Hordle Walhampton School

Hordle Walhampton is an independent boarding school based in Lymington, on the Southern edge of the New Forest National Park. Lakes, woodlands and extensive games fields surround the main house, providing a wonderful setting for learning. 

During the Summer half-term, we were called in to work on the Chapel floor at the School.

The Chapel is an imposing building with a beautiful mosaic oak block floor, wood paneling to the walls, and a lovely, detailed plasterwork ceiling. It also houses a stunning organ. The room is well used by the School and is also available for hire for public events.

The floor is a lovely example of its type and it was a delight to start sanding of the years of wear and tear to bring it back to life.

Once the floor was silky smooth, we applied a mid-sheen water-based lacquer to seal the floor and let the beauty of the wood shine through.

Cardew House, Alresford

The House is a beautiful 18^th Century home set in the heart of Alresford, with stunning views over Old Alresford Pond.

The current owners, having been renovating the premises for several years, invited Winchester Floor Sanding to look at their wood floors.

They had a tired oak block floor in the main sitting room and a pine floor with lovely wide boards in the dining room. Both floors had seen better days but it was clear to see how these floors, restored to their former glory, would enhance these grand spaces.

Both floors were sanded back and the oak floor was sealed without a colour stain. The dining room floor was given a mid-colour stain to provide depth and structure to a room already decorated in strong colours. The overall result for both rooms was stunning.

The next project we undertook in this house was the restoration and renovation of an original 18th Century oak floor and steps leading down to an entrance hallway. This floor was part of the original house and had been patched and cut and generally abused over the years. We found, to the owners delight, that one of the other ground floor rooms had the same oak floor and we set about taking up the floor from this room to re-lay and repair the floor in the main room.

Fitting the hand-hewn boards together was no easy task as they were far less straight than the boards you can buy today!

Because the boards were so uneven, much of the sanding work was done by hand to ensure that each and every board was sanded to perfection. They came up beautifully and we finished the room by applying a flat-matt water-based lacquer to seal the floors whilst displaying their undeniable beauty.

The wood on the steps had at some point been replaced with new, clean wood, so we took this up and replaced it with the same oak as we were using on the main floor. We then hand-shaped the edges and sanded in some dinks and 'wear' marks to give the appearance that the steps had been worn through years of footfall.

This attention to detail ensured that the oak floor flowed seamlessly from the room, down the steps to meet the hallway carpet.