Hand Scraped Hardwood Flooring – A Look to Love

Do you enjoy the look of old-fashioned flooring? Maybe you want something that looks aged? Hand scraped hardwood floors are increasingly popular and come in many types of wood and styles.

 

 

Whether you’re interested in a distressed floor for one room, or an entire motif to match cabinetry throughout the entire house, there are a lot of options available with the right professional doing to the work. You can have the boards wider to match the old-fashioned floors of yesteryear, apply antique nails or pegs to enhance the look, and the finish can be as rough or smooth as you would like it to look.

 

 

Back to Basics with Hand Scraped Hardwood Flooring

 

 

Hand scraped and distressed treatments have become increasingly popular in the last few years. They’re also a great match in finishing style to the wide plank hardwood flooring that’s all the rage right now.

 

 

Another fantastic option with this type of flooring is going green. It’s entirely possible to recycle older, used wood to complete your entire project. Not only would you be getting the floor you’ll love for years to come, but you’ll be doing your part not to deplete the environment. Used wood works very well with this type of treatment because it already lends itself to the aged look, and the distressing treatment can level out any flaws in the wood and make it appear perfectly worn. Another plus to using wood planking rehabbed from older buildings is the quality. Older hardwoods are very high quality and many are not being forested at all now, so they’re not available in the current market.

 

 

WHAT TYPES OF TREATMENTS ARE THE MOST POPULAR?

 

 

Distressed floors are a bit of an art form. We’ll discuss common techniques and styles below. Your installer can be very creative in this process to achieve the exact look you’re going for in your home.

 

 

• Wire Brushed – Wire brushed wood is rougher in appearance and feel. The brushing process also brings out the grain in the wood.
• Antique – Antique generally means that the wood is lower grade and a darker stain is applied to highlight the grain. (Low grade does not mean poor quality; it’s a type of wood that works well to highlight the color differences in the staining).
• Hand Sculpted – This has a smoother finish and the planks look more uniform than other types of hand scraped floors.
• Pegged – Wooden pegs are applied to the flooring to look like the floors of years gone by. These pegs are not actually fastening the new floor down; they’re applied only for visual appeal.
• French Bleed – This is a staining process that works nicely on high quality wood. The edges of the planks are darkest, giving more depth to the look of the floor.
• Hand hewn – This type of finish looks extremely rough and rustic. In some cases you can see saw marks in the finish.
• Custom Unfinished – This is the way to go if you want to design the look of your floor or match it to another item, such as furniture or cabinetry. The wood can be distressed and finished to your specifications.

 

 

HOW TO CARE FOR HAND SCRAPED HARDWOOD FLOORING

 

 

Maintenance on hand scraped hardwood floors is very similar to the maintenance on any other type of hardwood. You need to be aware that the rougher the finish, the more space there is for dirt to get trapped between the grooves. You’ll want to actively clean rougher finished floors on a more regular basis. Another thing to consider is whether you’ll be doing any other remodeling during the flooring process. Rougher finishes will not only attract dust and dirt, but are a magnet for drywall dust, which is very difficult to remove. We advise that any hardwood floors be completely covered during construction processes.

 

 

Are you interested in custom hand scraped hardwood flooring in your home? Contact us for a quote today!