Choosing a Reclaimed Wood Floor

· 10 min read
Choosing a Reclaimed Wood Floor

So you are striving to choose just what kind of flooring to choose? Maybe we all can provide you with a new little primer about some personality differences of reclaimed solid wood flooring from the particular perspective of some sort of manufacturer like themselves who specializes in making wood floor from reclaimed lumber.

Did you notice a picture which you like and now you have the pest that you would like that special floor? The good thing is that it may probably be constructed for you personally, but before an individual go a good methods down the way of choosing which floor you desire and requesting a new display room filled with samples, ask regarding some price amounts. There is a new common misconception of which since reclaimed solid wood is supposedly salvaged it must be cheaper than virgin wood flooring surfaces. For anyone who is buying a quality kiln dried and precision milled product, generally of which is not typically the case. The only real cost savings would end up being in case you found several scraps or do some salvage work yourself, you might save some charges. For example an individual might find a new gym floor or planks out associated with a barn hay loft that you want to nail down on your floors. The material might include been next to be able to free, but just how much time will you have in producing it usable and even pulling nails? Happen to be the results just what you want?

In this article we will be discussing several various categories of wood floors. Solid wood flooring will be one board together with no glued way up laminations; it is usually basically wood board which was sized and even profiled to the certain dimension. Built flooring has a great on top whatever species and texture a person want, and also this is glued into a plywood dionysus at the bottom. Engineered is definitely still all wood but is made with numerous layers which are laminated for better stability and dimensional accuracy. Floors that we can not cover listed below are laminates or any kind of composite products which usually are often not necessarily wood entirely through the plank or can be made with some sort of photo printed surface. We will also not cover vinyl, carpet, stone, or tile.



Hardwood floors are usually a generic name that could use to any type of real wood flooring. Hardwood woods (oak, maple, cherry, walnut, elm, chestnut) are generally trees that had foliage which fall off during winter. Softwood trees (pine, fir) have got needles that may possibly stay on all year and usually that they produce cones. Wood usually are more compacted and much more durable than softwoods. Of study course, there are exclusions to these generalities. Inside our product collection the hardwoods expense more than the particular softwoods.

As a reoccurring theme in this article you will find that will you often get what you pay money for. Admittedly, the increased end price stage products ($11+/sf) through more rare forest are not actually better quality although we discover that upwards to that time quality improves with price. Our solid wood flooring range in cost from $4-9 per square foot and our engineered ranges through $7-15 per rectangular foot. We will discuss applications below, although our point is definitely that you require to have an authentic budget when purchasing. Sometimes a wonderful alternative if an individual have your heart set on an expensive floor will be to use less of it and set it just throughout key areas. Avoid do the whole residence. Maybe just do the main high site visitors areas and make use of a cheaper alternative in bedrooms..

If your price-point is not really even in the same zip code, might be it is throughout a different point out, start shopping other options. For example of this in case you are in the $1-2/sf range glimpse at the strong discounters or laminate options. The FSC certified 12mm external birch plywood of which we use for producer the engineered floor coverings costs us that much alone, not really counting all typically the other labor plus materials.

Also if pricing the floor become sure to factor in the whole mounted cost along with the life-time cost. Allow me to share cases of some factors that could adjust the total charges:

With reclaimed substance waste factor will be a huge distinction. The amount effort does the manufacturer get to give an individual a 100% workable product? Poorly milled with very little defecting and culling carried out on a wooden floors that costs $6/sf and has a new 15% waste element actually costs more than a similar product that will be milled better being $7/sf with a new 2% waste component. That extra toxins costs more throughout shipping and work to defect. This really is one of the particular hardest circumstances to illustrate to a consumer that this face value costs doesn't always represent the specific organic material cost until one is truly comparing identical good quality and specified items.

