I use to work p/t at an interior's store and the hand scraped floors were beautiful. Alittle more rustic and more expensive but if I ever replace our laminate it would be with a hand scraped hardwood that hid everything. I have dropped a knife in the kitchen once on the laminate & it made a hole. We had to use the repair putty stuff they give you to make it look right.....my husband is great with that sort of thing and you can't even see it now but I just don't want to worry about any of it on down the road. With the hand scraped, everything done to it blends right in, ha! You will love it.....unfortunately expect to pay more. :) Bonnie

DD2 had Anderson handscraped floors installed in her entire home. When we went to look, it was her favorite. I told her "you don't like that." Code for "you cannot afford that." When we found out this one line was on sale 50% off - too much in warehouse - we jumped on it even though it was $2 more per square yard than we had set as our limit. They make the house.

She has two cats, four dogs. Been in 15 months and not a scratch.

She said she should get some sort of tax credit for purchasing this line - its' handscraped by prison inmates in SC. No joke:

http://www.allbusiness.com/furniture-related/office-furniture-including/599188-1.html

Flooring pictures in this link: (fwiw, the "lines" showing in the iPhone pictures do not show like this in person. You do see the grooves, but they are not a different color than the floor. Can post a better picture for you tomorrow if you want.)

Here is a link that might be useful: handscraped flooring

Thanks Allison! What color and wood did she choose? I agree they look beautiful in her house.

I like the dark wood, but am worried too dark would show dust like crazy.

I chose dark handscraped (machine-scraped?) floors too. They are being delivered on Friday. They will cover the main area of the floors. I am hoping they will hide black dog hair and any scratches from their nails that may occur, and kid damage in the future. The prefinished coating is supposed to be VERY tough.

The bedrooms already had white oak, so we had them refinished on site in a similar dark color in a matte finish. Since they are matte and not glossy they do not show dust too badly. The dogs' nails do scratch these but area rugs with pads took care of most of that problem. I really love these floors. They make the room seem very polished, even though I don't even have any floor or door trim yet!

Tracie.erin,

What color/manufacturer/style did you choose? I've been looking online this morning and am a bit overwhelmed. There's too many choices!

Hi Carole: Sorry, I did mean to link mine but I guess I forgot. Here is mine. They aren't installed yet so I don't have any pictures, but there are some in the reviews section of the link.

If you want something lighter here is the main page for the solid (not engineered) handscraped, and here is the engineered handscraped.

I don't have the engineered, but I do have the prefinished hand scraped. We love them. When DH or DS makes a mark or something happens to the floor, it is not big deal. I also think they looked lovely to begin with. :)

I have had a black floor shiny floor in my last house and boy did that show dust! I don't feel like the floors I have now do show dust. I think the multi color of the walnut helps with that.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

I've had hand scraped oak floors in my kitchen for 3 years now, they have held up extremely well!

I forgot to mention, I have a dog, and 3 small kids, including 1 toddler who opens the drawers in the kitchen and throws objects on the floor as if he is on a search and destroy mission. There are a few scratches, that I rubbed a nut in and now you can't even notice them.

Thanks. They are gorgeous and I have floor envy every time I go over. DH said we could put it down in our house, but it would make a mess and we'd only been in 4 years. Waste.

If you read the article, several of Anderson's lines are actually done by hand. Not machines!

"A year and a half ago, Anderson introduced its Vintage Virginia series, a handcrafted, distressed look achieved by vigorous scraping with hand tools. In mid-2002 Anderson added "Time Worn," another product with an aged look. Employees sand soft spots deeply to mimic the distinctive wear seen in historic floors. Newer still is Masterpiece, with a hand-stained and hand-rubbed finish." (page 2)

DD2 has the Hickory Forge in Ringing Anvil (color)

Here is a link that might be useful: article again

We put in Anderson hand scraped in Hickory Forge and absolutely love them. My next door neighbor liked them so much that she put the exact same floor in! We have not had any problems with scratches and have two small dogs in the house, three teenage boys and their friends, and my two great neices (toddlers). So far, so good!

Polly, rubbed a nut in? Like a pecan or walnut?

One thought I've had with these floors vs. site finished is what happens if something spills on the floor? On my site finished, it wipes right up because the cracks have been filled with poly. With the planks, it seems water could soak down into the cracks and get underneath the planks.

With so many people installing laminate planks, engineered wood planks or even solid wood prefinished planks this would come up as an issue, but I haven't seen anything on any of the reviews...

My entire house (except bathrooms, kitchen, laundry and pantry) have the handscrapped floors that are made by the prisoners. When people walk in my house, I always get, "your floors are gorgeous!". While the floors are pricey, they fit our country home like no other could. I had hardwood floors in the house we tore down to build my dream house and they were very pretty...I used floor wax on them and the shine was beautiful. I do miss that shine. For scratches on the new floors, I rub the scratch with Old English scratch cover and the scratches disappear. Peppygirl

Yes, I rubbed a pecan in it, and then used the colored marker that matches the stain on my cabinets that came with them for dings and scratches. I read the trick on the internet. I've also done this on other wood furniture.

