2022 WFOY: Best in Circular/Curved Wood

J.L. Vivash Custom Wood Floors LTD. | Paris, Ontario, Canada

Best in Circular Curved Wood Photo — Photos Courtesy of J.L. Vivash Custom Wood Floors LTD.

CATEGORY DETAILS:
Entries in this category include any hand-cut circular shape within a flooring system, such as circles, ovals, curves, or bent material.

WHAT MAKES THIS FLOOR UNIQUE:
Jason Vivash’s Wood Floor of the Year began with the idea of displaying a live edge medallion for the centerpiece of his showroom’s floor. He had just opened a new section of his building and had a wide-open pallet to work with.

The result was a flower-shaped design featuring wood that he had been keeping to himself for a special occasion.

“I was holding onto this special 1” curly walnut live edge that I had found at my exotic wood supplier. I didn’t know what I would do with them, but I knew I had to have them,” explains Vivash. “I had five of them. To get enough yield to complete, I ripped the walnut in half on the band saw and laminated it to birch plywood.”

Vivash took the ripped pieces and flipped them over so he had a book-matched pattern, almost like a flower petal, keeping the beautiful live edge.

“I now had eight petal points in the design, and the floor then grew from there. I inlaid leopard wood in the center for contrast, which is one of my favorite woods,” says Vivash. “Then I carefully fein-tooled this design along the bark outer edge into the installed wood floor.”

Vivash then paused for several weeks, trying to determine what he would do for the center portion of the design.

“I wanted to animate a subtle petal design, so I CAD designed the holly petals with little wenge features to give the appearance of curves, cut on my CNC bed, then inlaid them into the design using the Shaper Origin,” says Vivash. “For the center, I cut and book-matched a large walnut burl. This was another piece that I had purchased at my supplier, not knowing what I would do with it.”

Detail of Finish Process: The inlay and border were finished with neutral oil, and the other areas were finished with a custom creamy/neutral mix.

Installation Type: Nail Down
Flooring Type: Engineered, Reclaimed, Plank, End Grain, Other
Flooring Finish: Vesting LED, Osmo, Ciranova
Finish Sheen: Matte
Species: Curly Walnut, Walnut Burl, Leopard Wood, Holly, Wenge, White Oak, Figured Maple
Square Feet: 500

Click on the links below to learn more about that floor, the other category winners, and to see a showcase of all projects entered into the contest. And be sure to check out upcoming episodes of the NWFA Wood Talk podcast, as Brett Miller, VP of technical standards, training, and certification, will have in-depth discussions with WFOY winners about their projects.