COLOUR MATCHING
(Article written by Cristina)
With my NAWIC hat on, I need to say is that if more people knew of the care and attention that goes into producing the finishes we use in our projects, our industry would find it easier to attract talent. With this in mind, I will share the following story:
Yesterday i had the pleasure of attending the WOOD FLOORS AND ACCESSORIES LIMITED premises in Essex with a group of fellow women professionals working in The Built Environment to attend a workshop aimed at teaching us about colour matching timber floors..
The event was hosted by the amazing Louisa Ryan from Wood Floors & Accessories who is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to the work they do.
I am sharing this post because their workshop was fun and interactive, and it demonstrated that CPD does not have to be boring but also because there are several things I learnt that were fascinating and many in my network will want to know:
Firstly, because a part of their business is focused on colour and texture matching ...
...they have a lab that looks at the original sample to explore how to colour match and machines that can age and/or modify the texture of their timber offsite. This is very interesting for anyone working in projects where the client wants to retain the flooring but needs to complete it or to extended to adjacent rooms but also historical projects and projects where the amount of reclaimed flooring available is insufficient. (A typical challenge that prevents people from looking at reclaiming as a source of materials)
Secondly, we saw the difference that it makes to have a firm grasp on the entire process to minimise errors of production and waste.
I am used to seeing contractors discard a considerable amount of poor quality pieces where the staining is not properly done. When comparing the pieces that were coming at the end of the process yesterday with those that one typically finds in packs that are not so closely supervised, the amount of wastage is significantly smaller. (to be fair, it was nearly removed)
Finally, circular innovation has reached wood flooring.
For anyone familiar with metallic raised floor systems, in the context of commercial fitouts, you will know what it is like to plan floor finishes. Yesterday we were able to see a very interesting innovation: a magnetic tongue and groove wood flooring that can be easily installed and then taken away when the lease ends.
I was personally super excited by this because it addresses many of the challenges to be found in commercial projects including the dismantling of the fitout which is something that creates a lot of unnecessary discarding of perfectly usable materials.
This is an article with more information LINK
All and all it was a very enjoyable learning experience and I want to thank Louisa and her team for making it so much fun. (I also want to congratulate Louisa for her personal best colour matching result! ;-) )
The images were taken by all attendees and host
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