A small atelier of installers laying hardwood, herringbone, terrazzo, and stone —
for clients who choose a floor the way they choose a book.
Lignum began as one carpenter, one chop saw, and a quiet conviction that a floor is the first thing a house tells you. Fourteen years on we remain deliberately small: six installers, one workshop in NE Portland, and the belief that a floor is built, not bought.
Every project is measured by hand, sourced from mills we know by first name, and laid by an installer who will return for the final coat. We take on twelve homes a year. We finish them all.
N° 01
Rift & quartered · 7½″ plank
The honest one. Rift-sawn from Appalachian mills, hand-scraped, finished in three coats of hard-wax oil. Ages slowly, forgives almost everything.
A floor that announces itself. American black walnut, mitred at 45°, laid block by block by a single installer over the course of a week.
N° 02
10 — 14 day install
Honed French limestone and Italian travertine, hand-cut to your dimension. Laid on a fully heated substrate, sealed twice, breathable, and slow to forget a footstep.
N° 04
The chevron — staves cut at 60°, laid head to head, finished in a single uninterrupted run. The pattern that gave its name to Versailles.
A geometric panel of mitred squares. Slow to lay, faster to admire. Each panel a single installer-day; each room a small ceremony.
From repairing a single damaged board in a 1908 craftsman to refinishing 4,000 square feet over a long weekend — we are, fundamentally, a small crew with a long memory.
Every project passes through three sets of hands and three calm rooms. Estimate, sample, lay. We take on twelve homes a year — and finish them all.
“Quietly, Lignum has become the floor-laying name that Portland's best architects whisper to each other when a project deserves real care.”
— Dwell · 2025We quote only after walking the room. A short visit, an honest estimate within forty-eight hours, and never a hard sell — only the floor that fits the house.
