This is our signature skill and surprisingly cost effective. Each board is individually hand-DA sanded to a chosen texture in our workshop. Our purpose is to clean each surface but retain the wear, the texture and the character of these old boards that has been created by the traffic and usage they have been subject to over many years. Each board is placed on a joiners bench and as much or as little as we want of the age and wear can be lightly sanded away. We clean and refresh timber, so it grows more appealing and pleasing , without losing the history. This is all done against a signed and dated 1m2 sample panel agreed by the client.
There are many benefits to completing as much of these works off-site, as possible - without it costing the earth:
- Unique hand-made product controlled and approved in advance.
- No further sanding or dust onsite.
- 100% control of schedules onsite - as this can be installed at the 11th hour.
- Clean and quick installation almost at ANY time in site programme.
- Minimal likelihood of extra-over costs.
When we hand-DA sand each board we aim to create subtle, soft surfaces which show and hold the age and character of the reclaimed timber. All long edges are hand-rolled to a 1.5mm radius, which creates a slight unevenness when the boards butt-up to each other length wise. This subtle touch can best be read, when a whole floor has been laid and the clear "Timeworn" movement can be seen and appreciated. The finesse of the hand work is obvious.
Our different textures are defined by the amount of movement on any given surface, plus the grade and characterfulness of the raw material (knots, sapwood, splits etc.). Thereafter it also depends on the amount of repairs needed and the extent of the three progressive stages of DA sanding.
We begin each job with a 1m2 sample board agreed and signed off by the client. This depicts the timber, texture, degree of distress, and the desired finish each project seeks. For each individual board our first sanding process cleans away the dirt and debris, plus any heavier scratches, gouges or marks. Grading at this stage ensures any unacceptable timber is thrown-out. The board is then filled, repaired and re-filled again before the second sanding process. Each board is again graded and sanded to an 80 grit finish then double-grooved before the third and final hand-sanding to a 150 grit finish.
What emerges is a clean board upon which new coats or treatments will adhere, but that still holds the history and evidence of its past use. The process wholly depends on the person doing the sanding; their understanding and skill is the key, and they carry the essence of each finished floor in their mind's eye.
Send us an image of what you want to replicate or what you want to match. We will see what is possible from our stockholding.
We offer a variety of surface textures which are typically applied to floors, and also a number of '3D' textures that work beautifully as cladding.
Timeworn 1
This is characterised by a cleaner, more selected, random width board, with a consistently good quality, but that is still evidently reclaimed. A subtle movement is evident across the whole floor once laid.
- Select character-grade timber.
- Minimal splits, cracks, or long shakes within any plank.
- No bolt-holes of ferrous stain.
- Up to +1mm surface movement.
- Hand-rolled long edges.
- Double grooved with loose tongues.
Timeworn 2
Gives you a more rustic, characterful, and lively floor.
- Character grade timber.
- Linear shakes, small splits, old nail and bolt-holes will be evident.
- All such cracks and bolt-holes double black filled thoroughly.
- Timber repaired as required using matching wood.
- Surface movement of +2mm.
- Hand-rolled long edges.
- Double grooved with loose tongues.
Antique Original Berkeley Square and Chester Square
Berkeley Square and Chester Square define the textures, wood selection, allowance for old knots, nail and bolt holes, shakes, cracks, digs and blemishes which is permittable within each grade - but by the very nature of the raw material timber we can source, each floor is unique and a one-off.
The 1m2 sample panel we make for each project will have been made using the timber we have in stock, proving that it is fit to create the correct surface levels required. This is signed-off and dated by the client or their representative, before production begins. We must produce to this board.
The Berkeley Square texture is manufactured for use in a sophisticated, refined, "town" property. The antiquity, the beauty of the old timber must still be evident, but a person in stilettos and a single black dress, for example, must never be concerned that they may stumble. Men in evening dress should blend with these floors effortlessly. The floor must perform and be 100% trustworthy. So, whilst the movement and history and even sizeable knots are allowable, they must in turn allow the panel or board to look refined and levelled as defined within our specification. our specification.
The Chester Square texture should reflect a more 'country tone' - making for a softer, friendlier floor made for flat-shoe living and dog friendly environs! Greater surface movement, small irregular dips, subtle gaps that will be filled by the traditional wax, larger live, functional knots are all allowed. The raw material we have in stock at any one time, determines the exact specification of this floor and this project.
Clean Planed Fresh Surface or PAR = Planed All Round
This is where an old plank has been planed on the original top surface, to create new fresh, clean timber. However, it will show obvious evidence of its age, old nail holes, small shakes etc. We describe this as a PAR texture. We offer it with this finish which will need sanding down and sealing once laid.
- A new, clean, fresh timber face is made.
- Can have tiny metal dots in the face where pins or staples have broken off.
- Can have original nail holes, now without their nails.
- Square edges profile - no hand-rolled edges.
- A close-up inspection will show cross marks from the planer. These need to be sanded out once laid.
Working Textures
These are PAR boards, prepared as above which are then hand-DA sanded with long edges, hand rolled to a 1.5mm radius. A most interesting floor that is extremely economical. The PAR boards are progressively hand-sanded to a 150 grit. The end result is clean, consistent board that DOES NOT NEED SANDING ON SITE. The rolling of the long edges means when boards are butted together, there is an uneven, but believable irregular gap between the boards.
Our costs for this processing are approx. £5.00/m2 more than the on-site sanding. The real benefits are as below:
- No dust on site. No tussling for space. Or clearing other trades out of the way.
- Quick and simple to lay. No specialist floor-layers or sanding machines.
- Very cost effective - and a hand sanded floor which looks softer and more interesting.
- Can be installed late in a programme - when all painting and final finishes are complete.
3D Textures
These textures are realised as cladding for walls, ceilings, corporate foyers, entrance ways, book-case ends. Available as one-off boards, single panels, diptychs and triptychs. These textures are 100% produced in-house; each panel is a one-off, hand-made and hand-finished item. Please just come to us with your ideas - or requirements.
Mosaic Textures
These panels bring out the artist in us! Using very old, beaten, wormy, half-eaten Antique, often Exotic timbers - we hand DA sand or brush the timber and make truly unique panels with 3 different essences - Maxi, Midi and Mini. These are defined based on several factors:
- Firstly , the scale of each panel determines the scale of the individual pieces selected.
- Secondly, the variation in the '3D' steps between pieces, which create depth, light and shadow.
- Thirdly, the central focus piece. Each panel has one or two central pieces of unusual texture or beauty, around which the rest of the panel is built.
We work with the designer/architect by cutting pieces out for say 4 x 1 metre square panels. These are dry laid. Client invited to our workshops to finalise - or images are sent for agreement and sign-off. Single planks - diptychs or triptychs as stand out wall hangings or whole walls with returns - as the project requires.
Edgy Profiled-Textures
In creating these 9 unusual textures, we primarily use very old timber from our huge in-house stocks of Antique and Reclaimed timber. Some of this was hand-Adzed by craftsmen hundreds of years ago, before the advent of electricity or any mechanised tools. Other pieces hold interesting edges and features such as remnants of old hand wrought nails, old chisel marks, stumps of rusted metal, ferrous stain and circular saw marks. We retain any item or indent that makes interesting story-telling.
The concept is then to create unusual, almost moving surfaces that are immediately evident as being antique, and can be lit in many ways to draw attention to areas or features of a room, such as partitions, walls, ceilings, large structural concrete columns, doors, snug returns, wainscoting, dado-height panelling ... in fact anything that has a place within a one-off design.
