For most flooring companies, tackling the largest residential home in the U.S. would be daunting. Then there’s Parquet by Dian, where the admittedly “insane” project—a 110,000-square-foot Bel Air mega-mansion called “The One”—wasn’t much of a stretch. “When it comes to creating the largest house in Southern California, every time someone outdoes the previous person, it’s a house that we did,” says Dima Efros, president of the Gardena, Calif.-based company.
The One was built on spec, with its completion about 10 years in the making. The estimated $500 million pad is all about excess: from the nightclub and spa in the basement to the five swimming pools (not including the moat). When it comes to the wood flooring in luxury homes, around 99% call for plank installs, Efros says. But the irregular floor plan in this massive abode made installing plank tricky, so designers selected a parquet pattern, a Parquet by Dian specialty called “Castle.” “It’s a pattern that basically goes continuous, so it’s not framed,” Efros says. The company manufactured about 11,000 square feet of the 7/16-inch tiles from solid white oak.
They transported the flooring to the house, where at any given time there were about 350 other workers on site. The flooring panels were glued directly to a gypsum underlayment and then sat underneath protective tape for two years before the crew were called back for sanding and finishing. When they returned, Efros persuaded the client to forgo plans for a gray stain in favor of natural. Efros says it was a matter of balancing the “insanity” of the overall vision for the mansion and also creating something “timeless.” They completed the floors with four coats of water-based finish. Efros’ favorite part of projects like this is designing them—but the gratification of that final coat is on a whole other level. “On a project that takes years, it’s a sigh of relief; we’re finally done!” he says. But for pros like Efros, that relief is soon replaced by excitement: “Then you get to start on the next.”
SUPPLIERS: Abrasives: Norton Abrasives | Adhesive: Stauf Adhesives | Finish: Loba-Wakol | Wood flooring: Parquet by Dian | Underlayment: Gyp-Crete
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