Ben Bridge Jewelers - Various Locations Nationwide
Here at Thomas Benjamin we are super excited to show off this amazing floor we created for Ben Bridge Jewelers. 8” wide, very very complex coloration, long planks (to 12’!!) and 100% Made in the U.S.A.!
KEY SPECS
Product: Custom White Oak
Dimensions: 5/8” x 8” x RL to 12’
Species: American White Oak
Grade: Rustic Grade
Texture: Brushed
Finish: UV-cured Ceramic Acrylic
Color: Extremely complex multi-color stain and chemical fume
Chelsea Collective - Pittsburgh, PA and Tyson's Corner, VA
When the designers for Chelsea Collective, a women’s’ athleasure concept-store being launched by Dick’s Sporting Goods, approached us to collaborate on a “statement” floor they desired for the stores, the slate was essentially blank.
Oh, they had a wish-list: eye-catching, interesting, durable and easy to maintain.
We met in our custom sampling workroom in Southern California, and quickly narrowed things down to this beautiful calico-sorted American Hickory, in two plank widths and with an easy-maintenance low-gloss European Oil finish.
About a year after install the worth of an oil finish was demonstrated when there was a “water event” in one of the stores, that involved about as much grime and gunk as water.
Thomas Benjamin personnel flew out and consulted on the clean-up and re-oiling, all of which was accomplished in one overnight session.
KEY SPECS
Product: Custom Flooring:
Dimensions: 5/8” x 4” and 5/8” x 8” x RL to 12’
Species: American Hickory
Grade: Rustic Grade
Finish / color: European Oil Finish, Natural Color
Major Retailer
Thomas Benjamin was approached by this major nationwide fashion retailer and tasked with developing a wood floor that could stand up to the traffic and abuse a floor would take in such an environment.
We currently produce several iterations of this floor in a variety of grades, colors and finish types.
The common thread that links the floors is a degree of tactile and visual noise created by the handsculpting and liming effects that serves to camouflage minor damage and everyday grime.
To meet certain ADA requirements when connecting to adjoining surfaces, TB specially engineers this floor with a custom thickness of 7/16”
KEY SPECS
Product: Custom Product
Texture: Softly handculpted and limed per client’s request
Dimensions: 7/16” x various widths
Species: American White Oak
Grade: Select Grade
Finish: Various finishes including Ceramax UV-cured Ceramic Finish
Color - various colors developed in conjunction with client’s own in-house design staff
Nationwide Retailer: Averting Disaster
The architect for a major nationwide retailer contacted us with an urgent problem: they had specified a wood floor from another manufacturer for a high-profile installation.
Problem was, they had been told that the flooring was manufactured in Europe, and that it was available with a short lead-time of 5-6 weeks. Then, when they placed the order for the flooring, they found that it was in fact made in China and would not be available for 12 weeks or longer.
The architect, faced with losing face over delaying the project or having to switch the design for the space to utilize flooring that could be purchased off-the-shelf, called Thomas Benjamin.
The Result
Three fully custom samples.
Collaborative design for form as well as function.
All in 5 days.
From disaster, to disaster averted, That’s the TB difference!
The timeline
Monday morning, conference call
The floor was verbally described to us, as photos and samples were not available. The descriptions were a bit vague and imprecise, but there was enough to get started.
The first Custom Sample was produced and shipped out by air that day, for delivery Tuesday.
Tuesday morning conference call
The first sample was received by the architect and evaluated. Unsurprisingly, it was not exactly what was wanted, but now with a sample in-hand to discuss, conversations were more productive. Verbal course corrections were given, and expected traffic, cleaning and maintenance capabilities were discussed so that an appropriate product, with a suitable texture and finish, could be designed.
Custom Sample #2 was created and shipped out that day.
Wednesday morning conference call
The second sample was received and discussed. TB management suggested an increased level of hand texturing, as this creates an elevated level of visual noise within the product which serves to hide the occasional bit of dirt and grime, and to disguise the inevitable minor damage that would occur in such a high-traffic environment.
These suggestions were accepted, and Custom Sample #3 was shipped out.
Thursday afternoon conference call
Architect was pleased with Custom Sample #3 and sent it to the client for approval.
Friday afternoon conference call
Sample #3 was approved by the client’s Store Design department, with a minor change: due to ADA requirements, maximum slope from the new floor to an existing floor dictated a maximum wood floor thickness of 7/16”, a non-standard dimension. TB production personnel were consulted, and it was agreed that this was feasible, and no additional sample was required. Dimension drawings were made and sent for approval, along with price quotes and a lead-time of 6 weeks (for 10,000 sq ft of 100% custom manufactured flooring).
