How to Hand Scrape & Distress a Floor

Distress your wood floor for a shabby-chic look.

Hand-scraping and distressing are interchangeable terms used to describe the process of adding wear to a wood floor. If you like the shabby-chic or elegantly antique look, this process adds a wonderful patina of age to a room. A brand-new floor with distressed furniture looks wrong, so distress the floor yourself. This is a fairly laborious process that requires time and effort, but the end result is is a unique effect that looks like it has been there for ages.

Things You'll Need

• Chisel
• Hammer
• Wire brush
• 100-grit sandpaper
• Heavy chains
• Stiletto heels
• Black ink
• Clean cloth

Instructions

1. Press the sharp edge of a narrow chisel so that it is at a 45-degree angle or less to the floor, and tap it with a hammer. The resultant mark on the floor is a type of hand-scraping that produces a natural-looking dent. Vary the effect by hitting the hammer more softly or more firmly.

2. Work a wire brush over the wood, moving with the grain, to give it a raw, uneven edge.

3. Rub 100-grit sandpaper over the floor, working with the grain, in random spots. This wears the wood down in some places. Pay special attention to heavily trafficked areas and those near doors.

4. Bang the floor repeatedly with heavy chains. This creates broad but shallow dents, giving the floor the worn look you want.

5. Put on a pair of stiletto heels and walk over the floor repeatedly. The spiked heels, combined with your weight, will give the floor small round dents. If just walking doesn't do the trick, jump up and down in the heels.

6. Drizzle a small amount of ink on the floor, and rub it in with a clean cloth before wiping up the excess. This gives the wood some interesting staining, and it is especially striking if you do it before the floor is finished.

Tips & Warnings

• Hand-distressing is easiest on softer woods like walnut and pine. Harder woods, like teak and maple, require more effort

References

• Through The Woods: Distressed Wood Floors
• Hardwood Floors: Distressing Wood Floors to Make Them Unique