I'm confused. No one has mentioned the finish. We have gorgeous hand- scrapped, non-engineered flooring, but it was site finished in Waterlox. I thought the non-poly finish (part tung oil, part veneer...not poly) was crucial for it's old, soft sheen, waxed floor appearance. Poly finished floors have always looked a bit plastic to me, whether matte or high shine. A supposed benefit to the finish is the ease of repairing scratches...just wipe some Waterlox into it with a rag or fine steel wool. I have scratches but never touched up. Lots of antiques here: nothing has a pristine finish! The trouble with the Waterlox is it's vulnerability to sunlight. After two years we have bad fading where the sun hits directly onto the floor. So, please tell me how they are finished? Allison, the second pic down of Hickory Forge looks much like ours. We need to re-finish the faded areas and looking for better sun protection. Also, wanting to put in hd. wood upstairs, and these by Anderson would seem to be a good match for downstairs. I will go look at Anderson site, but would love to hear from those of you who have floors with the same ( as Anderson) finish on your hand scrapped floors. Hmmm, hopefully, this isn't seen as a true hijack. Thanks caroleoh!

p.s. 1.) polly, does that nut trick actually work on a poly finish??? Allison, I just looked at the link to your DD's home...darling! Nice work on the wall decor. It's fun playing house at daughter's isn't it?!

They came finished, so I'm not sure what they are finished with. She has a bottle of Walnut scratch cover. I told her to use that if needed. So far, nothing... and the dogs are trotting around in circles sometimes after each other.

Thanks, Leahcate! Yes it is.

Polly, thanks for the tip! I just tried it on a couple small scratches (prefinished oak) and it worked beautifully.

I just ordered some samples of the Anderson hardwood floors - There's so many choices, it was hard to pick just 4. But included Allison's daughter's choice to see since they're so lovely.

Peppygirl, you have the Virginia Vintage floors - I think those are the ones done by the prisoners. What color/style do you have? Any pictures to share?

I googled spilled water on engineered floors and they all said spills could be an issue - in particular splashes from a dog's dish that sit on the floor for a while. I'm personally thinking of ice cubes that fall out of the dispenser and aren't picked up by my 12 year old! I find little puddles all the time on my hardwood floors, so I worry about the planks.

I did get one glimmer of info that I thought was helpful. One poster recommended you take the time and put down a layer of paste wax in the cracks of your planks in areas prone to water spills. The paste wax will fill in the cracks inbetween the planks and keep the water from seeping down under the boards.

Yes, I believe they are a fad, and I'll tell you why. They're virtually impossible to screen and recoat. That's basic maintainence every 5-10 years. You bring in a heavy duty buffer and "rough up" the floors and then reapply a finish coat. With hand scraped, you have to do all of the screening by hand if you're going to get "down in the hollows" as well as hit the high points. That's a lot more maintainence intensive, as well as expensive.

If you don't do the screen and recoat, and now you have to refinish, then you have to machine sand, although I suppose you could pay exhorbitantly for someone to hand sand the whole floor. Sanding will take off the high spots and even the flooring out. That hand scraped look will be gone. They'll be flat and smooth--which was the goal of most of our forefathers who put in wood floors. Rustic plank floors weren't meant for upscale homes. THose were workman's homes. They were just waxed cheap pine boards that if they were lucky got stripped and rewaxed every couple of years. Nice wood floors in more upscale homes, such as oak or mahogany, were sanded smooth, shellaced, and waxed, and kept buffed to a high shine by paid help.

It's a peculiar reversal of status to have hand scraped and rustic floors now rather than smooth high shine ones. It's much like during the old days when pale skin was considered beautiful and desirable by the elite and if you had a tan, that mean that you had to work outside and thus were of a lower social status. Then that reversed, and the social elite were the only ones who had the leisure and money to travel to exotic locations to acquire a tan, and the pale folks were the ones in the factories out of the sun.

I had Shaw engineered hand scraped flooring installed in my new home in a dark wood, and love them. With a dog, 3 cats, and me dragging things across it, they're holding up extremely well. If I do get a scratch, I use a stain pen, and it's instantly gone.

In looking at the picture(s) Allison posted, I really can't see a difference between her DD's and mine, but know hers were much more expensive. They're in every room except the bedrooms~~I like the warmth of carpeting! ;o)

Here is a link that might be useful: Shaw flooring

I like the look of the hand scraped floors, but agree with live wire that they are somewhat faddish, for the reasons mentioned.

I don't know all the lines of Anderson made by prisoners, but the Hickory Forge that DD2 has are.

She hasn't had a problem with water spills - did not put in the kitchen, but wanted to. Her kitchen will be redone in a few years, but with the dogs, probably not hardwood. Her home is small, there is no basement, so the flooring is glued to the concrete slab. It's basically a garden home, but the house have more between and larger yards than usual.

Live Oak Wire, we have lived with hardwood floors for 26 years. Raised three children (now 22, 25 and 27), several dogs and numerous cats. The floors in the house were never refinished, with the exception of the kitchen. It was done twice: once when the kitchen was redone/we added an upstairs to the house and the second time after the ice maker leaked.

DD2's floors are not shiny, so I see no reason that she'll ever have to have them sanded to freshen them up.

My Andersen hand scraped floors are supposed to last 25+ years without maintenance. If you think about it, most people change out their flooring much more often than that. It could prove to be an issue, but I am not really worried about it and truly believe they were worth the extra $.

I can't remember the name of the manufacturer but that the floors were made by prisoners in NC (I think). The floors are dark. I use the the spray bottle floor cleaner for wood floors and a microfiber mop. Peppygirl