This staircase was originally just a standard MDF staircase. We over cladded the staircase with Amtico Spacia Worn Ash wood which gives it a spectacular finish. At the top of the staircase, you are greeted with a lovely glass frame that acts as a bannister. We think it’s a really interesting feature in this home that opens it up offering more light and space. We used the same product for the flooring upstairs.
Product used:
Amtico Spacia Worn Ash
We transformed an older kitchen unit into this elegant and practical looking work top. The cupboards are all modernised with soft shutting features. The easy to maintain surface is ideal for preparing food on as any spills can be easily wiped clean. The kitchen was quite cluttered before but we’ve managed to restore some space both on the worktops and on the floor. We installed a lovely wood coloured floor to bring some natural feeling into the kitchen.
The fridge and freezer was tailored to fit perfectly into the kitchen and helps to complete the style. The kitchen unit acts as a frame to the windows in the room.
As far as kitchens go, this was a really lovely little installation. It may not have been the biggest kitchen we’ve worked on but it may be one of the cosiest!
Products installed: Karndean Art Select Summer Oak RL02
We had the pleasure in working with a stunning new property. Kendall Cottage stands proud with a beautiful wooden and glass frame by the front door.
We fitted a range of different floors throughout the cottage. In the kitchen and hallways, we fitted a beautiful light country oak flooring. The finish brings an arty and sophisticated look to the rooms.
In the master bedroom, we have fitted a lovely soft carpet which assists the rest of the colour scheme in the room. This carpet is super comfortable and a great insulator for the bedroom.
The large marble squares in the bathroom are easy to maintain and keep clean. The flooring matches well with the rest of the colour scheme in the bathroom.
Our personal favourite touch to the cottage is the beautiful staircase. The light colouring of the carpet has been outlined by a dark lining which adds a bit of elegant flair to a beautiful stair case.
We really enjoy working in this cottage and we think the colours and materials used has really helped bring this stunning interior to life.
Products fitted:
Karndean Country Oak Van Gogh Wood Flooring.
Royal Victoria Carpets
Here’s the kitchen belonging to our very own flooring expert, Gavin! It’s clean white stone effect vinyls compliment the dark worktops.
As you can see, the flooring has been outlined by a grey strip which defines the layout of the room nicely. The mini lighting adds an extra ‘bling’ to the floor with a nice reflection. Oh, and nice wine cooler Gav!
UPDATE:
We have recently added the finishing touches to this kitchen. Here are some pictures of the finished job!
Product fitted:
Amtico Signature Composite Calcuim 300 x 457 mm tiles with a 114 x 915mm border.
Design strips are composite flint and pumice.
Curved corners were cut using full tiles with the curved plinth pieces as templates. These were very tricky cuts; each one took over an hour to do.
Underfloor heating.
We had the pleasure of working in a lovely kitchen at a home in Crondall, where we fitted a Karndean stone effect vinyl flooring.
These floors are perfect for kitchens, as they’re easy to maintain and keep in good condition from any inevitable spills of food or liquids. The natural light stone effect of this floor adds a nice texture and classy character to the room.
It was a pleasure to fit this stone effect flooring for a delightful customer!
Product fitted:
Karndean Da Vinci Sienna Limestone
Here, we had the pleasure in working around a pretty, skeletal stair set with some of our favourite materials of flooring being slim wood planks. The weathered elm colouring offers a relaxing backdrop to the home. The combination between the grainy wood planks and the natural, authentic looking colouring of weathered elm really adds some character to this hallway and stair set. The Karndean flooring is always a pleasure to fit and the finish is excellent. Our customer was delighted with the finish and so are we!
A beautiful spring day spent in Lee-on-the-Solent near Gosport fitting a luscious Karndean floor in the orangerie of a detached house. We were graced with a stunning view out into the South Coast.
Fortunately enough, the choice of flooring was spot on too!
The Karndean parquet flooring has a light oak finish. This easy-to-maintain Karndean flooring combines warmth, texture and practicality of the light oak material with the unique style of the parquet style laying technique.
