ABOUT TOM MARSTON
We are a team of specialist joiners with extensive experience in making woodwork for contemporary living spaces and notable expertise in conservation.
We are practised in design, bench joinery, materials & finishes, project management and working in environments of historic significance. We have particular expertise in making historically accurate joinery for the conservation and repair of protected buildings. Our work covers a wide variety of traditional and contemporary materials and processes to realise projects of varying scale, complexity and budget.
Everything we do is bespoke and apposite, requiring us to tailor our services uniquely for each project. We pride ourselves on our flexibility and aim to maximise the potential of everything we make and design through a strong working relationship with our clients.
We aim to excel in the creation of work that combines impeccable design, production and delivery. We are extremely passionate about what we do and believe this is reflected through our enthusiasm and consistent high standards.
SUSTAINABILITY- JOINERY MATERIALS BUYING
In concurrence with Greenpeace advice we only buy timber sourced from companies and forests endorsed by the FSC or PEFC, timber that is certified to have originated from responsibily managed forests.
Clear grade softwoods are used for conservation joinery, sometimes in conjunction with durable hardwoods like oak or iroko. When replacing joinery for conservation the choice of species will be decided by studying the existing historic fabric at the site. Batches of timber are specified and ordered for each individual job by the workshop. Historically Scots pine and oak were used for painted conservation joinery. We frequently buy Scots pine grown in Finland, or Douglas fir from Canada and Germany when durability is crucial. Oak and Iroko are used for sills or components which are particularly exposed.
European indigenous hardwoods such as oak, elm, sycamore, are bought waney edged from the most specialised firm in the UK. Tropical hardwoods are purchased with caution and only when no European species can be practically substituted.
The workshop occasionally uses green oak for repair work to timber framed buildings. Green oak boards originating from trees felled in East Anglia or the Ardennes in Northern France, are obtained from a sawyer in Norfolk.
Finnish or Latvian birch ply are bought and used for interior joinery, carcassing and panels. We do not use chipboard, MDF or Accoya.
SUSTAINABILITY - FINISHING MATERIALS AND DURABILITY
Water based, low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) finishing products are used whenever possible. Oil based paints and white spirit solvent are used in exceptional circumstances and for products that demand particular durability. All finishing work is done by hand.
We are currently researching the use of linseed oil paints made by Allbäck, Sweden with a view to offering it for conservation joinery and interior woodwork.
The ethos of the business is to make products of exceptional durability, which precludes the need for building components to be frequently changed.
The design specification for Tom Marston exterior joinery is 30 years + with minimal maintainence.
SUSTAINABILITY - WORKSHOP FUEL AND WASTE MATERIALS
The workshop and office are heated with offcuts and firewood coppiced by Tom Marston and Tim Sanderson three miles away, in Claypit woods, Swanton Novers.