Flooring Blog

Wood Floors: Hand Scraped Wood in High End Homes?

Posted by Kristen Mangus on Mon, Aug 1, 2011 @ 11:08 AM

Are you debating about hand scraped wood? Deciding between a smooth traditional style wood floors and a hand scraped wood floor doesn’t have to be hard.

FloorPartners Handscraped wood floor

Many clients come in lamenting over sticking to traditional styles of wood floors but really loving the more “rustic look”. While that hand scraped wood floor is rustic in nature it can fit very well in a beautiful high end home. Many of our clients have put hand scraped wood floors in very regal and prestigious homes; the style did not diminish their home. In fact, it added an even richer warmth and character.

When the wood is hand scraped, not scraped by machine, it has a beautiful texture. The varieties of scrape marks seem to make the home feel more cozy and comfortable to live in. This rich texture can be more inviting to your guests.

If the traditional look is what you are craving then steer towards the boards that are closest to two inches wide as possible. There are board widths on the market at six, seven and even eight inches wide! These look fantastic and really show the graining; however, traditional woods used in homes for the century tend to be the narrower width floors. If you can’t find one less than three inches you can still install a solid or engineered wood floor unfinished and have it hand scraped on site after it is installed!

The larger widths are still very nice and many have turned to installing multiple widths in the same room. This add s variety and get s more rustic looking. If you are going for a lodge feel, a wider plank or the multiple width planks are a perfect fit.

When considering which wood floor to choose look carefully at the graining. Look to see if the grain shows a little or a lot. For more graining look at Red Oak, Hickory, Walnut and Pecan. For less graining look at Maple and Birch. For more natural color variation with a graining look , try exotic species like Acacia, Brazilian Cherry, Santos Mahogany. Look to see if it is a species or grade o f wood that would show more knot holes or movement. Talk with your sales representative about the different wood floors and look at the room scene pictures that may be provided on the back of the sample or in literature. Looking at these pictures will give you a better idea of how that particular style of wood floor will look when laid out in the room.

Above all, buy what you like. If the floor screams “NO!”… then move on. If the hand scraped wood has the grain, the width and the stain color you like then it will look beautiful in your home. Just one more piece of advice: Don’t try to “match” your furniture color. Pick something that is slightly darker in the same color family or much lighter if you own very dark furniture.

Have fun and Happy Hand Scraped Shopping for your Wood Floors!

 

 

 

Click me

Topics: Wood Flooring