Home Page

Other Product Information

Our Knowledge Base

General

Installation

Refinishing

Miscellaneous

Floating Hand Scraped & Distressed Hardwood Floors

To get a better understanding on whether or not you’re in the right area for obtaining a floating hand scraped floor we have to determine your wants or desires. There are differences from one brand to another. For instance some manufacturers offer a

repeating machined appearance, though it's not highly visible. These products are typically priced lower because of the minimal use of manual labor; the most compelling reason why many hand scraped floors are so expensive.

What Determines A Floating Floor?

It wasn't long ago most manufacturers preferred many of their products to be installed the traditional way; nailing, stapling or gluing direct to the subfloor. Times changed suddenly as the big home  improvement stores grabbed the DIY attention. Today is seems  almost every conceivable floor can be floated.

Engineered hardwood should only be considered for floating floors. However there are a small handful of manufacturers that offer a solid floating product, but we advise against their use because of unpredictable conditions that can create problems after installation.

Who Manufacturers The Good Ones?

Who? There are so many to choose from these days, but the consensus from many installers points fingers in the direction of Andersons' Virginia Vintage, then Award Hardwood Floors, who offers more color selections in a wider plank floor (common with distressed floors) than anyone. If there were such a thing as traditional specialists in the field those two would top our list.

Are They Pricey?

Anderson is on the high end where you can expect to see retail store pricing in the $14.00 to $ 18.00 per square foot range. Award's pricing is a step below that of Anderson. The Award products run over six inches in width while Anderson can be obtained in five and seven inch wide planks.

Click Together, Tongue and Groove, Or Lock and Fold?

You'll find some products have gravitated to the much easier type of installation most notably in the lock and fold area. However we haven't seen much movement by the major producers in converting over from a more traditional tongue and groove system that requires gluing.

Bring on the Imports

Like any consumer product that gets hot, expect the knock offs to wash ashore with the hardwood floor business being no exception. If you happen to visit a few stores that specialize in hardwood, it won't be hard to find a few manufacturers trying to mimic the Anderson Virginia Vintage product.

Are Imports Any Good?

Our research shows the only real difference in some of these brands is the type of core they use. Core simply means what they used to fill the area above the actual wear layer of the product. Some arguments call for a more stable engineered product if similar species of hardwood are used in their overall construction. As far as overall quality, once the floor is installed there isn't much of an appearance difference if any.

In our two manufacturer examples, one noticeable visual difference could be the overall lengths used. Many engineered  manufacturers use maximum lengths set as 48 inches as it becomes easier to ship on a standard pallet. Expect the Award product to be longer measuring at near six feet. Another fine floating hand scraped product with longer lengths  can be found with Pinnacle Flooring products; notably their Country, Plantation, and Stoneleigh collections. Lengths on those run greater than many traditional sold hardwoods at 36 inches (minimum) to 84 inches.

But I Want A Custom Colored Floating Hand Scraped Floor

Anything is possible. Some, but not all manufacturers offer an unfinished version of their lines for custom coloring. However there is no real price advantage as one would find in other more standard unfinished hardwoods. Remember, it's the labor used to create the distressed appearance that makes up most of the cost.