Wire Brushed Oak

11 years ago

We are having a quartersawn white oak floor site finished put down in a new construction. We had considered fuming the floor as I love the greyish overtones, but we waited too long to make that decision, so the floor finisher suggested we look at wire brushing.

Does anyone have this and if so how do you like it? If we go that route, we might delay construction about 2 weeks. So, it would have to be the perfect choice. So please weigh in if you own these floors or have experience with wire brushing. Pros & Cons??

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

User
11 years ago
Not something I'd do for site finished. Prefinished that came that way, sure. It's controllable and predictable. You'd have to have a real artisan to do that to site finished. With the accompanying price tag of an artist, not just an experienced floor finisher. I'd want to see past jobs done that way, and more than just one. And find out how much extra $$ that would be. If it weren't considerably extra, you don't have the right guy doing it. That would be a big red flag.
Kathy Harrington
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the followup. I am feeling more comfortable going with the quartersawn white oak without the wire brush. The quartersawn already has lots of character and frankly, I don't want to hold up the construction schedule.
Related Professionals
Saint Joseph Flooring Contractors · Fayetteville Flooring Contractors · Newport News Flooring Contractors · Mesquite Flooring Contractors · Spanish Fork Flooring Contractors · Brunswick Tile and Stone Contractors · Raleigh Tile and Stone Contractors · Alexandria Tile and Stone Contractors · Mission Viejo Tile and Stone Contractors · Carbondale Kitchen Remodelers · Chattanooga Kitchen Remodelers · Beaumont Kitchen Remodelers · Oneonta Kitchen Remodelers · Syracuse Kitchen Remodelers · Cleveland Kitchen Remodelers
Kathy Harrington
Original Author
11 years ago
I got more info about the wire brush that I thought I would pass along to anyone interested. In our case, the mill actually does the wirebrushing before it is installed. They were in the process of doing a sample, but their professional opinion was wirebrushing on quartersawn would not produce that much of difference to warrant .60 a sq ft more. Also, they use to fume floors at the mill, but started contracting it out. If I had started earlier, I could of had more options. I guess my take away is to do your homework way in advance
User
11 years ago
"Factory brushed or fumed" only works with prefinished floors. If you have to bring the wood on site to sand and finish, you've lost that detailing with the sanding. That's the whole point of site finished floors. The unlevelness of the individual planks is taken care of by the sanding in place. Without sanding before finishing, you get a poorer finish, and you get toe stubbers. That's why prefinished floors have the small bevels and tighter control on thickness. It minimizes the lippage issues.
User
11 years ago
If you're serious about fuming and are finishing on site, you should look into two products from Rubio, Fumed and Smoke. Fumed turns White Oak gray, Smoke turns it brown.
http://www.monocoat.us/Smoke/
I don't think it's necessary to use their products over these for the finish.
Wire brushing on rift and quarter sawn While Oak does add a nice texture to the surface and helps hide scratches and wear.