Potential expansion on the horizon for Navan flooring company

From the very moment you contact us we will assist you from the start in choosing the right products for your lifestyle. We offer a complete service from start to finish with all our products right down to the fitting for hassle free room transformations. Located in Beechmount Home Park, Navan, Grain & Groove are in the perfect location for anyone building, buying or renovating.

Hardwood floors: Engineered, solid, semi-solid, parquet and reclaimed in different plank sizes and types of wood from oak to walnut whether you are in search of wide plank flooring, solid herringbone or chevron, if we don’t stock it, we can source it! All our flooring comes from sustainable forests.

Tiles: From large format to terrazzo, subway tiles, pattern tiles and everything in-between, Grain & Groove has a massive selection of porcelain tiles to choose from.

Wall panelling: renowned for our signature wall panelling and expert fitting, we will offer you a tailor-made service for wall framing, wall panelling and wainscotting. We believe in quality as well as affordability.

“We came through the pandemic, the last two years were strange for everyone but the business is going well. Our main issue at the moment is getting materials.

40% of the oak in Europe is supplied from Ukraine, they have a massive amount of forest and export has stopped ground to a halt. While some companies have been caught short as they were dealing directly with Ukraine, we are in a good position with established suppliers and other sources.

“Every single tile factory in Spain and Italy where we get all of our tiles from apart from one lot in the UK, all of their kilns are fired up with gas, obviously gas prices have gone through the roof so now those companies are upping their prices and its even to the case that some of the kilns have been shut down as they can’t get gas due to lack of supply.”

As this company stocks such a wide range of flooring, does Mr Flavin see a certain type as the front runner or would it be a mixed bag of flooring types that are sold?

“A lot of people love herringbone but they don’t want it all over the house so we can give you herringbone with a matching plank. If you want a herringbone in your sitting room, we can run a plank out to the hall or vice versa.

The majority of our customers run the same type of floor covering right throughout the bottom of the house. When you do the same colour, you can match the herringbone and plank which gives you a different type of design but you have the same colour throughout the ground floor and it isn’t screaming at you,’’ he enthused.

In terms of how Fergal sees the business progressing in the short-term future?

“I would love to expand towards television units and bookshelves as when we are doing wall panelling for a customer, we also work on these types of projects even though we don’t advertise them. I would also like to set up an apprenticeship for young men so they can be trained to fit floors properly.

There is a labour shortage and people are buying items and doing the job themselves as the professionals aren’t available to do the work but that’s what gives us the edge as we have our own professional fitters. We will never fit a floor and hide, if there are ever any issues we will be there to fix them.

“We brought the business from nothing to where we are today, I’m passionate about floors, tiles and interiors; I have a wealth of knowledge as to the right thing to do and I get annoyed when it isn’t done correctly.

The lads that work for us are all fully qualified carpenters but they were out on the road with me for six to eight months before I let them out on their own. Now I need to get new people in and begin training them.

“We’re always on the lookout for new technologies that companies are bringing in as well as how they are using a lot more eco-friendly products and recyclable products,’’ finished Fergal Flavin.