We have to commend this FLA-based installer on his one-of-a-kind project: a hexagonal eng-grain floor. It's hard to imagine 1,200 square feet of French white oak end grain, cut into 6-inch hexagons.After 12 weeks of production time in Europe, the end-grain pieces were flown to the States. Installer Leonard Hall (repeat Wood Floor of the Year winner) had 4,500 pieces to work with.
More on the install from Hardwood Floors Magazine:Once at the job, the pieces were stacked in a large pantry closet "like offset poker chips" to acclimate in the air conditioning, and their moisture content was carefully monitored. Once at the target MC, the flooring was installed using urethane adhesive over the slab, which had an epoxy moisture barrier. Trammel points were used to mark true 30–60 degree lines from the center line to guide the layout. After sanding, Hall's crew wet the blocks and stained the floor white, then burnished the floor with a light oil finish coat to acheive the ceruse color chosen by the client.As happens with custom color, the appearance of the entire floor was just a tad lighter than the sample the customer had approved. Although she liked the color, she asked if they could lessen the white. Contractors with less experience at color might have blanched at the prospect of fixing the color over the entire floor, but Hall was unfazed, and another oil burnish brought the desired result. "Custom work is just that," he says. "Custom work."Well done, Leonard.###Source: Hardwood Floors
