AMUER · OAK 3-LAYER · CHINA FACTORY

Smoked Oak Multi-Surface Engineered Flooring -- AC-03

AC-03 is a smoked oak engineered floor unlike any other in the AMUER range -- a 14/3mm three-layer engineered hardwood combining three board widths (90mm, 150mm, 190mm), four distinct surface treatments per board (brushed, saw mark, hand scraped, and smoked), UV lacquer, and T&G installation, producing the most tactile, visually complex, and historically referential floor in the collection: an engineered specification that delivers the appearance of aged reclaimed timber with the dimensional precision and certified quality of a factory-produced engineered product.

CE · FSC Chain of Custody · CARB Phase 2 · ISO 9001:2015

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Full Product Specification

Specification	AC-03 Detail
Product Code	AC-03
Species	Top layer European Oak; Poplar core and backing layer
Construction	3-Layer Engineered Wood Flooring — cross-ply solid timber core for dimensional stability
Total Thickness	14mm
Top Layer	3mm solid European oak -- supports 2-3 full sanding and refinishing cycles
Board Width	Multi-width: 90mm + 150mm + 190mm mixed in each carton -- random-length mix produces reclaimed-look floor
Board Length	1,900mm (all widths)
Colour	Smoked -- tobacco-brown to dark amber; fuming process changes the tannin structure of the oak rather than applying surface pigment; depth and warmth vary board to board
Surface Treatments	4 surface treatments applied across the board range -- Brushed + Saw Mark + Hand Scraped + Smoked -- each board receives one or more treatments; surface character varies between boards within the same installation
Brushed	Wire-brushed to remove soft early-wood -- late-wood grain raised; organic texture
Saw Mark	Circular saw blade striations across the board face -- mechanical, directional texture
Hand Scraped	Hand-operated scraper applied across the board face -- irregular, wave-like undulations; no two boards identical; this is the most labour-intensive of the four treatments
Smoked	Ammonia fuming process reacts with the tannins in the oak -- darkens tone naturally without surface pigment; permanent colour change through the wood fibre
Finish	UV Lacquer -- UV-cured hard surface lacquer; factory-applied; seals all four surface textures; maximum durability; satin sheen; low maintenance
Grading	DE -- Natural Character Grade: moderate character features; knots present; natural colour variation; flowing grain
Installation	T&G (Tongue and Groove) -- professional installation required; boards glued or secret-nailed into timber subfloor; not a floating installation
Underfloor Heating	Compatible -- maximum surface temperature 27 degrees C; T&G installation glued to concrete subfloor requires special consideration -- consult installer
Emission Class	E1 — CARB Phase 2 compliant
Certifications	CE (EN 13489) · FSC Chain of Custody · CARB Phase 2 · ISO 9001:2015
MOQ	200 m² per SKU
Lead Time	45 business days (standard) — 10–15 days for repeat orders with spec on file
Packaging	Carton box with protective foam · Custom OEM packaging available
Production	AMUER China Factory — 50,000 m² · ~300 workers · Est. 1997

Four Processes. Three Widths. One Floor. -- AC-03

AC-03 is a smoked oak engineered floor combining four surface treatments — wire brushing, saw marking, hand scraping, and ammonia fuming — across a three-width board mix of 90mm, 150mm, and 190mm. Each of the four processes has a historical origin that predates modern flooring machinery: brushing was used to clean and open the grain of reclaimed timber; saw marks are the natural record of the blade that cut the board from the log; hand scraping was the standard floor-finishing method before mechanical planing, leaving each stroke as a slight individual mark in the wood; and ammonia fuming replicates in a controlled chamber the same tannin reaction that turns old oak dark over centuries. None of these are decorative additions — they are working techniques applied to the board surface, each leaving a physically distinct trace. The three-width format references the irregular plank widths of genuine reclaimed flooring, where salvaged boards come in whatever dimensions the original timber was milled, replicating that visual rhythm without the moisture variation and structural inconsistency of actual reclaimed material.

The result is a floor of unusual complexity. The fuming establishes a base tone running from tobacco-brown to dark warm amber — a permanent colour through the full depth of the wear layer — over which the brushing, saw marks, and hand scraping create a surface that catches light differently across every board. No two adjacent planks carry the same combination of treatments, tone, or texture. In raking light, morning or evening sun moving across an AC-03 installation reads the surface as visually alive in a way that no uniformly-treated floor can produce — a quality that is not a stylistic effect applied to the floor, but a direct consequence of the processes used to make it.

Design Guide

AC-03's deep smoked tone, four-process surface, and multi-width format point strongly toward specific interior contexts. Two environments where AC-03 is the definitive floor choice:

Heritage Residential

AC-03 is the most convincing new floor for period residential buildings. The multi-width format, smoked depth, and four surface processes collectively produce an appearance that reads as genuinely aged reclaimed timber without its structural problems. Against original timber joinery, exposed brick, stone fireplaces, and period plaster work, AC-03 completes the material palette of the building.

