Flooring Finishing Technology for Wood Flooring Production
Flooring finishing is a multi-step production process that combines surface pretreatment, controlled application of finishing agents, post-application surface treatment, and curing. This page explains the finishing workflow for wood flooring (parquet) production and shows how complete finishing systems are configured from process modules.
Flooring finishing line integrating coating application, surface treatment, and curing processes for wood flooring (parquet) production.
Flooring Finishing Systems Overview
Select a system category to explore individual flooring finishing solutions in detail.
Flooring Finishing as a Production Technology
Flooring finishing is a complex production technology, not a single machine or isolated operation. In professional wood flooring (parquet) manufacturing, finishing quality is the result of multiple tightly connected process stages that must operate in a defined sequence and under controlled conditions to achieve stable, repeatable results.
The finishing process begins with mechanical surface pretreatment. Sanding, brushing, and structuring prepare the wood surface to define absorption behavior, surface texture, and visual character. This step is fundamental before finishing agents are applied and is repeated between layers as intermediate sanding or brushing.
Once the surface is prepared, finishing agents such as hardwax oils, UV or LED UV oils, UV or LED UV lacquers, and water-based systems are applied in a controlled manner. Application accuracy affects material consumption, color consistency, and surface uniformity.
After application, the surface undergoes post-application treatment using buffers and wiping brushes. These stages distribute the applied material evenly, manage excess material, and stabilize the coating before curing.
The final stage of the finishing line is curing or drying. This can be achieved through natural oxidative drying or accelerated using UV technologies. Classic UV lamps and LED UV systems differ in energy use, curing behavior, and achievable surface aesthetics.
Because each of these stages directly influences the next, flooring finishing systems are engineered as integrated production technologies rather than collections of standalone machines.
Example of an oiled wood flooring surface shown at different levels: surface view, macro texture detail, and real installed flooring in an end-user environment.
The Flooring Finishing Process – Step by Step
1. Mechanical Surface Pretreatment
Mechanical surface pretreatment is the first active step of the finishing process. Through brushing, structuring, and sanding, the wood surface is prepared to define absorption behavior, surface texture, and visual character before any finishing agent is applied.
Surface pretreatment defines absorption behavior and surface structure before finishing.
2. Application of Finishing Agents
After surface preparation, finishing agents such as oils and coating systems are applied in a controlled manner. Application accuracy directly affects material consumption, color consistency, and surface uniformity, making stable process parameters essential for repeatable results.
Precise application is essential for uniform surface appearance and efficient material use.
3. Post-Application Surface Treatment
After application, the surface is mechanically treated using buffers and wiping brushes to distribute the finishing agent evenly and remove excess material. This step controls penetration, stabilizes the coating layer, and prepares the surface for curing or drying.
Surface conditioning stages ensure even distribution and controlled excess removal.
4. Curing and Drying
Curing or drying finalizes the finishing process. Depending on the system configuration, this can be achieved through natural oxidative drying or accelerated using UV technologies, with different curing methods influencing process speed and final surface characteristics.
Curing stabilizes the applied finish and defines final surface properties.
Why Flooring Finishing Is a Complex Process in Real Production
In real production environments, flooring finishing is influenced by variables that cannot be fully eliminated. Material variation, differences in wood density and surface structure, environmental conditions, and finishing agent variability affect process stability.
As a result, finishing quality depends not only on individual machines, but on how consistently the entire process is controlled from pretreatment through curing.
For this reason, professional flooring finishing systems are engineered as compact, integrated units. By combining multiple process stages within one layout, integration reduces spatial dependency and limits process variability.
Compact, integrated flooring finishing systems demonstrated in a production and showroom environment, reflecting real spatial and process constraints.
System Integration, Scalability, and Configurations
Deck Art Machines finishing solutions are engineered as compact, integrated systems built around the required finishing strategy. Depending on whether the goal is a baseline in-line process, multi-layer finishing in one pass, or autonomous industrial automation, system layout defines how stages are combined and how material handling is integrated.
