Special
Producers of distressed floors
NOSTALGIA STILL KINDLES THE ‘DISTRESSED FLOOR’ MARKET THE BEST DISTRESSING TECHNIQUE IS A COMBINATION OF TECHNIQUES Parquet floor fitters can apply distressing techniques to a new floor as one of the possible finishes. They can do that themselves to some extent or they can outsource the job to a specialist company. Most coating contractors (see elsewhere in this edition) offer these services as part of their service package. Nowadays, however, parquet manufacturers themselves offer a very extensive range in solid wood, multilayer, and veneer. In the meantime, manufacturers of other floor coverings have also started to regard ‘ distressed’ as a finish like any other.
What makes distressed so coveted? The success of ‘imitation antique’ mirrors the huge popularity of ‘genuinely old’. When something becomes rare and therefore valuable (and expensive), we start to copy it. To copy something as realistically as possible, you have to know what it is that you want to copy. Strictly speaking, there are two ‘sources’ of old wooden floors. They may be recycled old floors or new floors produced from old wood. In both cases the wood bears the marks of old age. The origin affects the colour, hardness, and grain. If supplies of real old wood are ‘all’ exhausted, you have to apply the marks to new wood.
What are those ‘marks of old age’? Strictly speaking, there are three groups of features related directly to the (old) age: marks of woodwork with less developed materials than those nowadays, the colour of the wood due to its age or use, and, finally, the marks of ‘use’ and ‘maintenance’ of the floor over the years.
Flaws in the woodwork Before the start of the 19th century, wooden planks were sawn from tree trunks by hand. And so, those planks were not as smooth and unblemished as those today. If we also consider that planks were not sandpapered, but planed, we realise at once that an ‘antique’ wooden floor showed (and still shows) a whole serious of ‘natural’ flaws. Old techniques such as the brushing of wooden floors are coming back as a distressing technique.
The colour of the wood Houses were not heated uniformly as they are today, so the moisture content was well above 55%. The tannic acid in the wood turns darker when it is exposed to water. And so, light yellow or honey-coloured wood is never antique. Possible previous uses of the wood from which the floor is produced can also affect the colour. For instance, wood which once served as a ‘buoy’ has a dark colour with sometimes a dash of blue.
A ‘used’ floor Whilst the specific look is a result of technology and the colour is the result of external circumstances and age, the unmistakable look is the result of the use itself. A real old parquet or wooden floor is a floor which consists of planks which have always served as floorboards and we retain the ‘used’ side as the upper side. That used side is difficult to copy.
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How do you copy those marks? Artificial ageing therefore aims to copy those ‘marks’ which are described above.
Mechanical distressing The most well known and commonly used mechanical distressing techniques also find their origin in the furniture industry. We aim to ‘damage’ the wood in some way or other by means of lashing, beating, brushing, scraping, hand-scraping etc. The application of holes caused by wood worm is usually combined with the other methods. At present, brushing is also being promoted as a distressing technique. For machines which apply an effect such as brushing we can go to Italy where some companies specialise in embossing on various materials. Both Trabattoni Stampi under the trading name FNT and Borgonovo design and produce roller for embossing for both warm engraving on wood and cold with the use of pulp. The parquet industry has been a target market for both companies for a long time.
Colour distressing The use of special pigments or colour oils can give the impression that a new parquet floor is an old floor. White and grey shades are extremely popular for that purpose. There is talk of a white wash or even a super white wash. In the latter case the floor is brushed lightly first. If you carry out a white wash, you get a floor with a somewhat matt and chalky look. Extremely dark colours can also help to give an old appearance.
Smoking Smoking wooden floors is one of the most commonly used and most attractive distressing techniques. Smoking is a process in which a reaction is generated with the tannic acid in the wood. Several wood sorts have no or insufficient tannic acid to generate a distressed colour. Oak does have this, specifically in the form of European oak and American oak. Russian oak and Chinese oak both have a lot less tannic acid and can be smoked only lightly at best.
Combinations As the subtitle of this article suggests, the most beautiful results usually arise from a combined use of various techniques. Colour distressing and smoking, in combination with mechanical distressing techniques, yield extremely realistic results.
What’s on the market Chêne de l’est Plancher d’autrefois Chêne de l’est Chêne de l'est is the specialist for oak antique plankflooring. We offer a wide range of aged distressed oak plankflooring with several types of engineered French oak TOP 2.7, TOP 3.3, TOP 4.5 and TOP 6 and solid wood in thicknesses of 14 and 21 mm; widths ranging from 70 to 220 with lengths of up to 2,200 mm. Also in XXL with widths up to 335 mm, with lengths up to 5,030 mm. Aged parquet floors are always in