How our custom finishes add decades to your floor’s life
People choose to have a wooden floor for its beauty. But at Woodland Flooring, we know that its longevity is just as important. That’s why we offer distressed and resawn finishes. Not only do they look great, they ensure your floor will keep looking great right into the next century!
Durability – it’s not all about the wood
There’s a common misconception that a floor’s ability to endure daily wear and tear comes down to choosing the hardest wood out there. Sure, a Brazilian cherry floor might be hard, but if finished with a picture-perfect high sheen it can still show scratches and damage easily. A softer lodgepole pine processed with a distressed or resawn finish, on the other hand, can sport a showroom quality for decades. Truth is, it’s all about the finish.
Smooth finishes are notorious for showing scratches because light deflects off the blemish. Satin or matte Hardwax oil finishes will help, as the lower sheens deflect less light around any blemish, even though the blemish is still there. But what really makes a difference is creating a time-worn finish that actually hides or disguises future blemishes – and distressed or resawn finishes do just that.
Distressed and resawn finishes – what’s the difference?
At Woodland Flooring, both distressing and resawn finishing happen at our factory prior to coating. The raw wood planks are precision planed, tongue and grooves are put in and the boards are sanded. At that point the wood gets its final finish treatment before staining.
For a distressed finish, minor nicks, dings and blemishes are added to the smooth planks to give them a seasoned effect. When the stain is hand-rubbed into each board, these dents and dings are accented by the pigment; this gives the wood an antique look that has the ability to hide new flaws. It’s an elegant look that offers a muted but slightly aged appearance.
During the resawn process a smooth-planed plank is taken back to the saw that then “scarifies” the wood. Essentially, the blade is lightly dragged over the board to make very small, shallow cuts into the wood. The scarified wood is then hand-sanded back before the stain is added, the pigment grabs onto the “ghosts” that the saw blade left in the plank.
The resulting look mimics a century old floor that was once a heavy plank that’s been time-worn smooth through years of wear. It conjours up an image of an old castle or lodge.
This flooring effect has a rural or heritage feel but works in anything from a cottage to a waterfront mansion. And it allows life with dogs and kids to happen without fear of ruining your floor.
Both these looks can be refinished years down the road with relative ease, due to the application of our Saicos Hardwax Oil Finish, made with natural plant-based oils and waxes. Not only can spot repairs be accomplished with ease, but refreshing is quick, cost effective and without creating any dust!
The added cost of these designer finishes pay off in the long run and will add immediate value to your home and lifestyle for decades to come.
Want to see what the final products look and feel like? We have plenty of samples of our finishes and stains at our Woodland Flooring factory showroom. Come stop by and see what we have to offer and where it all happens.
We are located at 1584 Knight Road in Comox. For more information, call us at 250.890.0402 or email us.