Hospitality -- Heritage Atmosphere

No specification creates a heritage atmosphere in a commercial hospitality space more effectively than AC-03. The multi-width smoked engineered floor is what reclaimed timber floors would look like if they were dimensionally precise, certified, and UV lacquer-protected. Against dark timber bar fronts, aged leather seating, exposed brick, and low warm lighting, AC-03 is the floor that completes the atmosphere.

Installation & Room Suitability

T&G Installation (Glue or Secret-Nail)

AC-03 uses tongue-and-groove installation -- boards are bonded to a suitable subfloor with flexible adhesive or secret-nailed through the tongue. Professional installation required. Not suitable for floating installation.

•Professional installation required -- not a DIY product

•Suitable subfloors: plywood, OSB, existing timber boards, concrete screed with DPM

•Flexible wood flooring adhesive -- do not use rigid adhesives

•Secret nail through the tongue on boards 75mm and wider (all widths in AC-03)

•Subfloor flatness: 3mm per 2m maximum

•Expansion gap at all walls: minimum 10mm

•48-hour acclimatisation at room temperature before installation

Random-width installation: plan the row sequence before starting

Underfloor Heating

AC-03 is compatible with UFH systems when installed with flexible adhesive over a screeded subfloor. Secret-nail installation over timber is not recommended with UFH.

✓Maximum surface temperature: 27 degrees C (hydronic and electric)

✓Use flexible wood flooring adhesive -- compatible with UFH

✓Switch off heating 48 hours before installation

✓After installation: increase 1-2 degrees C per day to target temperature

✓Maintain indoor humidity 45-60% RH year-round

✓T&G glue-down installation provides excellent UFH stability vs. floating

UV lacquer handles UFH thermal cycling without cracking risk

Room Suitability

Room / Application	Suitability	Notes
Living Rooms & Open Plan	Excellent	AC-03's multi-width smoked format creates a dramatically characterful living space floor. The complex surface treatments reward close-up attention.
Dining Rooms	Excellent	Seen at eye level from a chair, the four surface treatments are fully visible as individual details -- the ideal room for AC-03.
Period & Heritage Buildings	Excellent	Multi-width smoked engineered oak is the most authentic-looking new floor for period interiors -- Victorian, Georgian, Arts & Crafts, and farmhouse settings.
Heritage & Period Buildings	Excellent	The grain drama and warm smoked tone of AC-22 works particularly well in period buildings -- the vivid figure and character reference aged oak floors without requiring reclaimed timber.
Home Offices & Studies	Very Good	Warm, characterful environment. UV lacquer provides durability; chair mat recommended under desk chairs.
Hallways	Very Good	Glue-down T&G installation provides excellent stability for hallway traffic. UV lacquer is hard-wearing.
Kitchen	Good	UV lacquer more water-resistant than oil. Seal board joints at installation. Wipe spills promptly.
Hospitality -- Bars & Restaurants	Excellent	AC-03 is the most effective floor for creating an aged, heritage atmosphere in hospitality settings. The multi-width and multi-surface format reads as genuinely old.
Bathrooms	Not Recommended	Not suitable for persistent moisture -- specify SPC for wet rooms.

Care & Maintenance -- UV Lacquer on Multi-Surface Texture

Task	Method
Daily	Soft brush head vacuum or dry sweep -- the multi-surface texture (brushed + saw mark + hand scraped) traps fine dust in the valleys of the texture; vacuuming along the grain direction is most effective
Weekly	Damp mop with well-wrung cloth and pH-neutral lacquered floor cleaner -- no standing water
Spills	Wipe immediately -- UV lacquer protects the surface but standing liquids can penetrate at board joints over time
Deep texture areas	Hand-scraped areas with deeper undulations may require a soft brush to clear compacted fine dust from the valleys -- particularly in lower-traffic areas
Periodically	UV lacquer does not require re-oiling. The lacquer protects the smoked colour permanently. If the floor is eventually refinished, the smoky colour can be preserved by re-fuming before refinishing, or the floor can be refinished to a different tone
Never	Steam mop · abrasive cleaners · bleach · solvent-based products · oil or wax products (will cloud lacquer) · re-oiling (this is a lacquered floor)

Certifications & Factory

Manufactured by AMUER — China Factory

AC-03 is manufactured at AMUER's China factory: 50,000 m2, approximately 300 workers, producing engineered hardwood flooring since 1997. The four-process surface treatment of AC-03 requires additional production stages and quality control steps beyond standard engineered flooring: the fuming chamber process, hand scraping labour step, and multi-width carton assembly are each quality-checked against the AC-03 standard. Every shipment carries the following as standard:

✓CE Marking (EN 13489) -- required for all EU market sales

✓FSC Chain of Custody -- sustainable timber sourcing documentation

✓CARB Phase 2 -- US formaldehyde compliance

✓E1 Emission Class -- lowest European formaldehyde standard

✓ISO 9001:2015 -- certified quality management system

FAQ

Q1. What is smoked oak engineered flooring?

