Grate I’m Board Now

Boarding Flooring choices… well decisions and the sheer number and unflinching regularity of the need to make them is one of the defining...

Doing the vintage, industrial, warehouse, light thing.

A door, it's only a door

Boarding

Flooring choices… well decisions and the sheer number and unflinching regularity of the need to make them is one of the defining characteristics of playing this game. The kitchen area has 600mm concrete tiles with a very narrow grout line which works well with the modern, almost minimal, aesthetic in this “zone”. The dining room are has stripped floorboards and this is where we now find ourselves at the point of decision...

The existing boards were, and this being nice about it, tired. Featuring the wear of the previous owners, the abrasive attrition of the portfolio work and staining from the turbo trainer they really could not remain. There’s a surfeit of options available when looking at flooring but we were, at least, confident that floorboards would be the right choice.

Like me, this floor is tired, bald in places and needs replacing 

With a nod to green principles, a desire to retain the zoning and to re-inforce the “industrial” feel reclaimed boards appeared the logical choice and thus it was that the sourcing began. This is an ever present part of the process (sourcing) we can’t make everything and finding unique items or materials with a story is great way to create a sense of history.

After much searching we happened upon the perfect combination of story, aesthetic and cost and so it was that some 6 weeks later we took delivery of 12 square meters of reclaimed boards from a Scottish whiskey distillery. Not only did these boards display their working, industrial, origins proudly in every nick, hole and bruise but they also featured stencilled numbers indicating the whiskey barrel stored.

12 square meters isn’t a large space, the floor plan is a simple rectangle but this does not mean installation is a day’s work with breaks for tea. The boards were given 2 weeks to acclimatise prior to actually laying them. This process consists of storing them in the area where they are to be installed to allow them to match the ambient moisture content ensuring they’re stable prior to installation. These boards are not tongue and groove so secret nailing (nailing through the tongue) wasn’t an option so cut nails were the order of the day. 

The first board going down - note the floor board clamps

There’s a lot of debate over how to attach your chosen floor; nailing, screws, glue, glue and screws or nails etc and a large part of it features anecdotes from a mate down the pub and the frequent apocalyptic twin scenarios of squeaks and drafts. For this floor nails, and specifically cut nails, are appropriate. The correct installation method (using proper floor board clamps for example after acclimation) will minimize the risk of squeaking. Drafts may be an issue but when you’re letting in large, decorative floor grates (see later) anyway it’s not going to drive a different installation method.

Once installed the floorboards were waxed and then buffed using an electric polisher with a natural wool mop; the intent was to not create a glossy finish but rather a knocked back, soft-sheen type finish. Once the portfolio work is completed the boards will be lightly sanded and re-waxed but will still retain the soft-sheen.

Wax On/ Wax Off 

Grating

The room features a log burner which in combination with consuming vast quantities of fuel, outputting huge amounts of heat also has an appetite for oxygen. The previous owners had addressed this concern by installing the stereotypical yellow brass, hit and miss style grate. This presented two primary problems;

• Firstly it was nasty, as in looked nasty, it had been installed badly and was that special “olde worlde” brass so favored by DIY chains
• Secondly the grate was directly under an area that was planned as a “feature” log store area

Thus a solution was required which in the end turned out to be the frankly obvious one of sourcing 3 14kg cast iron grates requiring refurbishment and then letting them in to the floor.

Our starting point 

On arrival the grates featured the wrong kind of patina; green stains, rust, mud and foreign objects lodged in the grate holes. Refurbishing them was a process very similar to that used for the under stairs cupboard door; using an angle grinder with a combination of fast material removal discs and then extensive use of a wire brush cup to blur the finish. In the album you can see that in the outside light they appear almost too bright but when brought inside following 6 coats of lacquer they look perfect.

Ready for the install (6 coats of lacquer at this stage) 

The weight of the grates and their location did require some special attention during the floor installation; additional bracing was added to the joists where the grates sit and in one location an additional joist was added. The addition of these grates into the new floor really helped to solidify the aesthetic and easily exceeded the regulatory requirements for air flow for both the log burner and gas hob.

Boarded and Grated

Floor down, soft-sheen, even when we re-wax this is the finish we're looking for 

To see the album of photos for the floorboard install click me!
And for the photos associated with the floor grates click me instead