Reclaimed Wooden Flooring Is Not The Cheapest
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 Character To Reclaimed Wood Floors
Embedded materials such as nails, rocks, and building hardware from the lumber’s previous home have to be very carefully identified and removed in the initial steps so as not to damage the saws and other equipment that will be used in shaping the reclaimed wood. This is a tedious process, and although it addresses some of the character marks that make reclaimed wood so sought after as they embody the timelessness that is so endearing about reclaimed wooden flooring, there is often a limit to just how much character any piece of lumber should have before it’s just plain trash. Sometimes this limit is obvious, but sometimes there is a system of grading where the customer has set a particular limit on how many flaws the lumber should have. When buying reclaimed lumber, suppliers will often focus on grain quality and species, which means that obtaining the highest possible yield from each batch of reclaimed wood is an absolute necessity.
Reclaimed Wood Floors Use Something Previously Left To Waste
Up to half the reclaimed wood will end up going to waste in the production of high quality reclaimed wood. This probably seems like a lot and, in a way, it is, but consider how rich someone could be if they could turn just half of a city’s garbage into something that could be sold for a profit? Not only that, but something that was actually desirable and considered superior to its competition. Suddenly half seems like a lot, and that’s what this wood originally was – waste.
Wood Is Used For More Than Just Wooden Flooring
We’re constantly surround by wood. Not only is it all throughout our forests and parks, but it holds our books, our computers, and even our butts in our sofas and chairs. However, our world economy is based on mass production and high speed delivery, which ultimately dictates the price of all things. Reclaimed wooden flooring and other products made from recycled antique wood are really no different than organically grown food and other sustainable lifestyle items. They are somewhat more pricey than their cheaper, mass produced cousins. However, in the case of reclaimed wooden flooring, you’re gaining not only a gratifying wooden floor, but one made of a more enduring material. Reclaimed wooden flooring is certainly not for everyone. But if you intend to make an environmentally friendly home, it would be worth your while to see what’s out there.
Want to learn more about wooden floors? Check out Wooden Flooring Info.