“To be successful, a room must contain the element of contrast – in forms as well as in colors and textures.”
The texture of a hardwood floor can add a lot to a décor. It can accentuate the elegance or add to the warmth of a more casual setting. A variety of hardwood flooring textures are available on the market.
Let’s take a look at the top 5.
Smooth. Nature’s classic elegance, expressed simply
A very delicate sanding gives wood a silky texture with classic allure while highlighting the grain. Smooth is a timeless texture that is still the most popular in hardwood flooring.
Most of the products in Lauzon’s extensive hardwood flooring selection feature this texture.
Open grain. The uniqueness of wood shines through
Every wood species is unique, and this is what makes the material so warm and rich. A species’ cellular structure influences its appearance and, in some cases, its texture as a hardwood floor.
Open-grain hardwood species, such as Oak and Hickory, are “ring-porous.” This means they have large pores that are easily visible to the naked eye. Open-grain woods may appear coarser than closed-grain woods because the surface isn’t as smooth. When the wood is sawn, the pores are split, creating beautiful little rifts and valleys. This open-grain pattern stands out even more when dark stain is applied, but is still noticeable with lighter shades.
At Lauzon we love the distinctive grain of each wood species. It gives floors a subtle depth and in some cases texture, and brings out their true beauty. This is why we take great care to preserve the open wood grain through our exclusive and delicate sanding and finishing processes.
To appreciate the unique grain and subtle texture, take a closer look at our unique Cerralvo White Oak hardwood floor, our fresh Émira Series Hickory floors, or any of the Red Oak floors in our Ambiance or Essential collections.
Écho. Giving life to the wood grain
Lauzon’s new Écho texture enhances and gives life to the natural grain of the wood, lending our hardwood floors a subtle depth. The silky surface reflects the changing light of the room, revealing subtile three-dimensional patterns that shift naturally, like small waves on the shore following the wood grain.
To appreciate this exclusive Lauzon texture, take a look at our new Atlantis Series of beautiful Beech hardwood floors, that were also presented in our Latest 3 Hardwood Flooring Trends blog post. 
Hand Scraped. Uniquely perfect imperfection
Hand Scraped texture, sometime called “Wave”, ranges from subtle to extreme, and from repetitive to more authentic pattern, depending on the method used and the desired end result.
One common way to produce a Hand Scraped texture is to use automated machines. When the wood is milled, the machines skim the surface of the boards, creating rows of depressions within the wood’s surface. Gouging and/or sanding wheels with varying rotations, depths, and sizes are selected depending on the desired results. Machine scraping usually lead to a more repetitive and noticeable pattern.
At Lauzon, we use a back-to-basics method to ensure an authentic and more natural appearance. Each board of our Hand Scraped hardwood floors is carefully crafted by our artisans. They use tools like metal gouges, chisels, and hand planes to give the wood a sophisticated aged texture.
Remember that each manufacturer has its own Hand Scraped process, so one manufacturer’s Hand Scraped flooring will look different from the others’. Plus you should NOT expect your delivered flooring to look exactly like the small sample you saw at a flooring retail store. The beauty of real hand scraped flooring is that it’s meant to look antiqued, so no two pieces will be exactly the same.
While this texture is ideal for rustic décors, it also creates a nice contrast in modern rooms and adds casual appeal to traditional settings.
Our beautiful Hand Scraped texture is available in our Homestead hardwood flooring series, which includes Hickory, Black Walnut, Red Oak, and White Oak species.
Wire brushed. Distinctive yet discreet
Like Hand Scraped hardwood floors, Wire Brushed floors, sometime called Wirebrushed, Etched or Distressed, can range from moderate to extreme in texture.
To create this texture, the wood is delicately brushed with steel bristles, opening the grain, removing the soft portion of the top of the wood plank, leaving the hardest wood and revealing a subtle scuffed effect. It’s a warm, natural texture you can see and feel that accentuates contrasts in color and masks the effects of daily traffic.
At Lauzon, our Wire Brushed hardwood floors are paired with low lustre for maximum visual appeal.
Lauzon’s unique Wire Brushed hardwood floors include the Red Oak Authentik Series, featuring our exclusive Pure Genius® air-purifying technology, and the beautiful, wide plank White Oak floors in our Urban Loft Series.
Other advantages of textured hardwood floors
In addition to sophisticated depth and a whole array of new appearance options, texture gives hardwood floors new advantages.
For example, textured floors mask the effects of daily traffic, pets, and life in general. While no hardwood floor can resist high heels and animal claws, the texture will more easily hide scratches.
Wire Brushed hardwood floors tend to also be harder than smooth hardwood floors for the same species, because the process remove a portion of the soft wood grain, leaving more hard wood grain. The grain of most woods is formed by the annual growth rings of the tree. The growth rings are formed each year, one hard and one soft. The soft ring is formed when the tree makes its rapid growth in the spring. The hard narrow ring is formed during the slow growth in the summer. So this is why we learned that the age of a tree may be determined by counting the number of rings after the tree has been cut.
If you combined a textured floor with a high-performance finish like Lauzon Titanium® you will also have a better durability, because the finish will flexes with the wood instead of cracking when a heavy item is dropped on the floor and will not leave a chalky trace if scratched.
Textured as well as smooth-textured hardwood floors in lighter shades with a lot of character will also make dust and fur less visible.
Our artisans are constantly crafting new techniques to delicately enhance our stunning array of styles and textures in response to your every desire. Come visit our retailers in person to see and touch our wide variety of hardwood floor options.