Handscraped Floors - authentic version are artforms

Can offering a little above the ordinary add value and speed to your home sale?
Distressed and antiqued wood floors when created using tradition and human artisan technique create value in any home. Regardless of whether you plan on ever selling your home, installation of authentic hand carved flooring increases the appeal and wow factor of any home. We have had many customers comment on their homes selling and attributed it in part because of these handcrafted floors being installed. These floors are now widely available at both independent and franchised flooring specialty stores around the country. Because of the cost however, they are out of most of our budgets, anywhere from $10.00 - $19.00 per square foot.

Realistic costs are possible on handscraped wood floors
The direction a company takes is often a result of the characteristics of its people. The art form of authentic handscraped floors is something that motivates us at simplefloors. It is our goal to bring this 300+ year old artform within the average budget, something after much work, we have now accomplished. Not only do we boast the largest species selection and handcrafting techniques of hand-scraped floors, our beginning price point starts in the upper $2.00 per square foot range for Maple Furia in our Vintage Couture line. Some of the handscraping techniques used in our wide selection of floors follows. (these will be posted and identified with example images on the site soon)

The hanscraping techniques:

Time Worn Shallow Sculpt The least aggressive of the hand-scraping techniques. The hand tool lathe is used to gently carve valleys into the surface of the floor. The edges of the floor are also carved to an uneven, random state. Flowing uneven paths throughout the surface are characteristics of this hand scraping technique. The Time Worn Technique, accomplishes the natural uneven effects of foot wearing patterns and subtle texture of wood floors ageing 100 years and greater. Floors with rolling texture that fit a range of design themes from contemporary to traditional results. This technique is the easiest target for machine mimicking but the results from machine create a distinct repeating pattern and do not compare to authentic hand scraping. By hand, sculpt time for the Time Worn Shallow Sculpt technique is approx 95 square feet per day per artisan. Vintage millworks

Hand planing The technique used to create the uneven overall surface of the floor. This differs from the time worn shallow sculpt or the lathe finger carve in that it is not intended to be the entire focal point scraping technique. Hand planing accomplishes the handcrafted overall uneven surface of the floor in a minimal and extremely random format. While creating an uneven surface, definite rolls and running lathe lines are not as apparent. This technique is almost always used as a distressing compliment to one or more additional hand-scraping techniques. Lumberton/

Distressed Divet punch This time consuming process is completed using a chisel punch. The hand punches used will range in size producing both the larger and smaller imprints in the wood surface. The imprints while imperfect are round in nature. Recreating the time worn appearance of worm holes, small stone and debris imprints as well as spur and heel marks is the intent. As it is time consuming it is one of the more costly distressing techniques. This likely explains why a machine copy of this method has been attempted. However the machine copies failed as they left a definite repeating stamped pattern over and over throughout the face of the floor. When done by hand the floors that are created using the distressed divet punch method deliver a true 300 year old appearance.

Cross plane (lathe) Gouge A thickness planer is a tool used for smoothing rough lumber or reducing the thickness of a board. 150 years ago the luxury of precision electric planer tools did not exist. The wood was planed by hand to achieve and somewhat even appearance. The distressing method known as the Cross Plane Gouge replicates the low scrape mark produced by the hand held planers. Although not always, these are typically narrow indentions running across the width of the plank and often used in conjunction with one or more other scraping techniques.

Lathe finger Carve – A channel hand-scraping technique using a narrower push lathe. Longer weaving channels are carved into the surface of the floor. The method of scrape is similar to that of Time Worn Shallow Sculpt except the top peak of the carved area is sharper, and more visible. Typically 4 to 5 peaks are visible from the width edge across the plank at times intersecting. The edges of the planks receive a uneven random carving as well. Hand rubbing the stain results in the top edge of the carve lines often being slightly lighter in tone which shows the sculpting technique further. On average one artisan completes 135sf of Lathe Finger Carve per day.

Saw Kerf This hand scraping technique consists of a multitude of Smaller punch and chisel indent marks in selected groups running throughout the body of the wood surface. Smaller intricate indentations arranged in close proximity to each other produce whole unique distressed and indented sections of the floor. Depending on the species and the artist intent, often times these will be found inside select darker grains or mineral streaked areas of interest. Primarily due to the arrangement and creation of the smaller marks and greater quantity of them this is one of the most time consuming hand distressing processes. It will often be complimented by an additional distressing technique.

Mineral chisel. The technique of chiseling and gouging selected mineral streaks in the wood surface as well as areas containing knots or burls. This technique gouges and creates scrape marks, and even removes small parts of the mineral area or knot area of the wood. This antiquing process adds a time distressed appearance and draws greater attention to the unique and more interesting areas of the grain.

