Journal

Oak Flooring in New Zealand: What You Are Actually Buying

Oak is the hardwood most New Zealand architects reach for, and engineered oak is how most of it is now laid. What sits inside a good board, how it copes with our climate, and how to choose a format...

Why choosing a floor on its own goes wrong

The floor is usually fine. The kitchen is usually fine. It is the fact that nobody chose them together that costs people a winter of second-guessing. Here is what we see, and the way around it.

Why Wide Boards Make the Most Luxurious Floor

Why architects and designers specify wide boards over narrow ones: fewer lines, calmer rooms, rarer timber and a floor that reads as an investment.

Ultra-Matt Factory Lacquer or Site-Applied Polyurethane: What the Finish Decides

UV matt lacquer applied in the factory, or polyurethane brushed on in the house. What each means for sheen, durability, repair, dust, fumes and the build programme.

How to Compare Timber Flooring Quotes in New Zealand

Two quotes with similar per-metre rates can be for very different floors. The eight things to line up before you compare the numbers, and the questions that separate quality from hype.

Quiet Floors: Why a Marchand Floor Does Not Creak, and What It Does for Apartments

Creaks come from movement, and hollow sound comes from air. A 20mm board glued down over an acoustic mat has neither. What the University of Auckland test showed, and what apartment bodies corporat...

Are Oak Ceiling Boards Too Heavy for a Ceiling?

A Marchand oak ceiling board weighs about the same as the plasterboard it replaces. Here is the number, what the ceiling framing is already designed to carry, and the one thing that does need atten...

Why 20mm Flooring Is the Cheaper Choice at Every Door and Window

New Zealand joinery is set out for a 20mm finished floor. A thinner board saves on the product and spends it again at every threshold. Here is what the adjustment actually involves.

Oak Wall Boards or Painted GIB: What Each Wall Really Costs

A stopped and painted plasterboard wall costs more than most people think once every trade is counted. Here is the number against a Marchand oak wall board fixed straight to the frame, and what the...

Make Once: Natural Materials for New Zealand Interiors

Make Once is our invitation to choose natural materials for New Zealand interiors with the long view. Engineered European oak and New Zealand wool, made once and kept for decades. Come in and see b...