We were delighted with the outcome of this particular floor, and we hope our customer will enjoy the beautiful views with his conservatory doors wide open this summer… Just hope no wild animals come in and damage that beautiful floor!
Product fitted:
Karndean Art Select Parquet Blond Oak
As the warmer weather slowly begins to arrive, homeowners can start to enjoy their conservatories! We recently fitted Amtico flooring to a lovely conservatory and kitchen in the Farnborough area.
The quality finish and dark shade of the Amtico floor really adds some contrast to the rest of the home. Our client was delighted with the results and can’t wait to get out in their freshly floored conservatory this summer.
Obviously, it’ll be too cold to be in the conservatory in the winter though, right? Wrong! Before we fitted this floor, we installed under floor heating. Now this conservatory can be used all year round. Good shout!
Products fitted:
Amtico Spacia Softline Charcoal laid in Cross-Grain
Our quality work for Aspire Defence and GB Building Solutions means we are now an approved contractor for both companies.
In August 2011 Lloyd Marsden won the tender for the soft flooring package on Wavell Barracks Garrison mess WA0605, a package worth 120k. This was the final part of 20 million pound project by Aspire to refurbish and build additional army personnel accommodation and recreational facilities.
The Garrison mess was a 3.9 million pound new build state-of-the-art facility for officers and senior ranks to be able to dine and socialize together. The build consisted of public rooms and dining rooms, along with bars and ante rooms.
The project had been put out to tender by Aspire (as it has to tender 1/3 of the work it receives from the armed forces. GB Building Solutions (GBS) were successful in securing the tender. GBS’ turnover is in the region of 400 million per year and they specialize in commercial build, particularly in the public sector. They are main contractors on most of their projects which include schools, hospitals, nursing homes and Aspire Defence work.
GBS were very tight on time schedule as they had to hand over the completed work by 12th December 2011. Lloyd Marsden had 700 square meters of latexing, damp proof membranes and capped and coved safety flooring to install and 1400 square meters of double stuck commercial grade carpet.
We commenced works on 17 September 2011. As the site was very busy we could only take small areas at first so that we did not hinder the progress of other trades. The screed had been laid 2 months prior to our commencement, which meant it was not fully dry, so Lloyd Marsden were tasked with applying a damp proof membrane (DPM) system that would be compatible with an under floor heated floating screed. We used Sika Rapid DMP, as this is one of the only DPMs on the market that is suitable for use on under floor heating; two coats have to be applied at cross directions to one another to achieve a barrier that sealed the slab.
It is a common misconception that a DPM holds back all the moisture in the slab forever. Moisture usually passes from a screed at 1% per day. With two DPMs moisture still passes but at a rate of 0.1% per day. This allows the screed to eventually dry over time, whilst causing no problems with floor coverings or the commonly used water soluble adhesive to adhere them to the slab.
After the two coats were applied to various accessible areas, Lloyd Marsden applied P131 (F.Ball&Co.). This is a neoprene based primer that aids the adhesion of latex to a DPM. This was allowed to dry fully before the Latex (Arditex NA) was applied. The latex was applied to these areas and spike rolled to eliminate air bubbles and assist the removal of blend lines and undulations. It was then left to dry for a minimum of 48hrs or until it reached <75% RH (relative humidity). The drying times were actually quite considerable, taking sometimes up to five days to fully dry due to climatic conditions and the lack of any heating or airflow. GBS provided us with large fans to shift the damp air around the building to reduce drying times; this worked to a certain extent but drying still took up to three days. GBS very keen for us to push on with the floor fitting regardless, however we convinced them that it was not worth the risk to fit vinyl until the base layer was fully prepared. Towards the end of October we were able to take much larger areas and on one particular week we DPM-coated, latexed and fitted over 300 meters. Lloyd Marsden managed to complete all the vinyl floors by the 10 November 2011.
The carpets had been ordered from Newhay Carpets as soon as the contract was awarded to us:Newhay only make bespoke carpets to order so their earliest delivery was be 28th November, leaving us only 2 weeks to install over 1400 square meters of carpet, a slightly tall order. However we pulled out all the stops and completed all the carpet fitting by 11th December, one day early! The carpet fitting method used was a double stuck system using Duralay 650, tackified to the slab using F40 adhesive with the carpet adhered to the underlay using F3adhesive.