And now, 8 years later?
Over 1,000,000 square feet of this floor, and subsequent design iterations, installed for this client.
Northpark Lexus - San Antonio
Well we have to admit - we never predicted seeing brand-new Lexuses (Lexi?) parked on our wood floors. However, when the design firm suggested our Hickory floor for this project, we jumped.
The design team ended up choosing one of our standard Hickory colors, added a haandsculpted texture for character, chose custom widths of 3”, 5” and 7” (alternating), and split the job between solid (upstairs) and engineered (downstairs and sales floor).
KEY SPECS
Product: TB Signature Line Hickory 6007
Modified with “Hewn” handsculpting as per clients’ request
Dimensions: 5/8” x 3”-5”-7” X RL to 12’ and 3/4” solid x 3”-5”-7” x RL to 12’
Species: American Hickory
Grade: Rustic Grade
Finish: Ceramax UV-cured Ceramic Finish
Color - 6007
Major Retailer - Grey Lyed Oak
Stunning lye-treated and frosted hand-distressed Premium White Oak for a Major Nationwide Fashion Retailer.
KEY SPECS
Product: Custom Flooring
Dimensions: 7/16” x 6” x RL to 12’
Species: American White Oak
Grade: Premium Grade
Texture: Custom Handsculpted
Finish: UV-cured Ceramic Acrylic, Matte
Color: Extremely complex custom finish developed in coordination with the client’s in-house design staff and architect
Color Correction For Major Retailer - Dallas, TX
Moral of this story:
At Thomas Benjamin our client’s concerns are our concerns, and we are willing and capable of going the extra mile for our clients!
Disaster Averted in Dallas
European oil finishes have seen stellar growth in the US market the past few years, chiefly for the beautiful low-gloss look they give. One often-overlooked advantage of certain types of oil-finished floors is their ability to be easily re-coated and even color-corrected, and for one very important client this was the difference between a complete disaster and a successful project.
One of our clients, a large nation-wide retailer, ordered and installed about 6000 sq ft of a hand-distressed oil-finished white oak floor in a very light, natural color. The installation was directly adjoining an existing floor that had been in place several years and was stained a medium brown-red color. Then came the panicked phone call: The buyer had made a mistake; the new floor was supposed to have been ordered to match the existing floor. This area of the store was due to reopen in three weeks, and they were faced with tearing out, re-prepping and re-installing all 6000 sq ft. And we would be asked to make the custom-milled and custom-colored floor in about two weeks. All doable, but extremely costly and stressful.
New floor on top. Looks great, right? WRONG!
The wrong floor was ordered - it should have looked like the floor on the bottom!
Big Problem!
“Hold on”, we said, “There might be another solution. We think the floor can be re-oiled to nudge it to the correct color. Maybe not an exact match, but at least a coordinating color”. The client replied that an exact match wasn’t required, they’d be thrilled with a coordinating color.
This really was a great way to showcase the flexibility and re-coatability of oil-finished floors. We pulled a couple of planks of production retain (we keep retains for all production runs for three years), lightly abraded with a red pad, mixed up a custom batch of Rubio Monocoat Hardwax Oil and applied the oil to the planks.
We sent these samples to the client in Dallas, where they laid them on the existing floor and phoned us with a slight color-correction. That day we made another sample incorporating their suggestions and overnighted to them for approval. This was now the third day since the problem was discovered, and the client already had in their hands the second-generation samples for the proposed solution. The voice on the other end of the line this time was noticeably more relaxed: samples approved!
We sent a list of necessary supplies and equipment and personnel to the flooring contractor, and a date was set. Thomas Benjamin sent several liters of the custom oil mix out by FedEx Ground and Mark Summitt, the owner of Thomas Benjamin, flew to Dallas the next week to supervise the transformation. One of the difficulties in working partial-remodel projects in retail locations is that the jobsite is typically only available when the store is closed, in this case from 10pm until about 6am. All parties met at the store at 10pm.
Custom oil mix by Thomas Benjamin
The process was simple: lightly abrade with a low-speed floor buffer and a red pad, buff in the new oil with a white pad, and dry it off with terry towels under the white pad. By 5am we were all finished. Complete color transformation of 6000 sq ft in about 7 hours, including training and testing and without sanding and without any objectionable odors (very important in the middle of a functioning retail store). The floor was able to be walked on the next day and was fully cured a couple of days later.
Disaster averted!
Yet another example of why Thomas Benjamin Architectural Flooring is a rather unique wood flooring company.
We at Thomas Benjamin are part of your team.
Your concerns are our concerns.
Your problems are our problems.
Your success is our success!
