Timber Floors News MAY 2012!
7 JUMAL PLACE SMITHFIELD NSW 2164 TEL 9756 4242!
ISSUE FIVE
Old Fashioned Service Uncompromised Quality
TIMBER FLOORS - BY NAME AND BY TRADE Timber Floors Pty Ltd is the ‘original’ timber flooring company in Sydney, says owner John Bruker, and you’d say guess that could be hard to argue with, given the company name that every timber flooring business would aspire to own. Plus when you take into account John’s 52+ years in the business, there are few others who could say that they had been around for so long. Of German origin, John is actually an electronic engineer - a far cry from timber flooring!
Australian Hardwoods come in various species but not all timbers will make a good timber floor.
His first trip to Australia in 1959 was to be for six months when he came to this country with his previous employer to assist with some machinery components. John says it was love at first sight – with the country, that is! “I love the country, the warm climate and the social life, so I decided to stay another six months – and I have never been back since!”
“As a family man, he was always very busy, so I’d help him out on the weekends on the building sites. It
John Bruker talks to Timber Trader
So why did the timber flooring industry become his passion and his source of income? John said it all began through sport. “I enjoyed the martial art and combat sport of!judo and when I came to Australia I already held my black belt (which is fairly high up in the rankings). “I wanted to create a larger judo association here in Australia and enlisted the help of another German ex-patriot, who was a builder, to help me get it going.
was a change from being in an office all the time,” John told TimberTrader News. It wasn’t long before John had picked up the necessary skills to do the work himself. He referred to the father of Nick Greiner (Premier of NSW from 1988 to 1992), whom John says was responsible for seeing the use of cypress timber floors over bearers
Look for the Silver & Blue “TF” for your sign of a quality timber floor!
Much more than just floors
Family of Skilled Floorlayers
Timber Floors Pty Ltd Offers various species of Australian Hardwoods that are stylish, with modern colours adding the complete finishing touch to your beautiful home, or commercial building, Quality you can stand on that will stand the test of time. Wood Naturally Better As a wood naturally better program partner we support increasing the use of responsibly sourced forest and wood products. Value add flooring options Timber Floors are an outstanding value adding product. They are the ideal choice for allergy sufferers. Traditional tongue and groove hardwood flooring is the longest lasting timber floor system. Why are there problems with some timber floors? Only stable timbers will make decent floors because of environmental issues a lot of forests have been locked up. Stable timbers are extremely hard to get hold of. We buy our timbers different to others. As everyone in the game is aware of a lot of trades people know how to work with timber. When it comes to timber floors you have to know about the timber. We have our own unique system(s) of installation for over concrete slabs, particle board or ply sheets as well as old flooring which we would be happy to discuss with you in greater depth. Quoting All quotes are written and are sent direct to you following your visit to our showroom where we go through the whole process of supply and installation..
There is a difference in quality when you deal with a tradesman who takes pride in his work and is passionate about his product. and joists in houses in New South Wales. “Bill Durkowyak’s father (Sydney Flooring) and I both worked for Nick Greiner Snr, which is where we met. “Bill and his Dad decided to start Sydney Flooring in 1959, and I started helping them do jobs here and there; I finished up working for them for about 33 years. “But I wanted to create something different. Sydney Flooring started out in Cypress flooring but I’d seen all the old castles in Germany that were thousands of years old with timber floors that were still in near perfect condition, and I could see the potential here using Australian timbers. “Australian timbers are beautiful - much nicer than the European or Asian varieties – because they are gum loaded and fantastic for floors. “I always pushed that to the mills and encouraged them to make flooring out of certain timbers. “While I often got the sideways shove from mills back then, as they
were often afraid to use these species, here we are today with so many of them popular as flooring.” John decided to leave Sydney Flooring and start his own business, Timber Floors Pty Ltd, 20 years ago. “I knew the industry backwards but had no idea whether it would work or not. “The European and Asian communities in Australia love timber floors, the hardest things for me was to turn the Italian community around. “They are brought up on tiles and stone floors but after a couple of generations they use timber floors just as much as the rest of the community.” John says he targeted the Asian community when he first started “ . . . because they are very community minded, and I felt if I could get some large projects, it would all snowball from there.” Again praising the qualities of the Australian hardwoods, John said, “Some of them are better suited for certain applications than others.