Since completing the Garrison Barracks mess, Lloyd Marsden has returned only twice to snag a few items; we believe that this is a real testament to our attention to detail and quality of workmanship. Lloyd Marsden has now been given the opportunity to appear on the Aspire recommended list and GBS preferred contractor list.
If you have toothache you go to a dentist, if you feel unwell you see your doctor, if you car wont start you call a mechanic, for every eventuality in life there is someone who specialises in that field in order to fix the problem. So why is it that when people are using a general builder they feel it appropriate to entrust the “said builder” with specialist tasks that are outside of his skill set. Moreover, why does the builder give the customer the impression that he is a specialist in everything.
This is not a lecture just advice from someone who knows what can go wrong when you ‘give it a try yourself’ or ask someone else who is not a professional in that field to carry out the work
Believe it or not certain elements of flooring are actually pretty complex, and we are still learning every day about new and improved ways of installation and advancements within the industry.
We work with some very competent builders such as Rees Homes Ltd and most will try to be very helpful when it comes to extras such as fitting flooring or tiling, painting etc. But you should remember builders are not specialists in every field, most fit neatly in the pigeon hole of general builder, with only a few are maybe a little more specialist.
When it comes to flooring whether it be sticking down solid oak, latex levelling, damp proof membranes, the builders we work with know that a specialist will save them time, put a real finishing touch to their build and ultimately save them money as any snags will be addressed by the flooring specialist and not the builder.
If you’re having building works carried out or an extension at the moment you probably think your builder can do everything or at least he has told you he can, but please don’t be naïve, flooring is a specialist job, as is electrical work and plumbing, you would not let your electrician or plumber fit your floor so why would you let your builder do it. I have always said that if had pound for every time a customer has come to me and said ‘my builder fitted my floor and it’s all coming up now’ I would be a millionaire, don’t get me wrong some builders do know what they are doing but more often than not they are taking chances with your flooring and subsequently your hard earned money.
Solid oak floors also need specialist installation, you can’t just go and buy solid oak, or even engineered oak flooring from a local diy center and fit it yourself the same day, it must be allowed to acclimatize for at least 7 days (48hrs for engineered). It must be permanently fixed to the subfloor by either secret nailing or fully bonded adhesive to a sub floor that is clean, sound and dry and flat to within plus or minus 2mm over 1800mm . It must be strap clamped during installation to ensure it stays tight together and most important of all expansion gap, expansion gap, expansion gap, minimum 10mm at any point where it meets an obstacle. Unfortunately unless you’re an expert in flooring you would not know this, most diy center staff don’t know this so dont rely on them for advice. Even knowing the above wont ensure a good job, however experience does, don’t DIY, it’s not worth the risk, it will cost you in the long run when the flooring has to be removed and re installed by a professional.
When it comes to Amtico or Karndean flooring, only an approved fitter should install these products. This is because Amtico and Karndean will only warranty their products if its fitted by an approved installer, if there are any warranty issues then the suppliers and fitter need to be on site before any warranty inspection can take place. This holds true if you purchase the product on the internet, your supplier would have to be on site for any warranty issues to be resolved as well as your fitter. Your fitter (if it is a shop) will be more inclined to help you if they have supplied the product, most shops will not fit a product you have purchased elsewhere, this is because they cannot guarantee if it is genuine (there are plenty of fake products on the internet, flooring is actually one of the most copied!). Chinese factories have become experts at passing of substandard products on the internet, they look the same, are packaged the same, but are made from substandard materials and because they are fake there is no warranty.
I guess it comes back to what we started with , flooring can be a huge part of your overall budget when you are putting on an extension or simply replacing your floor coverings. You would not by a car without looking at it, or furniture, or really anything else for that matter, so why risk it with your flooring, its just not worth it
Go to a reputable shop where you will get expert advice from people who know the industry inside out, they will supply and fit genuine products which will be installed by craftsman, we cannot speak for all flooring shops, however if you visit Lloyd Marsden we guarantee this to be the experience you will have.