Teak wall - once more!

Never before has a single project required so much effort during the past 2.5 years than the slat wall in the downstairs lobby. Sourcing the teak started nearly a year ago, and since then Pekka has been relentlessly working on the different wall components. Finally, there is a light in the end of a teak tunnel.

162 teak slats

Also, the rest of Project Downstairs is moving forward. A few weeks ago a plumber installed a central heating radiator weighing just under 100 kg, so Pekka's assistance was once again welcomed to allow easy installation. The timing is perfect - the weather is finally starting to get a bit colder. This year winter seems to take forever to begin and even now, in late December, there is no snow in sight in the Southern Finland. But when the snow and cold finally take over we'll be ready: in addition to the radiator the downstairs is secured with 227 meters of floor heating cable underneath the slate.

Radiator

Pekka has been slaving to finalize the assembly of the slat wall in order to allow Kaitsu, our trusted electrician to finish the lighting (including the led-light system) and installation of the sockets. And as a result of their combined efforts, the darkness turned into light during the first week of December. 

24V transformer ready to be hidden

The slat wall has two openings for a satellite cable and for electricity. The first one is located close to the window on the bottom right corner of the wall. The second one is approximately in the middle of the wall and will be covered by a TV creating a visually "cable-free" outcome.

TV socket before

Pekka still needs to build hatches to cover both sockets. The hatches will allow electricity plugs to pass through even when closed, and they have been cut from the slats located the socket area. Naturally, this is to ensure both the tone and pattern of the grain will be a perfect match allowing a visual continuity.

TV socket. Hatch missing.

The led light was attached in two rows to an aluminium strip on top of the teak slats. Quite an intense moment to see the interaction of the led and the slat wall for the first time...

To the right

To the left

Finally - switch it on! The effect created by the led light is stunning. With a color temperature of 5500K the light reproduces the surrounding colors in a very natural way.

With a trace of disco feel...!

We are extremely pleased with how Project Slat Wall is becoming reality. The overall visual image of the downstairs lobby including slate floor and teak slats is spot on mid century modern. Perfect match to what we originally imagined!

Lights on!

Most of the work including the floor, ceiling and walls is now done. We still lack quite a few small details including for example doors, which might be a relatively considerate next step especially for potential house guests. We also have ambitious plans regarding the furniture and lights, but these are put on hold to balance the budget a bit before rushing into new investments - unless, of course, we run into something absolutely irresistible in some random auction.

Ceiling, floor and walls

Last but not least - a sneak peak of this years Christmas card! As an annual example of the seamless teamwork Minna prepares the layout and text and Pekka has the primary responsibility of the photo shoot. This year, naturally, we wanted to conduct the shoot downstairs and yes, you might already guess who the models (whose willingness for seamless teamwork seems to be a bit variable and require bribing in a growing degree) will be...

Ho ho ho!

DIY acoustic slat wall

So, it's been a long while. It seems that we are currently in a midst of a period when there are so many different things ongoing simultaneously that in the end it seems extremely difficult to find the appropriate time for...well, basically anything. But better late than never - now we are back and quite exited to share with you our experiences on how to construct an acoustic slat wall!

Half way there

For the last two moths, as boring and slow it might sound, Pekka has been sanding and oiling teak slats made of material sourced from Tiikki.com. The bunker has proven to be an absolute necessity allowing the isolation of this kind of smelly and dusty work, which when for example left to dry does not conflict with everyday life. To date,  nearly half of the wall is ready, the other half waiting to be finished before the first week of December when the electrical work including the indirect lighting of the slat wall will be finished.

Never ending row of teak slats

We also needed close to 15 square meters of acoustic panels for the slat wall, and as a result of some research work, found an excellent material provider option from Finland: Konto. Especially here in Finland Konto is recognized for its innovative acoustic products made mainly of peat moss. Specifically, we would like to thank Sami Laitila from the Konto Team for is expertise and kind customer service. If you have any needs regarding acoustic panels, do not hesitate to contact Sami!

Twenty acoustic panels and a non-acoustic dacshund

There are several reasons why we ended up choosing Konto. First, we preferred a Finnish product with solid acoustic capabilities minimizing the echo created by the slate floor. Second, the Konto panel works exceptionally well in the slat wall sandwich structure Pekka created. The panels are rigid enough not to squeeze together too much, and they have a tough outer surface that will not break easily. Third, as the panels are mainly made of peat moss it is a sustainable product matching our renovation philosophy.

