Smoking / Fuming

Smoking / Fuming – Glossary

The above are two names for the same process which is applied to Oak flooring to darken / age it’s appearance. The flooring is exposed to the vapour of Ammonia solution and gradually, after a time (minutes / hours rather than days) darkens to jet black. The degree of darkening depends on the concentration of the Ammonia solution and on the exposure time. It should be noted that the sapwood of Oak does not darken significantly with fuming nor do the sapwood or heartwood of Red Oak.

It is very important to note that a small quantity of test pieces should be experimented with to ascertain the solution concentration and exposure time required to achieve the client’s desired result. It should also be noted that some boards react more severely than others to the process.