — and what to verify in design and field to avoid them.
Great for project kickoff meetings.
Pre-Installation
Testing Checklist
A clear list of moisture, substrate, and environmental tests that must be performed and documented before wood flooring is installed.
For coordination with the GC and installer.
Proven Assemblies Overview
A short guide to wood flooring systems that have performed well in real projects — by substrate type, acoustic requirement, and use case.
Use as a starting point, not the finish line.
CONTINUING EDUCATION
CEUs for Architects and Designers Who Want Systems That Perform
Weekly Virtual CEU | AIA / IDCEC eligible
Our CEUs cover the topics that drive sound flooring specifications—emerging trends, grading standards, commercial system requirements, core fundamentals, and the details that prevent failures.
VIRTUAL CONSULTATION
Join our weekly CEU for a practical, systems-focused look at how to design wood flooring assemblies that perform the way your projects demand. Each session breaks down the conditions, decisions, and details that determine success—and the pitfalls that derail even well-intentioned designs.
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How different assemblies behave under actual project conditions
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Why delamination, face checking, buckling, and cupping occur—and how to prevent them
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Proven systems for concrete, wood substrates, acoustics, and radiant heat
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Live Q&A to workshop your current or upcoming projects
About
Founded by Joe Avila to eliminate avoidable flooring failures.
With decades of experience as an NWFA Certified Wood Flooring Inspector, Joe Avila has investigated failures across luxury residential, commercial, and multi-family projects. The pattern was unmistakable: most failures could have been prevented with a properly engineered flooring system, clearer specification language, and strict adherence to testing and environmental requirements. That realization became the foundation of Architectural Wood Flooring—a practice built to help design professionals avoid the problems he saw repeated across the industry.
Joe Avila has spent nearly two decades as an NWFA Certified Wood Flooring Inspector, examining thousands of failures across the country. His approach was shaped by more than ten years of mentorship under renowned consultant Janoz Spitzer, working on projects including:
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Montclair University
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One Wall Street
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Institutional and landmark buildings
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Luxury residences and penthouses
That experience forged the philosophy behind this studio: you prevent failures by designing systems, not by choosing products.
We work directly with mills to tailor materials for your project’s requirements, and we help you develop clear, enforceable specification language that covers:
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Material characteristics and formats
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Acoustic and subfloor preparation
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Moisture and RH testing requirements
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Responsibilities, documentation, and controls on site
This is the foundation of every system we design—beauty, performance, and accountability engineered together from the start.
The Gap in Today’s Wood Flooring Process
There is a persistent disconnect between how wood floors are specified, how they’re installed, and how they actually behave once in service. Manufacturer requirements, installation standards, and essential testing often never make it into the drawing set. Specifications get recycled, substrate and moisture evaluations are overlooked, and projects move forward under the assumption that everything will work—until it doesn’t.
Where Our Studio Fits In
This is where our studio steps in. Yes, we can resolve failures when they occur—but our value is in preventing them long before they surface.
We don’t simply help you choose a material. We work with architects, interior designers, and builders to design complete wood flooring systems engineered for the project’s actual conditions: substrate composition, acoustical requirements, moisture variables, radiant heat, environmental controls, and anticipated use patterns.
What the Industry Has Been Missing
This studio was built to give design professionals what the industry has lacked for decades: a dedicated expert who ensures that beauty, performance, and longevity are designed together from day one. Our work bridges the gap between design intent, manufacturer requirements, and field realities—so the floor performs exactly as your project demands.
(908) 232-6600
406B W Broad St, Westfield, NJ 07090, USA
©2024 by National Wood Floor Consultants.