Distressed Hardwood Floors Add
Character To Your Kitchen Floor Design

Many kitchen styles came from a time in history when perfectly machine sanded floors simply didn't exist like they do nowadays.

In the olden days they used to hand scrape floors to get them smooth and even, which made them comfortable to walk on.

The Smooth Look

Once machine sanded floors came along, there was a huge demand to sand floors smooth and level with a uniform look that enhanced the wood grain and sheen almost perfectly. This trend in kitchen floor design lasted quite awhile and is still popular today.

However, after a number of years, this type of smooth pre-finished or job-finished floor became routine and people began to look for something new for their homes.

Today, old seems to be new again and we are seeing the reclaiming of old wooden floors to be reused again in homes.

Old distressed wooden beams and lumber is milled into tongue and groove floorboards and even made into engineered hardwood floors to achieve the old look.

This reclaiming process is the most authentic type of distressed hardwood floors that money can buy. But processing old wood for new uses is very expensive.

Distressed Hardwood Floors Made to Look Old

More often seen today are new hardwoods that are distressed and made to look old by either machine or hand scraping. Machines or physical labor perform the process at the factory or it can be done on the job site. Either way, scrapes, ridges, grooves and marks, makes the hardwood look old.

Hand scraping is more expensive due to the high labor cost involved but it looks the best as you might imagine.

The result is that each individual board is unique whereas the machine-produced boards have a pattern that repeats, and is sometimes noticeable in larger rooms. Using a dark stain brings out this pattern even more.

Not all products and skill levels are alike with this process. Before you have hand scraped floors done on the job, make certain that the people doing the scraping have experience.

Factory Produced Boards

Often the hand scraping comes in light, medium or heavy. The lighter distressed hardwood floors are more suitable if you want the look of an older floor to go with your décor. The heavier version is best for a more rustic look.

When choosing which stain you like, be aware that the darker the stain is, the more apparent the distressing will be. The darker stains will settle down into the scrapes, creating a more dramatic effect.

Another technique used at the factory is to toss a variety of metal objects like various size nails and screws onto the floor planks and move a roller over them to make dings and dents. This costs less then the scraped versions but does achieve a distressed look with the flaws taking the stain darker.

Free Samples

You can click here to see some modern day distressed flooring products that may be of interest to you. There is such a great variety to choose from now! You'll find that Build Direct has great prices and excellent customer service which will save you money and you'll know that you are in good hands. They will even send you free samples of many of their flooring products!

Look at different stain colors and determine the best direction to run the boards in your home. Running the boards lengthwise toward natural light, provided by doors and windows, will highlight the look of this type of flooring.

Distressed hardwood floors are gaining in use. They are not the least expensive type of hardwood floor but may be worth purchasing depending on which one of your kitchen decorating themes that you decide to focus on.

If you want charm and character or you have an old world theme, then consider this type of flooring to bring an element of history and charm to your home.

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