Australian Hardwoods “It all depends on where they are grown and the maturity of the trees.” John said they have more than 40 builder customers on their books in the Sydney region. “Most of them are smaller builders involved in the upper end of the market. We do things a little differently here. I’m a timber man so we only handle select grade material. “We also buy our timbers differently I go to the mills to buy my timber. Buying timber is one thing; buying the right timber is another.” A true ‘greeny’ at heart, John stated that he feels a lot of our forests have been locked up when they should not have been “ . . . because people don’t understand the renewable resource issues. “The Australian gum tree is not like some of the American and European trees that last for thousands of years – our trees ‘self destruct’ after a while so by cutting the trees and bringing the new ones along, the forests are regenerating,” he commented. “The young trees lock up more carbon that the old, dying trees anyway – it’s a renewable process – all we need is forest management and help from the politicians, which we don’t get.” Getting back to the subject of his business and specifically his company name, Timber Floors Pty Ltd, John said he wanted a name that was ‘different’ – something that said ‘nothing but the best’. “There is no excuse for doing a bad job,” he remarked.
“Getting the best timber and doing a good job means we’re giving our industry a name that we’re proud of, as well as getting a fair price for what we do. “You always have to pay for quality but we are not the dearest by a long shot.
“It was hard when I first started because some of the builders didn’t like me telling them where they’d “Our company has the name and gone wrong – me being a young while we use sub-contractors to do all 18-19 year old and them being our work, we always make sure the ‘experienced’ builders. work is done to our standards. “But I quickly earned their respect so “I can honestly say I have had it’s not a problem today.” hundreds of floor layers since I John informed that Rex is the one started, and you might only find 1 in who goes out and looks at the jobs. 50 that is suited to that job. “Coming from a building background “You not only have to have the we look at things differently to knowledge, you have to have the others,” John stated. physical attributes to do the work. “We don’t just go out to site, “I had one guy with me for about 34 measure, place and lay a floor; we years but he was an athlete as well. look closely at ventilation, moisture It’s very hard to get guys who are problems, drainage, which way the able to do the job now.” floor is sloping, etc. He added, “When I first started out all we had was a hand saw, a bucket of nails, a hammer and a couple of clamps. “Now they’re got generators, compressors, you name it. “I was personally on the tools for 12 and half years and it was nothing to drive in 2500-3000 nails on a job in one day, as well as punch it ready for coating the next day.”
“In over 50 years I have never had a court or tribunal case,” he added with pride. So is John looking to hand the reins fully over to Rex in the immediate future? It would appear that he prefers to be around “as long as Rex needs me.”
“I’ve always loved timber as a natural product and while running your own business is never easy, being in a country that I love, doing what I love Timber Floors Pty Ltd now has John’s has been just great!” he said on son, Rex at the helm as general closing. manager. “He’s my right hand man,” John said proudly. Want to discuss your flooring Rex earned his stripes sweeping options with John or Rex come in behind the packs of timber from to our Showroom and Warehouse around the age of 12 years. we are open 6 days Monday to Thursday 8am to 5pm, Fridays By about 16 years of age he had 8am to 1pm and Saturdays 10am decided to join his father – “I like to 1pm Closed Sunday working with my hands like Dad and it was never a difficult decision for me WAREHOUSE & SHOWROOM to join the family business or not,” www.timberfloors.com.au Rex said in joining the conversation. “I enjoy working with our guys and doing some work myself occasionally. Every job is different so there’s always plenty of variety to keep me happy.” Rex did complete his schooling before moving on to learn carpentry & Building at TAFE college, finishing a qualified & Licensed Carpenter and Builder which he says gave him a good theoretical base for the timber flooring business.
A renovation in Ruse where the old carpets were removed and a new Red Gum timber floor was installed.
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“That background helps when I talk to builders too,” Rex commented.
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