Our Backstory - Nashville, TN
Our roots run deep.
Blue Ridge Floors TN is a third-generation flooring installation company located in Music City:
Nashville, Tennessee. Our company can trace its origins all the way back to the Great
Depression in Brooklyn, New York, where Rachel’s grandfather left school at a very young age
to help his family survive. He then went into the military, and after starting a family of his own
decided to learn the trade of carpet floor coverings. He went on to great success in the industry.
He taught one of his son’s the trade, who ended up opening his own business and settling into the
Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina where Rachel and Andy inevitably met. Before
they were married, Andy started working for Rachel’s dad and learned the trade. He took
certification classes and became an IICRC certified flooring repair and re-installation specialist.
After teaching classes and flying from state to state doing these tedious carpet repairs, he decided
he wanted to go back to school.
Andy didn't only learn the trade just through the few years of working with Rachel’s dad. Even
though his schooling perfected his craft, what created his character and the man he is today is
from his dad, who owned his own company as well. At 12 years old, Andy was on jobs with his
dad learning the business. By the age of 16, he was organizing and bidding projects, project
managing and supervising crews every summer, and learned the ins and outs of how to properly
run a successful business by the age of 18. The character Andy learned through his father is to
be a hard worker, never cut corners, be kind and loyal and that is what Andy does day in and day
out. He truly cares about his employees and clients.
The Turning Point
When Andy decided he wanted to complete his bachelor’s degree, Andy and Rachel moved their
business and family to Florida. They were excited for the new adventure but never realized the
journey they were about to embark on. In their new apartment, Rachel became incredibly sick.
She began to develop symptoms and allergies she never had before. Rachel and Andy tried
everything. No doctor was able to understand what was happening. After extensive appointments
and questioning, a holistic approach found that Rachel had extreme levels of formaldehyde in her
body left from the toxic flooring and cabinetry in their home. This was caused by the release of
off-gassing from the flooring. Rachel had to undergo months and months of detoxing and
moving out of the apartment into a better environment. This moment caused them to re-evaluate
the flooring industry they found themselves a part of. They could not ethically sell someone
flooring knowing that it could have these exact adverse effects that it had on Rachel. This is
where their passion for green and non-toxic flooring came from.
Andy graduated school and they decided to take a trip to Nashville, TN to celebrate Andy’s
achievement. The moment they arrived in Music City, Rachel and Andy knew this would be the
place they called home. The people were so wonderful, the landscape was beautiful, and they
missed the southern hospitality that they left behind when they moved to Florida. They made the
decision that weekend to move to Nashville to raise their three boys and call Tennessee home.
After the move and a year of growing the business, they began to hatch up a dream of one day
opening a flooring showroom that was unlike the rest. They wanted to be able to educate their
clients on toxic flooring and offer flooring that is safe for the whole family as well as beautiful, a
place that felt almost like an art gallery, but still family-friendly at its core. Their dream was for
their flooring to feel high-end with a budget price tag. A partnership was formed with a friend in
Asheville, North Carolina and thus this dream became Blue Ridge Floors TN.
Today and Onward
Blue Ridge Floors provides healthy, green, and eco-conscious flooring of all varieties as well as
the installation and we specialize in residential and commercial projects. We put the consumer
first and don’t want them to put anything in their home that could harm them. Our flooring is
Carb-2 compliant and LEED-certified. We proudly serve Middle Tennessee and want to be a
lasting part of this community. We complete quality work with the help of staff and
subcontractors that are like family. Our job is to love our neighbors like Christ and we do that
every single day in every aspect of our business and our lives.
Andy and Rachel have three beautiful boys, Liam -7, Oliver - 4, and Emmett - 2.