Focus On Finishes - Wood Flooring Company London

Focus

Finishes

How the detail crowns the project

A demonstration of floor fitting excellence in London

“ I was amazed”, said the Vicar of St Dionis Church, a huge church on Parsons Green, “that 95% of the floor was fitted in three days”. “Ah!” said Tim Hobern of HS Wood Flooring, “that’s the easy bit. What takes the time and finesse is the way the floor butts up to the walls, gets through the doors and around these pillars. Our signature lies in the detail.”

Indeed, Tim and his team have a lot to say for themselves when it comes to a fine finish.

Recovery time

Four years ago, he had a call to restore a floor in the prestige Bond Street showroom of Jaeger LeCoultre, the internationally renowned watchmakers. The floor had been mapped out by a brass rail fretwork to reflect the design of the leaded glass ceiling. Each segment had to be carefully cut and shaved to fit. What Tim’s team found on arrival was a disaster; totally out of keeping with the corporate reputation. Working at night under the watchful presence of the security guards, the project was completed bang on schedule.

History boys

HS Wood Flooring are dedicated environmentalists. In 2019, a lady with a passion for the past bought a 200-year old warehouse in Limehouse that miraculoulsy escaped the blitz. She was very particular about keeping the character old pine floor that had suffered the rigours of an 18th century wine warehouse. It was scraped, wine stained and scarred showing the heavy tread of centuries. The HS Wood Flooring ‘boys’ (as they are known) had to hand-sand every floorboard individually, the lady didn’t want a ‘machined’ look . The result was a magnificent living space true to its origins.

Stepping up

Another example, amongst so many, are these three little steps that continue the parquet pattern on the treads and risers without a break from the floor at the top. Not only is this challenging to get the angles, wood grain alignment and pattern absolutely right but it’s a rare and beautiful idea.

Pipe Dream

Another example of our finesse is the way we get round pipes. There are many ways that include a piperose that forms a collar around the pipe but stands proud of the floor. It looks unsightly but it covers up a horrible mess underneath. There are other ways of getting round the problem but none as smart as ours.

Have a look at the pictures above. On the left, is the way most fitters get round the problem; on the right is the way we do it. The board is finely sawn through the middle of a drilled hole that is a 3 to 4 mm wider than the pipe to allow for expansion. Then we bring the two parts of the board together so that the join virtually disappears. Neat, eh?

Have a look at the pictures to the left. On the left, is the way most fitters get round the problem; on the right is the way we do it. The board is finely sawn through the middle of a drilled hole that is a 3 to 4 mm wider than the pipe to allow for expansion. Then we bring the two parts of the board together so that the join virtually disappears. Neat, eh?

Round the corner

A beautiful border to a floor is our way of showing off. Round the room and around the bottom step of a flight of stairs, the black feature strip brings a panache to the interior design; a vivacity that makes a floor noticed.

Magic circle

You may be wondering what our headline picture is all about.

This is the oak floor of a 3.4 metre circular room. It is an unusual rear extension built by a friend of ours, Redline Building Services, who subcontracted the flooring to us. Redline has a reputation for a meticulous finish. So, no pressure, then!

The floor glows like a harvest moon. Every block was cut and shaved to fit exactly to our design. We are proud of this fine piece of craftsmanship. The fit is perfect. But, wait, here is the crowning glory.

This is the circular room with its exquisite floor. The entrance is through curved pocket doors. Notice, if you would, the curved threshold: the grain of the wood follows the arc of the circle. There is no way you can bend a board in such a way without it splitting into firewood. So, how’s it done? First, we get a board of the required length and slice it longitudinally into eight strips of 12mm wide. The cut has to be with the finest saw possible so the damage to the wood grain is minimal between strips.

Next, we make a template with the same radial arc as the main floor and bend the 12mm strips to the template holding the strip in position with pegs. Each srtrip is carfully laid so the wood grain matches its neighbour as close as possible.

Finally, the strips are glued together and allowed to stand for 48 hours until the curved board is set solid prior to fitting.

Here is what the finished product looks like. If you look very carefully at the magnified section, you can scarcely make out the strips but the whole curved board looks as if we have achieved the impossible.

Down to earth

People ask what does all his cost? Are you expensive? The answer is, of course, special features cost more because they take longer. We would never like to be considered the cheapest flooring company in the world and what that implies. But we are not the most expensive, either. We work our hardest to deliver good value to clients who appreciate the work we do. You will not find anyone better. And we deliver on our promises.