Smoked oak engineered flooring is a multi-layer engineered hardwood floor in which the solid oak wear layer has been treated with an ammonia fuming process that reacts with the natural tannins in the wood to produce a deep tobacco-brown colour through the wood fibre -- not a surface pigment or stain -- combined in AC-03 with three additional surface treatments (brushing, saw marking, and hand scraping) and a multi-width board format.

AMUER AC-03 is 14/3mm total with a 3mm solid oak wear layer, DE natural character grade, four surface treatments (brushed, saw mark, hand scraped, smoked), UV lacquer finish, and T&G installation in a 90/150/190mm multi-width format. It is the most complex and characterful floor specification in the AMUER engineered range.

Q2. How is the smoked colour produced in AC-03?

The smoked colour in AC-03 is produced by ammonia fuming -- a process in which oak boards are placed in a sealed chamber with ammonia vapour, which reacts chemically with the natural tannins in the wood to darken its colour from within -- the same chemical reaction that causes old oak to turn dark over centuries, accelerated in a controlled production environment.

Ammonia fuming is fundamentally different from staining, painting, or pigment-treating a wood surface. The colour produced by fuming runs through the wood fibre -- it is part of the wood's chemical structure, not a surface coating. When the floor is eventually sanded for refinishing, the fumed colour will be present at every depth of the wear layer. This makes the smoked colour more authentic and more durable than any pigment treatment.

Q3. What is hand scraped oak flooring?

Hand scraped oak flooring is a floor in which a hand-operated cabinet scraper has been drawn across the face of each board, creating irregular wave-like undulations and slight bevelling across the board surface -- a technique derived from the pre-industrial method of finishing timber floors before mechanical planing became standard.

The defining characteristic of hand scraping is its irregularity -- each stroke of the scraper is driven by the individual worker, with slightly different pressure, angle, and speed, making every board genuinely different from every other. In AC-03, the hand scraping is one of four surface treatments applied to create the complex, tactile surface character of the product. The resulting undulations catch and reflect light differently across the board face, making the hand-scraped boards the most visually active in the installation.

Q4. What does multi-width flooring mean and how should I install it?

Multi-width flooring means boards of different widths -- in AC-03, 90mm, 150mm, and 190mm -- are supplied together and installed in a random-width pattern that references the irregular board widths of authentic reclaimed timber flooring, where boards salvaged from historical buildings come in whatever widths the original timber was milled.

For installation, lay AC-03 in a genuinely random width sequence -- not a repeating pattern (e.g. not 90/150/190/90/150/190 in every set of three rows). The most authentic reclaimed appearance comes from a random distribution where adjacent rows vary unpredictably. Plan the layout across the visible elevation of the room before starting installation. Each row should be a single width throughout. T&G installation requires a professional installer -- see the installation section for full guidance.

Q5. What is T&G installation and why does AC-03 use it instead of click?

T&G (tongue-and-groove) installation means boards are bonded to the subfloor with flexible adhesive or secret-nailed through the tongue -- a permanent, structural installation that is fundamentally different from click floating installation, providing greater stability and a more authentic finish for reclaimed-look multi-width flooring.

Click floating installation, used by most AMUER products, is a temporary floating floor that sits over the subfloor on an underlay. T&G is bonded directly to the subfloor -- it does not flex or move underfoot, and does not produce the minor hollow sound that floating floors can create. For a multi-width floor with heavy surface texture that is designed to replicate aged reclaimed timber, T&G installation is the appropriate system: it sits as solidly as the original floorboards it references. T&G installation requires a professional installer.

Q6. Can AC-03 be used over underfloor heating?

Yes -- AC-03 is compatible with underfloor heating when installed with flexible adhesive over a screeded subfloor, with a maximum recommended surface temperature of 27 degrees C.

T&G installation bonded to a screed subfloor provides excellent UFH stability because the adhesive bond prevents the boards from moving as the floor heats and cools. Secret-nailed installation over a timber subfloor is not recommended with UFH systems. Maintain indoor humidity at 45-60% RH year-round. Switch off the heating 48 hours before installation and restart gradually after installation.

Q7. Is the multi-surface texture of AC-03 practical for everyday use?

Yes -- AC-03's multi-surface texture is sealed with UV lacquer, making it practical for everyday residential and commercial use, easy to maintain with regular sweeping and damp mopping, and more forgiving of minor surface wear than smooth lacquered floors because the texture conceals light scuffs and marks within the surface variation.

The textured valleys of the brushed, saw-marked, and hand-scraped surfaces do require more thorough vacuuming than smooth floors -- soft brush head vacuum along the grain direction removes fine dust from the texture valleys most effectively. The deep smoked colour also makes any light surface scuffs less visible than they would be on a pale or uniform floor. AC-03 is a robust floor specification for high-traffic residential and commercial use.

Q8. What is the minimum order for AC-03?

The standard minimum order for AMUER AC-03 is 200 m2 per SKU from our China factory.

Free samples are available -- email arboren@arboren.com. Sample sections are dispatched to EU, US, Australian, and most international addresses within 2-3 business days. OEM orders for custom fuming intensity or custom width mix require a 200 m2 minimum; contact arboren@arboren.com with your project specification.

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