Beautiful surface texture of Konto acoustic panel 

Konto acoustic panels are also very easy to resize with a stanley knife. Afterwards, a cut panel edge  can be "re-closed" with  heat for example using a flat iron. After this, the edge can be painted, leaving no visible cues of previous modifications. Pekka needed to do some detailed cutting for a vent that is located at the top part of the wall. He also sliced a very thin, round piece of the panel in order to clue it on the top of the vent lid. This enables unification of the surface texture with the rest of the wall. Now the only missing part is a slat hatch.

Missing a slat hatch

Other important piece what was needed for the wall is a ten meter LED stripe, which will be a light source for an indirect wall light. We found the components from Adlux (highly recommended material provider). There were two important considerations. First, these LEDs provide a light with a color temperature of 5500K, which is very close to the day light color temperature. This kind of lighting conditions compliment the surrounding colors in the best possible way. Second, these LEDs can be dimmed, which we considered very important to be able to adjust the amount of light to match the different uses of the space.

Ten meters of LED

Next to the construction of the slat wall. First, an acoustic panels is "squeezed" between teak slats (in front) and a board of plywood (on the back), creating a sandwich structure. All these three elements are then attached together with screws from behind.

Sandwich structure

The wall itself is also modular. The width of each module was determined by the width of Konto panels (594 mm). Pekka started building the modules with a sheet of plywood and then adding an acoustic panel on top.

Ready for the slats

Then he placed the teak slats prepared with love and patience on top of the plywood-panel base.

Each module requires 18 teak slats

The idea was to have a fixed space between each slat leaving the black acoustic panel partly visible on the back. This was achieved by using pieces of wood as spacers allowing Pekka to control the gaps between slats while completing the screwing phase.

Slats & spacers

Pekka had also pre-clued stripes of printed paper to the back of each plywood element. These stripes helped to determine the screw marks with precision allowing easy assembling.

Crosses marking the spot

Slats & gaps

Once each module was completed, the next step was to attach it up on the wall with screws. Leaving an empty slat space to each end of the module enabled fixing the modules with screws from front up to the wall. Later, single slats will be glued to cover the empty spaces, hiding the screw heads and creating an illusion of a perfectly screwless entity.

Fixing gap on side of the module

On the very bottom we left a small space between the slats and the slate floor, which determined by the choice of material is a bit uneven. This appeals to us visually, as the slight unevenness is not so noticeable, but it also has a functional aspect. We will be using the space to hide electrical wires etc. behind a black hatch made of Konto material. 

Once again, even if it is an extremely slow process where counting the working hours makes absolutely no sense, we are really happy to see how the finished half of the slat wall looks, and can't wait to share the rest of the story with you!

To be continued

Teak slats

If you have been following the teak slat wall saga, we have some news! Since last winter the planks have been stored in a pile in the darkness of the bunker, but now finally the time has come to move forward with the project! (And if you have no idea what we are taking about please review the previous posts: 1, 2, 3.)

Again, the job was to be done in the same place than last time, the architectural wood workshop of Aalto University located close to our home.  But at the brink of the very first cut, Pekka found himself hesitating. Even if he had given some serious thought for the design, when about to slice the first perfectly beautiful, massive plank of teak his mind started to wonder: "Should I reconsider the final design once more? If I make this cut I have passed the point of no return..."

The first set ready to be processed

After these fleeting moments of hesitation, when the very final decision was made, he was ready to roll. The first thing was to push the planks through a thickness planer in order to gain geometric purity. This was followed by processing the planks with first a jointer, then a circular saw and eventually once more a thickness planer. Overall, this stage took about two working days.

Coming through!

One plank ready for jointer

Based on our calculations we needed somewhere around 160 slats to cover the 5.5 meter wall downstairs. However, to have a possibility to choose between different pieces at the installation stage, altogether around 200 slats we made. This required slicing of 21 planks of beautiful teak to slats with predetermined cross section dimensions of 22 x 30 mm.

Exactly 200 pieces

Even though the slats were planed in the previous step their edges still remained sharp. Therefore, all of them needed to be hand sanded with a 240 grit sand paper to the direction of the grain. Based on the his experimental observations Pekka had made earlier this was an adequate smoothness for this stage. After sanding, the slats were cleaned with pressured air in order to get rid or all the dust particles. Only after this, they could be treated with oil and turpentine mixture.

