Aged oak flooring is a wood floor option which is currently extremely popular. Gone are the days when clean, crisp and new-looking are the desired options. Today, anything which looks like it may have a history, have a story to tell or may have survived a long and hectic life is best. Because of this demand, some very sophisticated and convincing methods of ageing (or distressing as it’s sometimes called) all types of clothing, furnishings and flooring have been developed. Generally speaking, the more convincing the ageing process, the more desirable the product.
Ageing oak flooring can be done using many different techniques, but most commonly, the aged effect on new oak is created either by hand or by machine. As you can imagine, any ageing which is carried out by hand, due to the labour intensive nature of the process, tends to raise the price of the end product. What’s more, some of the machine ageing or distressing processes are now so convincing that most people struggle to tell the difference between those and the real thing. An artificially aged floor will often have pretty much the same look as a floor which has had many years of wear and tear.
Essentially ageing an oak floor involves causing damage to the surface of the floor to make it look like it has been through the same trials and tribulations that an old floor has. Hand ageing is done by striking the wood with chains, hammers, scrapers and basically anything which will cause the surface to become uneven, irregular and worn looking. More common however, is machine aged oak flooring.
Tumbling is one of the most successful and commonly used methods of ageing oak using a machine. Tumbling involves putting the oak planks into a big drum which is kitted out with sharp objects to damage the wood as it tumbles. The tumbling treatment results in a really convincing aged effect because it damages not only the surfaces of the planks, but the edges as well, which adds to the overall effect.
No matter which ageing process is chosen, the end result will be a new wooden floor which looks. That said, the real jewel in the crown of the ageing process is how the wood is coloured after it has been aged or distressed.
Typically, liquid ageing agents are used to add a grey or dark brownish tone to the new floor with the aim of giving it that naturally “old” look. Fuming or smoking is also often used and has the benefit of colouring the wood through to its core. Thereafter, to create patchy or random looks, coloured stains and oils can be applied to the wood create a really convincing, aged look.