How Can I Achieve An Aged Oak Floor?
6th May 2016
Achieving the desired look from your oak flooring is key. Whilst some may prefer the contemporary look, others may prefer the more traditional, aged look of oak flooring. So how can you achieve an oak floor which looks like it has been which has been down for generations?
The first place to start is with the grade of oak flooring. An aged oak floor is normally full of character, with a range of knots, cracks and shakes. With this in mind, our barn and character grades fit the bill.
The Barn Grade Oak Flooring is by far our most rustic grade of oak flooring available. Boards in this grade play host to a high number of knots, cracks, shakes, burrs, colour streaks and even the odd hole. The barn grade is for those who want the most character from their oak floor. This grade of timber is often used in the likes of rural camping barns and Irish themed pubs.
If the Barn Grade is too rustic for your liking, we have the Character Grade Oak Flooring. This grade is effectively one up from the barn grade, offering a slightly cleaner grade. The boards will include occasional knots of varying size (some of which may contain cracks or holes), the odd shake and end crack and some colour variation. The character grade is pretty much the perfect grade for just about any area - looking great in older and newer properties alike.
After your grade of oak flooring has been chosen, the next point to consider is the width of board. The right width of board for you is very much dependant on personal preference, as well as the size of the room. One way in which you can achieve a more “traditional” looking oak floor is to mix the widths of the floor. For example in the image below in our showroom, widths of 160mm and 200mm have been combined. The can create a less uniform look to your floor.
When fitting wide solid oak boards (160mm+) our recommendation would be to surface fix in additional to secret fixing. This can be done by either using the screw and plug method, or by using a floor brad. Screwing and plugging can be seen as a more discreet method of surface fixing. Using a floor brad leaves the fixing exposed, giving a completely different look to your oak flooring.
With the oak flooring now laid, the final job is to finish the boards. There are a huge amount of different oak floor finishing products available on the market, ensuring that whatever look you require can be achieved.
Over time, oak will naturally darken. By using stains, the oak can be darkened to achieve a similar effect. One such product we recommend for this is the Blanchon Hard Waxoil - Colours. In this range there are a number of different colour stains available including the Light Oak, Smoked Oak and Black. These individual finishes have been designed to replicate the different stages of the oak darkening process.
Want to discuss your project with us? Give us a call on 01538 304584.
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