50% Tung oil - 50% Turpentine

The first set of 20 slats has now been treated with a mixture of Tung oil and turpentine for the first time. An unavoidable side effect is of course a horrible smell of turpentine invading also upstairs (oh well, at least it is not construction dust which would mean an extra round with a vacuum cleaner). Once the slats have dried they will be rubbed with steel wool and retreated with a few layers of pure Tung oil. The most crucial thing here is to be patient in order to allow sufficient drying time for Tung oil. But it certainly will pay off, as one day all this extensive processing will result in a stunning teak slat wall inspired by the MCM era. Great!

20 out of 200

We have also made a decision regarding the actual construction of the wall. It will be a sandwich construction of nine modules, consisting of teak slats in front, acoustic panels in the middle, backed up by sheets of plywood on the very back. This allows us to attach the slats in place with screws from behind, leaving the screw heads invisible to the eye. We have also made some research regarding the acoustic panels and have managed to find an excellent material provider from Finland. More about this very soon!

Teak slats

Pop the Grain

Spring has arrived! Well, at least that is what we'd like to think, but honestly in Finland at this time of the year you never really know for sure. As it might snow again the next day you just enjoy the sunny moments and let the pieces fall as they may...

While enjoying the sun and waiting for the city inspector's approval for the downstairs steelwork required before the next step, we have targeted our energy to the slat wall project. After extensive analysis and prototyping, we have made a decision to freeze the measurements of each piece to 22 x 30 mm. Finally, for Pekka's great delight, we have started experimenting with some real teak samples with the correct cross sectional dimensions.

As described before, quite coincidentally and conveniently, we managed to source this exquisite material grown in sustainable manner in Costa Rica. And based on our experience, we are very happy to recommend them further. For more information please visit www.tiikki.com where you can contact the owner, Tapani, directly. He is a very helpful person always willing to help teak-lover with both smaller and bigger wood-related needs. 

Teak piece preview

Before continuing further - please bear in mind one fact. The word "obsession" falls far from describing Pekka's feelings towards his beloved pile of teak downstairs. Therefore, please understand the level of detail in the following description, he just wants you to share his excitement.

So, how were these awesome slat samples made? Well, considering the note above, the first (mental) obstacle for Pekka was that he needed "do harm", in other words to cut a piece off of his beloved wood. Subsequently, a kind technician at the architectural department of Aalto University helped him to take the test block through several wood working machines to produce slats with the correct size.

Test block

The Kind Technician

After handling rough planks of wood with surfaces exposed to the normal transportation wear and tear while arriving from Costa Rica to Finland, it was finally exiting to take a deeper look in to the grain. When the wood is cut, one can already get an idea of how it will look when finished.

Freshly cut blocks

It is not uncommon that freshly cut teak exposes a slighty greenish tone within the grain. If this were to happen for your beloved teak pieces, there is no need to worry - the green shade will relatively quickly turn into a beautiful brown tone when the wood gets exposed to UV radiation from the sun light. Untreated, the wood would continue changing color from brown to grey - a situation, which is quite familiar for those who do not choose to treat their teak-made garden furniture annually.

Teak with a greenish tone

After the pieces were the correct size, Pekka sanded them with a sandpaper starting from 240 grit and in some cases proceeding even down to 600 grit. The goal of testing with different roughness was to provide insight on what to do in a larger scale when the time comes. With these samples we wanted to try optimise a lengthy process as much as possible in order to avoid any extra work and material loss later on.  

Sanded test pieces

Testing early with different grits is important, but the main reason for cutting the test pieces was to have a possibility to conduct experiments with various wood finishes before committing to treat the entire slats wall to be.

Over the years while restoring vintage furniture Pekka has gathered a nice collection of different wood finishes. Now, when wanting to find the perfect sheen he will, inevitably, end up testing them all. Most of the finishes he has are different types of oils, e.g. the pure Tung and Linseed oils, combined with either Teak and Gun Stock Oil, the latter two being actually oil based blends. Last but not least, just out of curiosity, he will also try a wax finish on one of the test pieces.

Variety of oils and waxes

Applying oil on bare wood can be tricky, and it is recommended really to study the process before starting. Especially the pure Tung Oil requires close attention, as being a rather thick substance, it can be difficult to spread it evenly on large surfaces. Some suggest to blend the first layer of oil with mineral spirits or turpentine up to 50%. This will make spreading the oil over the wood easier, and a thinner liquid will also penetrate deeper into the grain providing better long-term protection. 

