Beautifying Floors & Doors: NHance Brings a New Environmentally-Friendly Definition to Before and After

Charlene Wenrick’s North Raleigh home had been on the market for three months without so much as a nibble when her real estate agent brought to her attention that the sad state of her hardwood floors might be to blame.

“Well, I have five kids and a dog,” Wenrick says. A neighbor friend had given her a referral to refinish the floors, which eventually resulted in an estimate to do the work. “I’d just hemmed and hawed and had not gotten around to it, even though the $3,000 estimate was half of what my neighbor had paid to have her floors done [refinished].”

Wenrick also admits she did not want to go through the traditional sanding and refinishing process like her neighbor. “It cost $6,000 and they [the neighbors] were out of the house for a week. There were plastic sheets down everywhere, and still, when they returned there was fine dust everywhere. It would have driven me insane.”

Now, faced with the possibility that she might have to carry her mortgage for months to come, Wenrick picked up the phone and called Steve Wilson, president of NHance. The wood refinishing franchise utilizes water-based, environmentally-friendly products to refinish without sanding.

            * FLOORS BEFORE NHANCE*                                       * FLOORS AFTER NHANCE*

“The job took two days,” she recalls, “and when I saw the floors I wanted to cry. The water stain from the Christmas tree was gone, the black spots from the dogs’ bowls, even the gouges from the kids’ roller skates. It didn’t stink, and there was no dust.”

“Seven days after NHance refinished the floors the house sold,” Wenrick said. “I know it was the floors. They looked so good I wished I had done it earlier so we could have enjoyed it more. We moved out fairly quickly [after the project] and lived happily ever after.”

NHance is a franchise division of Logan, Utah-based Harris Research, Inc., parent company of Chem-Dry carpet and upholstery cleaning. Like Chem-Dry, NHance uses a proprietary line of environmentally-friendly products.

It was only one item in a long list that convinced Steve Wilson to invest in the franchise. A life-long commercial woodworker and retail executive, Wilson understood and liked the product. He also knew there were plenty of homes and businesses in the triangle area with plenty of hardwood floors, cabinetry and trim. And, shortly before he made his move, Home Depot bought Harris Research, Inc. Having the backing of a building industry giant really cinched the deal.

Now, two years later, Wilson agrees that most of the calls he gets are for cabinetry, but hardwood floors are a close second. And, once he’s completed the hardwood floors for a client, often the client comes up with a second or third project. Wilson credits the clean process, speed and savings.

            * CABINETS BEFORE NHANCE*                                   *CABINETS AFTER NHANCE*

Wilson refers to cabinet restoration as “The big one.”  “For us to refinish cabinets instead of replace, you can almost take off a zero [of the total price],” states Wilson. “If you were planning to spend $15,000 for new cabinets, it will cost about $1,500 to refinish them. With the money you save, you can put in granite countertops in your kitchen, take a vacation and put the rest in the bank.”

Most jobs take only a day, Wilson says. A dramatic color change (where the color palate is limitless) can take three to four days. A job that includes kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, floors, and trim work can take a week. But, the beauty of the technique and the products used results in the customer not having to leave, move furniture out or even drape belongings.

“About 50 to 75 percent of my customers have experienced the traditional sanding and refinishing,” Wilson says. “They never want to do it again,” he says, “so they come to me.”

NHance technicians clean the old finish, abrading it with a tool that looks like a scouring pad. They then apply water-based sealers and color tints. The new finish dries quickly, about 45 minutes in between coats. “That’s the reason we can do most jobs in a day,” Wilson says. “And, there are no toxins in our products. We’re as green as you can get. So, the homeowners never have to move out.”

Jane Shealy is a freelance writer

Photos above courtesy of NHance