Flooring

When answering the question, "what is a hand scraped wood floor," the answer could be vague but I prefer to provide a few specific answers.

Hand Scraped Wood Floors could refer to a prefinished wood floor with a distressed texture and finish or to a solid wood floor finished on site with an actual hand-scraping technique followed by stain and sealer.

If you think that Hand-Scraped Wood Floors are a fad and they're going to fade away into the annuls of interior design history next to shag carpet and lime appliances, think again. Hand Scraped Wood Floors are a hand-made tradition in the United States that point back to a time when all homes had solid wood floors. I'm talking the 1800's. Back then, there were no engineered, prefinished wood floors. Only solid materials from solid trees, milled into tongue and groove lengths. These floors were installed the old-fashioned way, by hand using a hammer and nails. With these plank wood floors, a craftsman would level the planks with a planing technique and/or sanding. Then the craftsman would stain the floors by hand and protect the floors with a paste wax.

What will I see today if I ask for Hand-Scraped Wood Floors? If you were to walk into a flooring showroom today and ask to see hand scraped wood floors, the salesman may walk you over to a very nicely appointed display and show you a brand name, prefinished, engineered wood flooring product which has a "distressed" or simulated hand-scraped finish. Are these floors true hand-scraped floors? No. These are made in a high tech factory somewhere most likely in the far east and a machine provides the distressing texture to the wear layer of wood, followed by a stain and finished with multiple coats of aluminum oxide finish. While most of these engineered hand scraped wood floors are attractive, they fail to provide a true distressed finish. After all, the purpose of a distressed finish was to have something that doesn't look bad if it gets a little beat up.

Solid wood floors are still being installed today in the United States but they don't benefit from the kind of marketing support that the engineered products enjoy. Solid wood floor materials are typically sourced locally through a wood flooring broker or supplier, they are installed by a highly experienced crew of technicians, then are finished with either a "sanded finish," "hand-scraped across the grain," or "hand-scraped with the grain" texture. Just like the good old days, these floors are stained by hand with whatever the customer selects, and then the floors are protected with multiple coats of sealing and finishing polyurethane. There are two main varieties of polyurethane and if you want to read more about them, take a look at this article: http://www.http://www.squidoo.com/handscrapedwoodfloors.

What technique is used to produce the hand-scraped look?The actual technique involved in developing the hand-scraped texture certainly differs among technicians but I'll describe what I've personally seen and done. The tool is as important as the technician. I use a heavy duty (preferably steel body) paint scraper with a 4-sided 2-inch wide steel blade and a 16" long steel handle. The craftsman will sharpen the blade with a fine file until the blade is very very sharp, usually rounding the edges to prevent gouging the wood. The blade can take a flat shape or a more aggressive convex shape, depending on what the finish is to look like. The target floor (in most cases Red Oak) is worked in 4 foot by 4 foot sections. First, the area is dampened with water using a towel or sponge. Starting at the left side of the section, the technician will place the blade down on the floor, holding the handle in the right hand and putting significant downward pressure on the blade with the left hand. The tool is pulled and scraped along the surface of the wood (either across or with the grain) in a very straight line with as much or as little pressure as is needed to create the desired affect. The scrape runs are done parallel to one another, creating a distressed texture all the way across the target work area. The dampened surface will tell the technician which areas he might have missed. After the floor has been completely scraped, the scrapings will be swept up and the floor will be smoothed out with an 80-grit sanding screen on a floor maintainer. This will help to remove any splinters or unusually rough areas. The floors are then swept, vacuumed, tacked, and stained. As far as staining and sealing, the technique is the same as a sanded finish wood floor.

Why would anyone want to take a paint scraper to the surface of their solid wood floors? Well, if you haven't seen it in person you may not understand. It's really beautiful. The depth, character, rustic features, and hand-made appeal are difficult to completely replicate in a prefinished product. A big reason why hand-scraped wood floors are so appealing is that dents and scratches don't show up as easily when compared to the smoother sanded finish. But this is only the case for site finished floors and not the prefinished variety. Prefinished wood floors tend to show any signs of scratches and dents and surface repairs are impossible. This is not the case with site finished floors. The real site finished floors can be touched up easily by the homeowner or a technician. Even a simple touch up stain and light coat of sealer can make a bad scratch virtually disappear.

Does the value add up? Keep in mind that solid wood floors hold their value better than some engineered products. Usually because the solid floors can be fully sanded and refinished multiple times in their life, providing 50 or 100 or more years of service in a well-maintained environment. They're easy to repair and will probably be the last floor you will ever need to buy. The downside is they are a little messy and inconvenient when compared to the prefinished variety. This makes the prefinished product a more appropriate fit when the cost of inconvenience is just too high.

What types of Interior Design styles will hand-scraped wood floor accommodate? Just about any traditional American home, Rustic Western, French Country, American Colonial, Spanish, or Old World European. When a homeowner is going for a design which incorporates the look of handmade craftsmanship and warm ruggedness, the hand-scraped finish plays well.

If you're looking for a lightly rustic or moderately rustic finish in wood floors, authentic hand-scraped wood floors may be a good choice for you. Installed and finished prices start around $10.00 per square foot and may vary depending on what part of the country you live in and what options you select. Wood species, plank size and polyurethane type are all important factors to consider when looking at a solid, site finished wood floor and will contribute to the overall price of your flooring project.

When you're looking at wood floors, consider the real thing. Real, hand-scraped wood floors.

Content provided by HSW Floors and can be found on the web at www.hswfloors.com.