What’s more, by definition a
distressed floor disguises accidental impact damage in the
future. Although I installed prefinished flooring throughout
much of my house, I cringe
every time I see a scratch or a
small dent that wasn’t there
when I installed it. So, when it
came time to install flooring in
what will be a nursery and ultimately our children’s bedrooms,
visions of toys and dishes hitting the floor danced through my
head like sugar-plums. A durable
distressed floor in a couple of
kid-prone rooms seemed like a
natural choice.
FIRST STEPS
We were replacing a carpeted
floor over a plywood subfloor,
so some quality new flooring
was in order. Our local supplier
of choice is Littrell Lumber Mill
( www.littrelllumbermill.com)
from Decatur, Alabama, a
Shown here is the finished floor after distressing the surface, applying a
wood stain and coating with a polyurethane sealer.
family-owned business where a
very small percentage of logs
are even considered for the
mill’s heart pine products. Only
60- to 80-year old trees with the
right characteristics are suitable,
and Littrell Lumber Mill guarantees 50 percent of the board
face to be heartwood. Littrell
heart pine is available in tongue-
Start the layout of the first row
by snapping a chalk line along
the longest, straightest wall of
the room to use as a guide.
and-groove (T&G) dimensions
from 4 to 10 inches, plus V-joint
and double V-joint boards, as
well as stair materials.
Because wood expands
and contracts in response to
changes in moisture and temperature, allow the boards to
acclimate inside the room where
it will be installed for at least 48
Proceed from row to row, nailing the
tongues of the boards into the subfloor at a 45-degree angle. Stagger
each end joint by at least 18 inches.
