An East Tennessee Company strived for three years to become the first in the entire world to produce hemp hardwood flooring.
The company Tennessee Wood Flooring shared that they have been working on the process for years. The idea of turning hemp into hardwood flooring appeared to be challenging at first.
However, the owner Steve Casey trusted his instincts and believed that his team had the necessary skills to pull the idea off.
Steve has spent decades in manufacturing flooring. However, there is nothing that can be compared to his new product. He shared, “It has its own look. It’s one of the hardest of the hardwoods.” The company worked with another Kentucky-based startup called Fibonacci LLC.
The company utilizes leftover stalk in making wood instead of choosing hemp leaves that are used in making CBD products.
Steve explained that every acre used for growing hemp takes tons of carbon from the air within three months during which it grows. An acre of oak trees would do the same in roughly 60 years. Hence, he decided to focus much on recycling.
TWF is turning hemp into woodblocks and presses. Soy-based glue is utilized in the process to make sure that the entire process is environmentally friendly.
The material can mimic the stability, density, and hardness of oak. Steve added that the process is not easy. He had his concerns that there would be no market for his product. However, his concerns disappeared when he received a massive response from all over the country.
He is happy that there is a market for his products, and it makes him feel that he is on the right track.
Hemp hardwood still requires minor adjustments. If everything goes well, the product will be put up on sale in just a month.
Related: Missouri’s Medical Marijuana Program Jolted by Licensing Appeals
Established more than two decades ago, TWF is a family-owned company. It is based on a farm and specializes in making custom prefinished flooring.
Greg Wilson, the founder of Fibonacci LLC shared that it made sense to him to collaborate with a local family-owned business. He believes that TWF and Fibonacci share the same ideal of eco-friendly and made in the USA.
Fibonacci is in charge of supplying HempWood and TFW manages to press the material into planks. Wilson shared that the company has produced enough wood to make a flooring of 5,000 square feet a week.
The product would be available for purchase on the websites of both HempWood and TFW. Since the launch, Wilson has been receiving calls from interested customers and business partners. He is currently planning to expand the production capacity.
Fibonacci had signed contacts with Kentucky growers and with Murray State University for acquiring over 2,000 tons of hemp stalks. Most of these were second or third products obtained from farmers growing the crop for the flower or the seed.
Related: Shocking: This NFL Player was Arrested for Possessing 157 Pounds of Marijuana
Wilson signed contracts with five more farmers this year in order to focus entirely on HempWood production. He is planning to purchase more fiber. He is also planning to source all hemp within 100 files of his facility in Murray.
HempWood’s popularity is just the beginning. Wilson is looking for more partners around the country. He has patents pending with the European Union, Canada, and Australia. He is confident that HempWood will end up being used all around the world.