Baseline In-Line System: Pretreatment Unit + Finishing Line
The baseline flooring finishing system is in-line by nature: a pretreatment unit followed directly by a finishing line. This compact configuration establishes the complete finishing workflow in its simplest integrated form and serves as a foundation for future expansion into multi-layer or automated system architectures.
Baseline in-line configuration: two compact integrated machines arranged sequentially.
Multi-Step Systems for Applying Multiple Layers in One Pass
Multi-step systems are designed to apply multiple coating layers within a single production pass by repeating pretreatment and finishing stages inside one coordinated line. Depending on space constraints and plant layout, multi-step systems can be configured as an extended in-line composition or as a compact U-turn composition using cross-conveyor material handling.
Multi-step in-line composition enables multiple finishing layers to be applied within a single floor board pass.
Autonomous Automated Finishing Systems with Gantry Handling
For autonomous industrial automation, multi-step finishing systems are equipped with additional material handling and gantry pick-and-place systems at the inlet and outlet. This architecture supports autonomous board transport through the finishing workflow, stable process continuity, and minimal operator dependency—especially in multi-layer finishing strategies.
Autonomous configuration: multi-step finishing system with cross-conveyor layout and gantry material handling.
System Building Blocks
Flooring finishing systems are composed of core machines that can operate independently, as well as additional system components that enable integration, layout flexibility, and automation. Understanding the role of each building block helps clarify how individual machines evolve into fully integrated production systems.
Core Machines (Standalone or Integrated)
Flooring Pretreatment Unit
The pretreatment unit performs mechanical surface preparation before finishing by sanding, brushing, or structuring the wood surface. It can operate as a standalone machine or be integrated directly into a finishing line, forming the first stage of an industrial flooring finishing system.
Pretreatment units prepare the wood surface for controlled finishing processes.
Flooring Finishing Line
The finishing line is the central machine responsible for applying and processing finishing agents. It combines application, post-application surface treatment, and curing into one coordinated production unit. The finishing line defines the finishing process itself and forms the core around which larger systems are built.
Finishing line integrating application, surface treatment, and curing stages.
System Integration Elements
Conveyors and Transfer Systems
Conveyors and transfer systems control how material moves between process stages within a finishing system. Depending on layout and process logic, they may extend an in-line configuration or redirect material flow in compact arrangements. These elements enable multi-step finishing strategies and flexible system layouts.
Integrated conveyors manage material flow between process stages within a finishing system.
Gantry Handling Systems
Gantry handling systems automate board handling at defined points within the finishing process, such as system infeed, outfeed, or intermediate transfer stages. They are used in advanced system architectures to support continuous operation and reduced operator involvement.
Gantry handling integrated for automated board transfer within the finishing workflow.
How to Choose the Right Flooring Finishing Configuration
Selecting a finishing configuration depends on the required finishing strategy (single-layer vs multi-layer), the need to achieve multiple dried layers in one board pass, and the level of material handling and automation required. In practice, finishing systems are built from a baseline set of core machines and then expanded by repeating process units and adding conveyors and, where required, gantry handling.
Baseline In-Line: Pretreatment Unit + Finishing Line
A baseline in-line configuration is suitable when the finishing process consists of one pretreatment stage followed by one finishing line. This setup establishes the complete finishing workflow in its simplest integrated form and provides a stable basis for later expansion if additional layers or stages are required.
Baseline in-line configuration built from the core process machines.
Multi-Step Systems: Multiple Dried Layers in One Board Pass
Multi-step systems are selected when multiple finishing layers must be applied and dried within a single board pass. This is achieved by repeating pretreatment and finishing stages within one coordinated system, arranged either in an extended in-line layout or in a compact U-turn configuration using transfer conveyors.
Multi-step architecture repeats process units to enable multi-layer finishing in one pass.
Autonomous Automation: Multi-Step + Gantry Handling
Autonomous configurations are used when manual handling must be reduced and process continuity stabilised. These systems combine multi-step finishing architecture with integrated material handling, such as gantry systems, to support automated board transfer through the finishing process.
Autonomous configuration integrates multi-step finishing with gantry material handling.