Things you should know about reclaimed flooring

Reclaimed flooring is the use of reclaimed or reused material for flooring i.e., the flooring material that you use is not first hand, but second hand. Most of reclaimed flooring material used is wood, which is rescued from old barns, warehouses and factories. Some of this wood can even come from trees felled by storms or for purposes of urban expansion, as well as from dead trees. All this wood is salvaged for a more purposeful use.

Advantages Of Using Reclaimed Flooring

Reclaimed wood flooring is becoming more and more popular due to a number of reasons. These include:

• Uniqueness – Most of the reclaimed wood comes from very old wood, which most probably is from some very good quality trees, such as the Douglas fir or the Chinese Elm. These thus have a grain, color and patina that is not easy to find with newer trees.
• Ecologically Friendly – Since reclaimed wood is sourced from already used wood, the likelihood of felling more trees is reduced. This allows for the existing trees to grow and also utilizes materials that are already available for recycling.
• Adaptable – It is possible to engineer most reclaimed wood and use them in places where new wood cannot fit properly, such as the basement. The top of the reclaimed wood can also be laminated.

Factors To Consider

While reclaimed wood has over the years become the most popular type of flooring for most homeowners, there are a few factors to be considered when acquiring one for your flooring project. One is that the supply of this type of wood is finite. Since most of the old buildings are only diminishing every year, so is the supply for reclaimed wood. Thus, a homeowner will find that the wood type he bought today may not be available say three or five years from now, and may have to look for other options when it comes to expansions or repair.

Another is that choosing reclaimed wood is just the same as choosing any newer flooring materials. The same factors considered, such as the quality and finish of the wood are also to be considered with reclaimed flooring.

Costs Of Reclaimed Flooring

You will find that the cost of reclaimed wood flooring is a bit higher than that of newer flooring. This of course is affected by the rarity of the wood species, and the work involved in processing the wood.