Meet The Face Behind Al Havner & Sons Hardwood Flooring
I’m Al Havner, proud owner of Al Havner & Sons Hardwood Flooring.
I look forward to sharing my story. I hope that you will enjoy getting to know me better.
To be honest, I began the business because I needed more than a forty-hour paycheck to raise five children. Running my own business gave me the freedom to set my own hours. If you ask me why flooring? Well, my dad did floors, my grandad and numerous uncles and cousins did floors too, so it all just seemed natural to me.
I’ve been in the hardwood flooring business full-time for almost thirty-five years. Before starting my own business, I had done flooring work on and off since I was picking up scraps for my grandad when I was eight years old, and now, I’m sixty years old. My only other serious job was making plastic bags and cardboard boxes for a few years, but I couldn’t stand showing up at the same place day after day.
Over the past thirty-five years, I’ve noticed that the business is now easier on the body, due to pneumatic nailers vs. manual nailers and it is also much less dusty these days. Also, back in the 80’s through to 2001, we made a whole lot more money than we do now. The economy, along with hardwood flooring prices got so beaten down here in Michigan that flooring prices have not fully recovered yet, we are about twenty to twenty-five percent below where we should be.
Despite where we are, our focus has not wavered. We do whatever it takes to make our customers happy and to make our intrusion into their homes as easy for them as possible.
As an individual, I believe what sets me apart from the others is my honesty, openness, and directness with our customers. This has also gained us their respect. I attribute the success of my business to my work ethic, my attention to detail, and continually striving to do a better job day after day and passing this work ethic and attention to detail on to each employee.
The most enjoyable thing about being a hardwood contractor for me is doing stuff that is out of the ordinary, like installing borders and medallions, and doing something worthy of winning the National Wood Flooring Associations Floor of the Year contest, which we have won twice. These two instances where I was standing on stage accepting the award on two separate occasions have been the proudest and most satisfying moments in my career.
The most rewarding part of the hardwood floor business, in my opinion, is standing with the homeowner and seeing the look on their face when they set their eyes on a brand new pristine refinish or a newly finished job.
When I am not at work, I'm kind of still working, because I love woodworking, and especially love woodturning. In my spare time, besides woodworking, I also enjoy traveling the United States and have been to forty-nine of the fifty States. I also enjoy camping and fishing, but spending time with my kids and ten grandkids is at the top of the list of things I love to do.
I have enjoyed sharing my story about the things which matter to me and how they influence the way I do business.
If you or someone you know could benefit from our expertise in floor installation, I invite you to get in touch. Please visit our website at www.alhavner.com.
Sincerely,
Al