Distressed Hardwood Floor | About Distressed Hardwood Floors

Distressed hardwood floors, also known as hand scraped hardwood floors are becoming a very popular item. Their posh yet battered up appearance suits the neo-industrial looks favored by loft dwellers or the antique or rustic look that is preferred by some fans of country, Mission or Victorian décor. The distressed hardwood floor also suits the Gothic look (popularized by Cher`s home furnishing company) that is popular among younger people in studio apartments, lofts and apartments.

One good thing about this floor is that because they are already damaged they do not really show the damage. They add texture to the floor and therefore spills, scratches and stains are much less noticeable. This makes them ideal for an artist`s or work studio of some kind. They also look really good if you are restoring a floor in a warehouse loft because they look like the real thing. This is because older wood floors were made flat and ready for finishing by a process called hand scraping. Hand scraping in itself is a lost fine art.

Nowadays manufacturers of distressed hardwood flooring have gotten rid of the hand scrapers and instead invented machines that can mass manufacture the look without all of the intensive labor. The only drawback of this automation is that if you have a good eye you can see a repetitive pattern in floor that comes from this cookie cutter effect. However most people have no problem adding their own wear and tear to the floor so that it looks more natural as time passes.

Other criticisms of mass manufactured distressed hardwood flooring is that it really does insult the real art of hand scraping. Many of these floors are just dented, batters or sanded unevenly to create the look of a used floor. However true practitioners of the craft of hand-scraping or hand scooping of floors can make a pile of lumber look like a truly aged masterpiece of a floor complete with realistic looking seams, holes, dents, scratches and scrapes.

The cost of a hand scraped floor is usually prohibitive so most of us will just have to settle for manufactured distressed hardwood flooring. Usually when you buy this type of floor you can choose the extent to which you would like the floor to appear “antiqued” or battered. You can choose between heavy, medium and light scraping and also have your distressed floor delivered to you either finished or unfinished. In most cases it is probably a good idea to have a professional do the sanding for you, as these distressed floors often require special methods to prepare the floor for finishing or staining. Although it seems ironic to pay a lot of money for something that looks damaged, distressed hardwood flooring is very expensive so it is best to finesse its installation.