Delivery from Parquets Castagné

WE are able to deliver our flooring products from our factory to the UK via road quickly and easily.

As a special offer for first time buyers of our flooring we are able to deliver one palette to the UK for 300€, exclusive of TVA (VAT) of 19.6%.

A palette will cover approximately 100 m² and we will ensure that a complete price has been quoted to you before delivery.

For deliveries to the Republic of Ireland please contact us.

Glut of logs, no one to clear them

ONE of the advantages of the internet is that it can provide you with a view into news and events from around the world.

I recently read a story from the western United States that looks at the impact that the infestation of forests by pine beetles has had on the market.

The US Forest Service is keen to clear dead trees so that the risk of fire is reduced, but the problem is that there is no one willing to buy the timber..

The number of loggers has fallen and so has the number of mills able to transform the excess wood into products.

So although the dead trees need to be removed there isn’t an industry capable of doing the job.

Posters of the woods

Oak leaves,
Parquets Castagne.

BEING here in the Dordogne we are surrounded by forests, which form the raw materials for our flooring.

But one of the things I am looking at creating is a series of posters featuring photographs of the trees from around the area.

I have put a couple of pictures together that are hosted on Flickr, you can take a look by clicking on the thumbnail image above, I can then share these images with others in the office.

Then once we have decided on which photos to use I will price up A3 sized posters at Photobox who are able to print a variety of items from digital images.

I am hoping to feature photographs that reflect the incredible colours you see around this area of France, especially during the summer and autumn.

Once we have got the posters ready I wi€™ll write another post.

About the Parquets Castagné blog

THE Wooden Post is a company blog that will give you a chance to see behind the scenes of Parquets Castagné.

We are a hardwood flooring manufacturer based in the Dordogne, in the south west of France, where we produce flooring from predominantly chestnut and oak.

I am Craig McGinty, author of the English version, whilst company owner Philippe Castagné will be writing on the French language section of the site very soon.

The two sections will link across seamlessly and provide you with an insight into the company as well as a taste of life from the region, industry news and advice on using the internet to help your business.

You can contact Parquets Castagné from all the pages on the site, our details are in the left hand column, or you can leave a comment at the end of a post all I ask is that you keep it ‘on subject’.

I hope you join us in our work and either visit the site regularly or sign up to our RSS feed, this will automatically tell you when we have updated the site.

What is a blog?

I will take a little time to explain exactly what a blog is by using an example:

It’s Saturday night and imagine you have the choice of two restaurants, both offering the same menu, at the same price and with the same interior décor.

The first has a large cut-away in the rear wall so you can view the chefs and even chat to them as they prepare your meal, the other has a door that only opens when a waiter passes through.

So which restaurant are you likely to visit?

And that’s the way our blog works, it allows you to see how we work and gives you the opportunity to get involved via comments that others can read.

Then over time I hope the site becomes a useful resource for people, and Parquets Castagné becomes more than just a hardwood flooring manufacturer.

Get the latest news via RSS

TO keep up to date with news items on the Wooden Post when they are published just follow these simple steps.

The site provides an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed that means instead of visiting the Wooden Post to see if the site has been updated, it can tell you that there is something new.

You need to set yourself up with a Newsreader that can display the RSS feed of the site and keep you in touch with the latest updates.

There are many on the internet and most are free to use, personally I use Bloglines, which is easy to sign-up to, free and can be accessed from work as well as home.

Then you need to add the Wooden Post RSS feed to your Newsreader.

You can do this by right clicking on the link below, you will also find it in the bottom corner of every page of the site:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/thewoodenpost

Then click on Copy Shortcut and go to your Newsreader and paste it into your service.

Then whenever the site is updated you will get a message to say there is something new and you can read the first paragraph to see if it is of interest to you.

Many news services offer this type of service now including the BBC and the Guardian.

If you have any questions about setting up a Newsreader and subscribing to the Wooden Post RSS feed just make a comment below, and I will get back to you.

Chestnut and oak

THE majority of the wood in the south west corner of France, where I am writing this post from, is either chestnut or oak.

You will often see logs stacked up alongside the road with trucks loading up flat loaders before heading off to factories.

Chestnut is a favourite around these parts because it is hard, fine grained and its natural resistance means there is no need to treat the floor with insecticide or fungicide.

One of the wood's main advantages is that it is easy to work with and the sawn timber has little sapwood with a straight slope of grain.

Oak is also popular around this region and it is known for its toughness and durability as well as its flexibility.

It is tough to decide which is best, I suppose if you want something a bit different then you'd go for chestnut, but oak is such a favourite that it just comes down to your own tastes.

French forest management

FORESTRY management in France dates back to 1827 and the country enjoys a positive expansion of its standing timber.

This is achieved by harvesting 47,000,000 m3/year yet the number of trees in France increases by 81,000,000 m3 a year.

The rate of felling is equal to 58% of the annual biological production level.

The promotion of sustainable forest management is overseen by the global organisation Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

They assess national organisations, including those in France to provide an assurance mechanism to purchasers of wood products.

Working the wood yard

FRANCE is one of the top three tree-growing countries in the European Union and the country’s forests are among the most beautiful in the world.

But behind such beauty there is also an international business, for example, in the Dordogne region of south west France the wood trade is the third largest employer

Throughout the area factories take locally grown trees and turn them into parquet flooring, panelling and other joinery items for homes in France and abroad.

One of these factories is the family run Castagné and Sons found just outside Villefranche du Perigord in the Dordogne.

Now headed by Philippe Castagné the firm started 80 years ago.

"We source our wood from around the local forests with chestnut and oak very popular in France," said Philippe.

"Both types of wood are well known and you will often see them on the floors of renovated properties, new homes and fashionable apartments.

"We produce what is called 'massive' or solid parquet that is strong, has a regular grain and because of its light colour can be easily varnished or waxed."

"We also produce cut pieces to length for joinery as we have a saw mill on the site."

Out on the factory floor the process of turning logs a metre long into thousands of pieces of parquet begins with the arrival of large containers of wood.

The logs are rolled along a conveyor belt, cut to shape and then prepared for the kilns, which run 24 hours a day, where they are dried for two weeks.

From there they are taken into another large factory shed where different lengths are cut, using a machine that highlights marks on the wood, allowing a variety of pieces to be manufactured.

Then they are graded, packed and sent to wholesalers and merchants in France and further a field.

"At the moment around €1 million of our turnover comes from foreign markets in Europe," Philippe said.

"However, I am currently looking to expand into other parts of the world as it is clear that people like the style and touch of a real wooden floor."