Leftwich Chapman

Leftwich Chapman flooring is a locally run flooring retailer in Lubbock. They sell a variety of hardwood floors, carpets, tiles, and vinyl/laminate products. Their primary market is residential with some small commercial clients. They also work with insurance companies replacing ruined flooring in fire or water damaged houses.

On our tour we were first shown their hardwood floor section. Along with the typical wood floors like maple, oak and cherry, there were a couple of different ones. One product was a leather plank made of recycled pieces of leather. Surprisingly, it is harder and more durable than one would expect. Another interesting product was cork flooring. An important thing that I learned on this tour was that wood flooring is not a good idea for kitchens and especially bathrooms. It warps very badly with water which is abundant in a steamy bathroom, and it isn’t uncommon to have at least one leaky pipe or dishwasher at some point in a kitchen. I also learned that bamboo is only suitable in very humid climates; it doesn’t do well it dry places. However it should still not be used in bathrooms or kitchens.

Next we were shown a variety of different carpets. One product that really stood out to me was called. It is a recycled product but is very very soft. It also cleans very easily. There are lots of cool different things going on with carpets right now. There are lots of interesting colors to choose from along with a number of different patterns. Some carpets have patterns made through different texture or thicknesses instead of color. These are very popular right now.

After carpet, we were shown tile products. Leftwich Chapmen not only sells flooring in this department but also backsplashes and different wall applications. There are a great variety of tile sold on the market today. Glass tile is very popular even though it is expensive. There are also a variety of shapes including circles and octagons instead of just squares and rectangles. One of the downfalls of using tile is the grout. Dirt and stains get trapped in the grout and it is hard to clean and almost impossible to keep stain free. Apparently there is a new type of grout coming out on the market that is supposed to do better in that department, but we will see how well it holds up as time goes on.

Finally we were shown the vinyl products. This market has come a long way from where it first started out. These products look way better than they did even 5 years ago; they look more real, and less fake. Another plus is that compared to tile and hardwood floors they are cheaper. They are also more durable, easier to clean and install, and easier to repair when damage occurs. Vinyl is also sold in planks like hardwood floor and also in large sheets.

This was a very good field trip. I learned a lot of useful information that is easily applicable to the interior design field. The people at Leftwich were very nice and friendly. They also had a wide range of great quality products so I would recommend this place to anyone in the Lubbock area.