Wire brushed. A hand scraping technique that replicates, with detail, century aged European planks, in which the soft parts of the wood grain naturally eroded under the touch of time. The method of wire brush extraction involves an actual wire brush handheld tool that is literally brushed across the wood in multiple passes until softer parts of the grain are removed. This creates small but slightly larger than hair like line areas in the surface of the wood that are carved out and lower than the overall surface height. The result is a depth enhanced surface with added grain texture. Naturally this occurs over hundreds of years of use.

Grain Weathering The Darkening process that turns the softer underlying grain patterns a deeper tone. This provides clearer grain visibility and more contrast to the overall surface of the floor. The technique re-creates the actual darkening of the soft part of the wood grain which occurs naturally over many years of exposure.

Chisel impact. Using a sharp flat end chisel, the artisan applies blows with a hammer to the top of the chisel. The end of the chisel is held to the wood surface at an angle. The chisel is then placed at the adjacent edge of the fist blow mark, again at an angle. A small pie shaped indent randomly placed throughout the body of the wood surface results. Chisel impact is not only one of the most striking in appearance it is one of the most time consuming hand scraping techniques and of no surprise by far one of the most requested. On some stained colors, deeper tint is often applied to the marks themselves creating further contrast with the surface for an authentic time aged appearance. The Hand Chisel Impact is not able to be mimicked by machine and takes the average artisan one day to complete 75 square feet.

Cross Slash A series of stacked line gouges carved into the planks surface using a flat gouge blade. Typically this vintage technique is accomplished in a multiple scrape marks and at an angle to the length of the plank. 300 years prior, craftsmen did not have the power tools to achieve perfect planed surfaces. The stitch cross gouge will range in size depending on the intent of the artisan and resembles the scrape mark left by the overcut of a tooth saw blade. Darkening tints will often be applied to the Stitch cross gouge making it more visible. This scraping technique is often used as a compliment to one or more of the other scraping techniques.

Zipper punch The zipper punch distressing technique is used as a complimentary element of the overall distressing technique. Not as conspicuous as most techniques it can actually resemble a small metal zipper indents side by side on the surface of the wood floor. To further describe this distressing technique, you might imagine what a coarse, often referred to as “bastard file” file imprint stamped into a wood surface would look like. This techniques re-creates the impression of the teeth marks left in the wood by a hand held coarse file used centuries prior.

Edge gouge longer tear marks grooving from the end edge of the plank in toward the body of the plank. This edge distressing treatment while found most often on the butt end edges of the planks, can also be found on the running side edge of the planks as well. The distressing technique resembles the effects of imperfect milling and splintering of the edges, as well as the scars left of years of time worn use. This plank edge distressing technique typically is used in conjunction with one or more additional hand sculpting techniques, often times the Cross Stitch Gouge, in the body of the plank.

Edge sculpt The uneven shaping of each wood floor planks edges. When the planks are installed together this technique is becomes more apparent. This is due to the randomly carved edges meeting together each creating a unique time worn framing effect at the plank edges. This plank edge distressing technique typically compliments additional hand sculpting techniques in the body of the plank.

Edge Chisel The artisans sculpt deeper and shorter chisel markings, in pie shaped angles into the ends and side edges of the planks. This resembles the slight splintering left behind by hand mill tools. Often the frequency is greater on the ends of the planks than the sides. This plank edge distressing technique typically compliments additional hand sculpting techniques in the body of the plank

Handrubbed Stains The hand-rubbed staining technique that is used on most hand scraped floors to apply the color stain of choice. A soft cotton cloth rubbing the stain on, while another buffs the excess off. All done by hand, this allows the grain to naturally absorb the stain to either a greater or lesser extend depending on the particular porosity of the wood in a given area. This creates an authentic hand stained surface. Hand-rubbing stains can be used in conjunction with the Toned and Antique Toned techniques but when used on its own creates a mild variation in color tone and a soft luster.

Toned The process in which the flooring stain is applied heavier and lighter in various areas of the plank. This creates an uneven depth of color ranging from nearly translucent to deeply opaque. The goal is to achieve a very uneven time weathered look with the use of color stain. Often times this is used in conjunction with hand sculpting techniques to provide further depth and texture to the surfaces. This technique results in a surface with a variation of tones within the given stain color.

Antiqued Tone This process is very similar to the Toned process. The Antiqued Tone process uses multiple colors, rather than just multiple tones to create an uneven, striking antiqued effect to the surface of the wood. Typically the deeper color is applied to the edges of the plank and then feathered in toward the center gradually. A poorly executed machine applied version often referred to as “French bleed” paints a machine rolled straight dark line, similar in size to a felt tip pin at the edge of the plank. The machine automated French Bleed method fails to provide the depth and realism of the gradual stain fading inward of the Antiqued Tone process.