Mystery Canberra Demolition: Mountain Ash Salvaged Flooring Available Now!
December 2023
We recently came across a large load of high quality mountain ash flooring from a huge heritage building in Canberra. We’ve got plenty of stock, and it’s in great condition.
While we don't yet have permission to release the building name (hence the ‘mystery’), we thought we’d share a bit about the history of the building and the timber.
Dating back to 1954 (the same year the factory was built that we now have our workshop and showroom in, coincidentally!) the building is an iconic Canberran example of mid-century architecture and design, and the blonde tones of the mountain ash are emblematic of this style.
On top of that, the building is large—we’re still pulling up the floorboards but the whole job looks to be close to 2000sqm! It's really rare that we get large quantities like this from one demolition, all matching in profile, colour and grain.
The timber itself is old growth mountain ash, probably originally from the Victorian ranges—in the Dandenongs around Warburton and Kingslake and on the other side of Melbourne in the Otways—where the really big mountain ash forests grow.
The timber quality is amongst the highest we’ve seen in our 30 years in the business; the super fine grain and really close growth rings make it both exquisite to look at, and extremely dense and durable underfoot. You can’t get new ash of this quality, which is why we love salvaging flooring so much!
600sqm Available Now
Our salvage team are carefully pulling this flooring up as we speak, trying to save as much as they can, and then transporting it over to our workshop.
We’ve already cleaned, docked and packed 600sqm of it which is now ready to purchase and lay. Learn more and make an enquiry here.
The patina on these floorboards is really good, and there are plenty of processing and finishing options depending on the style you’re going for.
Most of the boards have an old varnish which is still in good condition, so if you wanted you could leave the flooring as is and just give it a light polish with a white pad to clean back the old surface. There are the odd old paint markings as well which could make a nice feature.
Alternatively you could lightly sand them back to leave some of the old markings, or even fully sand back for a light coloured, mid-century style look.
Check out the flooring samples below showing the flooring as is, sanded back and with two coats of the Osmo Polyx Oil matt for a natural look.
Interested in getting first dibs on this precious load of mountain ash flooring?
With the large quantity available, we expect this flooring to get snapped up for large house and commercial projects. If you’re keen, get in touch sooner rather than later so that we can pull together a suitable pack for your project.
Head over to our Salvaged Flooring page to learn more and make an online enquiry, or call 6282 9900 or email hammer@thors.com.au and we’ll get back to you within 2 working days. If you’re able to get your order in before Christmas, we also recommend this as we’ll be on break from December 23 until January 7.
Photos: Ebony Levy
Words: Thor Diesendorf + Ellie Keft