When dealing with oils one of the most important things is to remember is that its always better to rely on several thin layers rather than one thick one. Put some oil on a clean cloth and apply on wood. Leave it for about 20 mins, and subsequently wipe off the remaining oil. Remember, you are not aiming for an actual film, but rather an ultra thin layer supposed to penetrate the wood. After that leave the piece to sit for 24 hours, rub it with ultra fine steel wool (0000) in the direction of the grain and repeat the oil treatment. It is not uncommon that up to 5-10 layers of oil are needed in a search of a good protection and perfect sheen.

50% Tung Oil - 50% Pine Turpentine

And this is when the popping (ref. to title) starts to happen. It is amazing how the oil makes the grain "pop" giving the wood a bit of a wet look bringing out the different colors of the grains, eventually giving the material that luxurious sheen very familiar from several MCM furniture pieces.

Untreated vs. Treated 

Typical to Pekka, when it comes to exaggeration he is sometimes found guilty of, this part of the project brings no exception. As the Man Cave downstairs is out of use for obvious reasons, our bookshelf in the living room is slowly being populated by teak samples drying between the layers. And yes, the Tung Oil does smell when wet, but what can you do, we are all very familiar with the slogan about beauty and suffering.

Samples 1 - 6 with different types of finishes 

Every now an then we like to wrap up posts with a picture of our beloved sausage dog, but while the teak piece photo shoot, Urho was for some reason not interested what was going on and thus not around. In these situations if you for example would kindly request him to model fore example, it  might be a good idea to check out our bedroom and lift the covers of Urhos "basement". Nine out of ten times (just like this time) he will be found wrapped underneath an extensive number of blankets that smell like - well, a dog. 

Do Not Approach

Slat wall

Let's face it. The idea of using wooden slats as decorative elements is not new. On the contrary, they have been widely used in interior design and architecture. A good example is Eero Saarinen's (one of our favourite designers of all time) work conducted for the General Motors HQ in Detroit Michigan. Among other things, he was asked to design the office interiors of Harley Earl, who at that time was the Vice President of Design at GM. The three other examples are more contemporary, yet relatively similar visually: 2, 3 and 4.

So very early in the process we knew we wanted to use some kind of wooden elements downstairs. First, Pekka made a slat ceiling to the laundry room. In terms of the downstairs lounge area, we were first contemplating wether to use plywood or not, but when acquiring a 1.65 m3 pile of solid teak which now lies in the underground space waiting for to be used, our minds quickly shifted from plywood to slats.

Quick prototyping with a ceiling element from laundry room

After choosing slats the question became whether approach the challenge with a horizontal or vertical pattern. Then, the thinking revolved around the dimensions of both the wood pieces and gaps in between. It is this rhythm in relation to the scale of the entire wall that matters and ultimately defines how well the slat wall will complement the entire space. 

As you can guess, these monstrous questions are driving Pekka over the edge. So during the last few weeks, he has been relentlessly working with prototypes made of pine. Via seemingly endless continuum of prototypes he has slowly started approach to the "perfect" design. It will take, however, a few more iterations and some more pine for him to find the absolute optimal rhythm. Only after that he will freeze the design and is allowed to start experimenting with his beloved teak to produce the final pieces (yes, he really goes and talks to the teak every night).

Early slat prototypes

As it is by trial and error, in order to be able to experiment with exact measurements Pekka of course made some tools to create gaps of various width.

Gap tools

Currently, thanks to Pekka's determination, we have answers to most of the questions. The slat elements will be layed vertically, from floor to ceiling. The cross sectional dimensions of the latest pine prototype is 22 x 22 mm attributable not only to the visual drivers, but also to the dimensions of the original teak pieces. So each piece would be 22 mm wide followed by a 14 mm gap. Naturally, the ratio of 22:14 is very close to the golden cut.

Testing with a ratio of 45:15

We are also planning to use teak to finalize the steps of the circular staircase. This will not only add warmth visually, but also has a more functional aspect. Without any coating, the steel steps are a bit slippery and to avoid any unwanted accidents adding wood might not be a bad idea.

Horizontal design

This will evidently lead to some design decisions as there are many ways in which the pieces could laid on a step.

Vertical design

Anyhow, back to the slat wall. In the end, we decided 22 mm is visually still a bit thick, so the next step is to experiment with 20 mm. Shall we see the day of the design freeze, before installing the slats the entire wall will be covered with acoustic panels. The slats will be installed on top of the acoustic element. Therefore, it will not only be a visually appealing end result, but the wall will also function as a sound trap. More to follow for sure!

Latest mock-up