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“It was a labor of love,” says Barnum, who crafted and designed the multi-species showroom floor in 2004 with the help of Chuck Crispin of West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Legendary Floors of Florida LLC and Daniel Antes of Daniel Antes Marquetry in Nashville, Ind. Barnum recently refinished the floor, adding new color to sections of the design to make them pop.
Barnum worked with Crispin to map out the design of the 1,800-square-foot flooring in 2004. He then cut out each section at a time and spent about a week snapping lines over the concrete subfloor before beginning the installation. He normally would have started the installation with the centerpiece, but due to timing, it had to be saved for last. So instead, Barnum began laying the white oak and character maple “wings” toward the center of the floor. He then moved on to the black walnut, laid out like a pinwheel around the room.
Barnum used bird’s-eye maple for the border and rosewood and wenge for the feature strips. The herringbone design was made with red oak, as was the basketweave, which also featured black walnut blocks.
The central star was crafted by Antes using crotch walnut, crotch ash and okoume. “You make your own template and then you route that in and drop it in,” Barnum says. “When you’ve got a star that’s 17-foot from point to point, it’s a pretty big star that you’re dropping in the floor.” The star is comprised of roughly 30 to 40 pieces and is encompassed by a 1-inch wenge feature strip.
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The floor took about 60 days to install and was originally coated with wax. After sanding and water-popping for the latest refinish, Barnum chose Rubio’s hardwax oil, adding a Vintage Brown coat on the maple, Castle Brown on the inlays and White 5% on the basketweave. For the red oak, he used Rubio’s Fumed with Havana on top. He then added a second coat of clear hardwax oil. “It just gives it a little more sheen and drives a little more product into the pores of the wood so we get a little better wear,” Barnum says.
Now roughly 15 years since completing the one-of-a-kind showroom floor, Barnum’s labor of love is still stunning his clients––and he anticipates the refinish will continue its “wow” factor for years to come.
"My favorite portion would be when customers walk in and say, 'Wow,'” Barnum says. “That's probably the biggest accolade I could get.”
Suppliers:
Abrasives: Ceno Group | Multi-head sander: Bona US | Finish: Rubio Monocoat
