Handscraped Hardwood: Pros and Cons
When you’re planning to install hardwood floors in your home, you have so many options to consider. Handscraped hardwood offers a long list of advantages, but it has a few downsides, too. Get to know the pros and cons of this beautiful hardwood finish, and find out whether it’s the right flooring option for your home.
Pros and Cons for Handscraped Hardwood
Pro: Beautiful and Rustic Aesthetic
Hardwood floors are known for their innate beauty, as they’re designed to showcase the natural features of the wood. While most types of hardwood flooring offer a sleek, clean look, handscraping instead creates a wonderfully rustic aesthetic.
Unlike most wood floors, handscraped hardwood doesn’t have a smooth look or feel. Instead, these floors feature a rougher texture. The myriad grooves and divots come from the intricate handscraping process that these planks undergo during production. To create this three-dimensional style, either artisans or machines use tools to wear away select portions of each plank.
When complete, the unique features of each plank truly shine, taking the natural appearance of hardwood to new levels. Although this flooring type can work in a wide range of spaces, it tends to fit best in homes with a rustic design. Because no two planks of handscraped hardwood look the same, this flooring type also lends a unique aesthetic and a distinctive personality to any room.
Pro: Highly Durable
Wood floors can last for decades, but handscraped hardwood takes durability to new heights. With most hardwood types, you’ll need to constantly take precautions to prevent scratches, dents, and impressions. If you have kids or pets or if your home has high-traffic areas, you could end up worrying about damage throughout the life of the flooring.
Since handscraped planks already have a unique texture, regular wear and tear doesn’t have to be a concern. Any scratches or impressions that occur after installation are much more likely to enhance rather than detract from the weathered look of these hardwood floors.
While a few extra scrapes and scores won’t take away from the beauty of your floors, in most cases, you’ll still want to take basic steps to safeguard your handscraped hardwood. Using furniture pads and area rugs can help these beautiful floors look stunning and last even longer.
Pro: Anti-Scratch Finish
Most wood floors feature a protective finish that keeps them safe from light wear and tear and helps them last for several years. You’ll need to refinish most wood floors periodically to increase their longevity and durability, but handscraped hardwood floors typically come with a highly durable finish designed to last for two decades or longer. This anti-scratch finish helps protect your floors from wear and tear and prevents you from having to refinish your wood floors frequently. After the initial 20 years or so have passed, you can screen and recoat them to revitalize them without having to deal with sanding or refinishing.
Pro: Easy to Maintain
One of the biggest perks of handscraped floors is the almost effortless maintenance they require. After installing this type of flooring, you’ll want to use a dust mop fitted with a microfiber head for basic weekly cleaning. Every two months or so, use a wet mop and a gentle cleaning solution for a deeper clean.
To maintain hardwood between wet mop sessions, take care to wipe up spills and prevent liquids from pooling on the floors or seeping into openings between planks. Place doormats at entrances to your home to encourage family and friends to wipe their feet and lower the chances of tracking moisture or dirt inside. By taking these simple precautions, you can reduce the maintenance handscraped hardwood needs even more.
Although you can also use a steam mop for even deeper cleaning, these devices tend to be necessary for removing stains and caked-on dirt. Since handscraped hardwood has a natural ability to hide these issues, it doesn’t usually require steam cleaning.
Con: Can Be Costly
You can find wood floors at virtually any price point, but handscraped hardwood tends to be one of the most expensive types. While many hardwood options rely on highly automated production processes that are easy and inexpensive to execute, making handscraped hardwood isn’t quite as systematized. In fact, many manufacturers rely on artisans to do manual handscraping, adding a personal touch to the finished product but raising the price in the process.
If you want only the highest-quality handscraped hardwood for your home, there’s a good chance you’ll need to budget for a higher price point. However, if you love the look and durability but you don’t mind a mechanical production process, you’re much more likely to find options that work with a more limited budget.
No matter which price point you opt for, keep in mind that the higher initial cost doesn’t necessarily reflect the cost of the flooring over the course of its life. Since authentic handscraped hardwood is incredibly durable and easy to maintain, this type of flooring can be an affordable long-term investment.
Con: Installation Difficulty
Handscraped flooring can be challenging to install, but investing in pre-scraped planks and choosing the right time to install hardwood floors can make the process easier. To install handscraped hardwood, line up the planks to create an appealingly rustic look. Then join the tongues and grooves, and use a flooring nailer to secure the planks into place. Just like that, you’ll have beautiful, weathered floors for your country home.
Since handscraped hardwood comes with a durable, anti-scratch finish, you don’t have to worry about sealing or finishing the floors after installation. Simply enjoy your beautiful handscraped hardwood floors for decades to come.
If you’re up for a challenging installation and you consider this flooring type to be a long-term investment, handscraped hardwood could be the perfect choice for your space. With its rustic look, excellent durability, and easy maintenance, beautiful handscraped hardwood floors offer a myriad benefits for any home.
