Custom designed flooring – in the abstract

December 22, 2009 (5:20 pm) in Articles, Linoleum, Project Logs By: Barry Carlton

Have you noticed that almost everyone’s home looks alike? People have the same carpet, the same tile or stone (in the same colors), the same vinyls (again in the same colors). Yet, with a little imagination and with most of the same products, a truly Read more »

Handcrafted Marmoleum Custom Insets

December 17, 2009 (11:26 pm) in Articles, Linoleum, Project Logs By: Barry Carlton

In late 2009, this custom Marmoleum floor was commissioned to be installed in a kitchen/dinette and stairwell. The home was built in the mid 1950′s, and has a very old set of concrete stairs that was to be installed with Marmoleum, coved with a clean looking retro “scribe to” stair nosing. The stairs required a significant amount of preparation, as can be seen in the “before” pictures. The homeowners/clients demonstrated extraordinary patience with the processes required to Read more »

Cork: Not Just for Floors

February 16, 2009 (12:31 pm) in Articles, Cork By: Barry Carlton

Most people, after doing a little research, realize that linoleum (Marmoleum, Marmorette, etc) is “green.” That is, made from rapidly renewable resources. Cork flooring, too, is made from a somewhat rapidly renewable resource.  It comes in several thicknesses and installation methods, and it’s applications can be many and varied.

This flooring mechanic has installed it on counter bar tops, stairwells and, of course, floors. The insulating qualities contribute greatly to Read more »

Insets That Intrigue

January 4, 2009 (10:26 am) in Linoleum By: Barry Carlton

Ideas for creative designs and patterns in your floor are easily inset directly into linoleum, vinyl composition tile (VCT), and even some sheet vinyls. The ideas you have can be furnished as a full sized template/pattern or a template or drawing to be resized by us. We can also create custom insets for you, using Read more »

Borders by Design

December 6, 2008 (2:32 pm) in Linoleum By: Barry Carlton

Frame a room, highlight a corner, contrast a wall, window covering or countertop. A border in your floor covering adds interest and definition to your room. Borders have been used in floorcoverings since the beginning. Early rugs and mats used the existing floor as a natural border. Coverings began to be bordered in edge bindings, fringe and even wooden frames to protect and decorate their edges.

Borders can fall at the outermost edges of the material, or it can be inset from the perimeter. Some borders are doubled or tripled for added effect. Borders can be used in any flooring material, using a variety of techniques. In combination with insets, Read more »

Forbo Area Rug

August 23, 2008 (2:07 pm) in Project Logs By: Barry Carlton

Last May, I was commissioned by the producers of a Green Exposition to fabricate an area rug made from Marmoleum. Forbo, the manufacturer of some of the finest linoleum products on the planet, was to donate materials and the design was inspired by an Art-Deco-ish upholstery fabric. The project took 25 hours to complete, using 9 different colors and over 100 separate inset and border pieces.

I started with a piece of ¼” Luan plywood about 4 x 6’3″. Then I glued a piece of ½” plywood in the middle, surrounded by wedges of wood designed for use under carpet (for ramping to a transition). So, there is a taper from ½” to zero all the way around the base. I used hardwood flooring adhesive to laminate the pieces together. Then I stapled it for added security and ground the extended points off the back and underside of the base. At the edges, Read more »