Client: Jane & David

FORMER MANSE, EAST LOTHIAN

Project: Design and install unfinished parquet using 500 x 100mm natural grade engineered blocks and finished with a bespoke grey oil.

Product Chosen: Unfinished Engineered Herringbone, Square Edge, with grey oil finish.

THE BRIEF

It’s always good to hear from clients again, so we were delighted when Jayne and David got in touch after their recent house move. We’d fitted French Oak floors in their previous home back in 2010, but this new project was considerably more ambitious, and very different.

The brief sounded simple: design and install hardwearing timber floors. The house itself was more of a challenge. Built around 1825, it was originally the village manse in Dirleton, now elegantly faded, in need of restoration, and also B-listed.

Happily, many traditional features like beautiful bay windows and high, ornate ceilings, were still in place. But the floors were another matter. They were later additions to the house and in poor condition, so Jayne and David wanted to replace them entirely, in the drawing room, living room, interior hall, and in the original 19th century wine cellar too.

THE SOLUTION

After a detailed site survey, our first undertaking was to remove all existing floors, before preparing and levelling the sub-floors, and installing a damp-proof membrane in the wine cellar.

Square-edge, unfinished, flooring in block sizes of 500 x 100mm was chosen to reflect the spacious proportions in each room, then framed with an elegant plank border.

As it wasn’t possible to remove the drawing room’s original skirting, the plank border was scribed for a perfect fit here, and the same meticulous care was given to undercutting period wood panelling in the hall and wine cellar.

Finishing touches included a picture frame detail around the hearth, along with custom-made thresholds for doorways, completing the project. Then all new floors were finished with a bespoke grey oil to fit flawlessly with their ‘old’ setting.