The latest trend forecasts show that there’s been a shift from limed and washed oaks to the more subtle dark greys and warm chocolate browns.

Fuming is a traditional process for darkening and enriching the colour of oak by oxidation of naturally occurring tannins in the timber. The physical change in appearance is subject to the tannin and other natural content held within the structure of the timber and its interaction with the treatment.

In thermo-treating, the boards are heated to a high temperature which causes the colour to darken. This method of darkening wood is environmentally friendly as there are no chemicals used during this process, simply heat and steam. The thermo-treatment process brings out and accentuates the best grain characteristics of the flooring, and unlike a stain which simply covers the top of the board, thermo-treatment changes the colour, creating a deep rich hue running through the entire core of the wood.