There is a price associated with using reclaimed wooden flooring over traditional wooden floors, but with that price, you’re getting a lot. This is the BMW of flooring, after all, not the Yugo. Reclaimed wooden flooring just looks nicer and richer, though you wouldn’t think it by the name. The costs to recover and process the lumber is not a cheap one, however, and that means the price is going to be a bit higher in the end.
Reclaimed Wooden Floor Planks May Be Harvested From Other Buildings
When harvested from old buildings such as homes or barns, the buildings must be meticulously deconstructed in a manner that will preserve the reclaimed wood and protect it from damage. Once these old buildings are deconstructed, the reclaimed wood begins a long journey of being prepared, transported, and transformed before it ends up in your home as wooden flooring. You can see where, compared to traditional wooden flooring, reclaimed wooden floors, while great for the environment in comparison, certainly take a lot more work than cutting down the tree and running it through a saw mill.
Flaws Add Alot Of Character To Reclaimed Wood Floors
The rocks, nails, and other embedded materials in the reclaimed lumber must be very carefully identified and extracted so as not to destroy the equipment that will shape it. Consider how tedious of a process that would be. Now stop before you give yourself a headache. There is also a limit to consider – at what point does too much character end up making it trash? Sometimes that limit is obvious, such as when there’s simply not enough lumber left to do anything with, but sometimes a grading system will be implemented referring to a customer’s demands based on exactly how many flaws are acceptable. Suppliers generally focus on grain quality and species when they buy reclaimed lumber to resell, so getting the highest possible yield is also a large concern.
Reclaimed Wood Floors Use Lumber Previously Regarded As Trash
It’s not uncommon for over 50% of reclaimed wood to go to waste in the production of high quality, useable reclaimed wood products. Though this may seem like a lot, the number will go down as technology increases, and 50% of something is still a lot more than nothing.
Wood Is Used For Much More Than Just Wooden Flooring
Wood is everywhere. It’s in the forests and parks, obviously, but it’s also cradling our books, computers, and even our selves when we sit in our sofas and chairs. The world economy, however, is based on high speed delivery and mass production, which, in the end, dictates the prices of everything, even something like reclaimed lumber that is obviously better with time. Like organic food and other sustainable lifestyle items, reclaimed wooden flooring and other products made from recycled antique wood will cost you a little more. Mass production does tend to drive the final price down, and that’s obviously not an option when it comes to reclaiming ours or nature’s wasted building materials. However, to many it is worth it as you’re gaining not only an awesome wooden floor, but one made of material durable enough to justify its cost. While reclaimed wooden flooring is not for everyone, it would behoove you to at least give it a look, especially if you’re planning to build or rebuild an environmentally friendly home.
