Salford Lads Club

Undertaken early in 2008, Salford Lads Club was project funded both by the club itself and a local entrepreneur featured on the channel 4 program ‘The Secret Millionaire’. For More information visit http://www.salfordladsclub.org.uk.

Having been contacted by a building contractor specialising in interiors and renovations of offices and other prestigious buildings, our brief was to revive this historic floor and return it to its former glory. The floor seemed to have been untreated for nearly a hundred years and the addition of some new timbers on surrounding areas; we knew that we would need a durable hardwearing seal which would provide an easily maintainable solution for the client, and its users.

We began sanding the 200 square meter area, as tourists and fans arrived outside to get a glimpse of the iconic Salford lads club entrance featured on ‘The Smiths’ album cover. The new timbers which had been installed had to be dressed with an antique pine dye in order to add colour and disguise the difference in age between the timbers.

Repairs were also undertaken to restore the floor, sourcing reclaimed timbers of a similar age and installing them was done prior to the final finishing process, during which we sanded the floor to a 120 grit finish to ensure a smooth, maintainable finish.

The application of one coat of quick prime to both the old and new timber ensured, the floor was nourished and helped prevent any problems with contamination from previous finishes and allowed us to create a good build of lacquer on the floor thus helping durability.

Once the quick prime had dried we de-knibbed the surface of the wood and applied three coats of Ronseal Contractor High Traffic Lacquer, with a silk finish, we felt this product suited our brief and the quick drying times allowed us to complete works to a deadline which had been given to us.

All the feedback we have received has been positive including some PR, in industry recognised magazines and journals, we have also been back to the site to provide quotations for more flooring restorations to be hopefully undertaken in the near future.