Rolling In The Deep
Harvested from the dark cold depths of the Ottawa River comes, believe it or not, your new hardwood flooring. Preserved for future generations, these logs are carefully reclaimed to create stunning floors by the innovative local company Logs End. We have been using Logs End flooring on our luxurious renovations for years. The sustainable nature, variety of woods and the quality of the lumber is second to none. Not to mention history linking modern day Ottawa to its storied past.
We asked Rob Black, VP of Sales and Marketing at Logs End to answer a few questions about their wonderful flooring that has been finding its way into many Ottawa Homes for more than two decades.
Q – How many years have you been in business?
A – We began our journey in 1998. Now a lot has changed since then, growing from a log recovery business, to a saw mill, to a manufacturer of all types of custom wide plank flooring, and most recently to a finishing and engineered flooring manufacturer. We’re actually on our third showroom since we began. I often feel like we’re still a new business but that’s mostly because we continue to grow and expand into different areas we had never touched on before.
Q – How big is your showroom? How many showrooms do you have?
A – 2000 SF. We have our new showroom on 66 Iber Rd in Stittsville. Not as large as our previous east end location but far more open concept and we’ve made much better use of the space to effectively show all sorts of flooring and wall panelling options.
Q – How many different types of flooring do you carry?
A – With Logs End being as custom as we are there is thousands of combinations to choose from. We’re providing flooring in 10 species from widths ranging from 2” – 12”. All of which are available in different grades, lengths, cuts, stains, and finishes.
Q – Where does most of your flooring come from?
A – The majority of our flooring is from Ontario or Quebec wood. Whether it be reclaimed from rivers and lakes or from sustainable forestry we typically stay close to home on the lumber we use in manufacturing. We do also carry and finish a European French Cut Oak which has been incredibly popular.
Q – What are the oldest logs that you have found?
A – We found square white oak beams dating back to the Napoleonic Era. Early 1800’s. The majority of our logs we recover will have some sort of stamp or mark on them indicating the time period and lumber baron who had cut down the tree initially. My favourite is the B in a diamond. That stamp belonged to J.R. Booth who was by far the largest lumber baron in the Ottawa Valley.
Q – What questions does your sales/design team get asked the most?
A – We do get asked for colour help quite a bit. That often comes up early in the process. I believe the way to a successful floor is to work through the other attributes first and then finish with colour. I find you can get lost searching through 10 different shades of grey and not put the emphasis on the right kind of wood for your project.
Q – How do you help guide clients into what type of floor/finishing they should choose? A - It really is a combination of functionality vs design. We always try and delve into who are clients are and what sort of household we’re dealing with. I like to ask as many questions as possible to get a handle on how much character they’re looking for, how much traffic we’re dealing with, animals & pets etc. This allows me to help narrow down a recommended species first and then we can grow from there. Type of finish and colour comes next and we’ll finish with widths and lengths.
Thank you Rob for sharing so much insightful information, as always it is an absolute pleasure to work with you and your team at Logs End.