Brushed vs Smooth Oak Flooring
Brushing wires out the soft grain and leaves the hard grain standing. What that does for the look, for scratches and dust, and which rooms suit each surface.
Before colour and before finish, there is a decision about the surface of the board itself: smooth, brushed or deep brushed. It is the least discussed choice in the range and the one with the most effect on how the floor looks after a year of use.
What brushing does
Oak grain is made of harder and softer bands. Brushing runs a wire or abrasive brush along the board and removes some of the softer band, so the harder grain stands slightly proud and the surface takes on a fine, ribbed texture that you can feel with a fingertip. Deep brushing takes more away and leaves a pronounced texture; it is the surface on the antique boards, where the aged look depends on it. A smooth board is sanded flat and left flat.
The finish then sits on that surface. Oil settles into the brushed texture; lacquer follows it. Either finish is available on either surface, so the two decisions are independent, and the oiled or lacquered guide covers the other one.
What it does for the look
A smooth board is the cleanest, most formal surface. Light reflects evenly off it, the grain reads as a picture, and a dark smooth board in particular has a depth that a brushed board does not. It suits a modern room with flat walls and a lacquered finish, and it is the surface of the walnut boards, whose fine grain is the point.
A brushed board reads warmer and more tactile. Light breaks up on the texture, so the surface looks softer and the grain reads as relief rather than as pattern. It suits period houses, cottages and any room where a flat surface would look too new. Deep brushed goes further and makes the texture the character of the floor.
What it does for wear, which is where most people get it wrong
This is the practical reason to choose brushed for a busy room. Fine scratches from grit, chair legs and claws show on a smooth surface as lines that catch the light. On a brushed surface the same scratches fall into a texture that is already full of lines, and they disappear. Dust behaves the same way: on a smooth dark floor every speck shows, on a brushed dark floor the texture hides it between vacuums. The dark oak boards are all brushed for exactly that reason.
The reverse is also true. A pale smooth board shows dark marks, because there is nothing to hide them in, and a pale brushed board hides small ones. The light oak boards are both brushed.
Room by room
Common questions
Is a brushed floor rougher to walk on?
You can feel the texture with a fingertip and barely with a bare foot. It is not rough; it is the difference between a flat surface and a very finely ribbed one. Socks do not catch on it and it does not hold grit any more than a smooth board does.
Does brushing weaken the board?
No. Brushing removes a small amount of the softer grain from the surface of the wear layer, a fraction of its depth. The board's construction, its wear layer thickness and its warranty are the same as the smooth version of the same board.
Can a smooth floor be brushed later?
Not on site in any practical way. Brushing is a factory process done before finishing. A smooth floor that has worn can be sanded and refinished as a smooth floor; if the texture is wanted, it is chosen at the start.
Which hides pet claws better?
Brushed, and brushed with an oiled finish best of all, because the marks fall into the texture and the worn areas can be re-oiled. The guide to floors for homes with dogs goes through it.
Texture is the decision that survives redecorating: a colour can be changed with a rug and a scheme, a surface cannot. See it in the room before deciding, and in the room's own light. Browse by town and region.