For the next variable here is definitely a controversial view: we do not really end match our own flooring this means generally there is no language and groove in the ends involving the planks. Due to the fact we recommend our floor be adhered down we point out this is a good unnecessary expense with regard to the customer. End matching reduces the particular yield in creation and raises labor costs. Most ending match profiles happen to be milled so freely that they definitely don't hold the flooring in place anyway. The biggest profit for the installer is that the planks can be cut by 50 % in virtually any place and used again anywhere without have to mate up to and including complementary tongue or perhaps groove since typically the end is merely square cut. This means all finish trim pieces or some kind of waste can be reused. Therefore about our engineered floor product the waste products factor is virtually nothing unless there are angles or perhaps radiuses to work around. We likewise aid in waste factor by usually supplying a random breadth product so any time one gets in close proximity to the ending of any room these people can plan the width combination habits out to not have to rip substantially off the last row.

The 3 rd variable is set up costs. Our designed product has work savings over the solid wood merchandise because it is usually pre-sanded and machine made to tighter tolerances. It is likewise prefilled in typically the holes and possesses subsequent to zero waste materials. On the some other hand you might have a bit more in cost of gluing it down in addition to nails, but it is just a stage in direction associated with better quality in addition to peace of thoughts during the install.

Fourth, factor throughout the price of refinishing the floor later or doing touchups. This specific is an entire another article. Many finishes can end up being spot touched upwards like a few of the natural oils while others require a full sand within the whole floor. A few finishes require a professional installer plus may have extreme odor during the remedy. If you live with the floor with regard to very long, factor these types of decisions in regarding the type involving finish to choose for lifetime durability and the price & effort in order to refinish.

Fifth, compare overall thickness as well as the height from the the top of tongue or perhaps nail groove to the top of the deal with on the flooring. On an engineered floor this is generally the particular thickness of any have on layer. Most sturdy wood floors are 3/4" overall before sanding (but many are less) with 1/4" above the fingernail groove. Our engineered floor is manufactured to equivalent measurements but most engineered flooring have a very thinner use layer. This arrives down to the amount of times the ground may be sanded. What kind of finish and texture you desire on the flooring factors into how deep you can re-sand the floor in the course of refinishing. A amount of our reclaimed wood floors are sold with a good original texture of which shows the outdated saw marks and character in the floor, so almost certainly a person won't want in order to sand this away. Usually of browse, the thicker typically the wear layer then the longer the particular floor will carry on.

Sixth, compare the cost of a personality grade virgin floors to reclaimed. The reclaimed may cost more at the start, nevertheless the additional variability, texture and character in it may well hide or hide the abuse far better. It could possibly therefore very last longer because of the flexible nature within the built in look with the gotten back material. Precisely what is resale value to having an unique product mounted? You may alienate some buyers by taking a danger or impress other people with the choices.

Seventh, are a person a do-it-yourselfer? Think through every step of the process to be positive that can be done it your self. Usually the install can be achieved with fairly moderate skills in addition to simple tools such as a chop read and rented floor coverings nailer. The completing process is a whole different matter. The sanders and buffers get some special skills to operate. A normal range of prices with regard to labor and materials to install an unfinished wood floor is $4-5 per square foot. It is easy to build your own sweating equity into a floor install. Might be this is when you choose to use our engineered product for example because it will be presanded to considerably more accurate tolerances when compared to a solid wood product. It could be touched upward with a palm held orbital sander rather than business floor sanders. After that should you be doing typically the finish yourself, an individual will want to be able to consider using a finish that may not really require as very much buffing between jackets.

Here is a word on prefab product if that they factor with your choice. If you show up short on your current order, the up coming lot that you simply acquire may not match up your previous order. This is specifically a problem around the lower end price floors and import floors. Good fortune trying to merge it in using your previous flooring. So if you go this kind of route, be further accurate on your own measurements. Today the rage is life time warranties on floor coverings. We think about it is that will really even probable? First will that will importer or company really be around a lifetime? A lot of tools are built oversees; the warrantee is only great if there is somebody you can use intended for the life from the warranty. Are an individual going to be able to enforce the warrantee? Also, do an individual really think that a finish can carry on the? For instance take a fingernail and try scraping it across the surface. Sure it is a long lasting, well applied surface finish, but it is usually impossible to make a product that won't get abused at some time in its life span. Do you think that typically the only serious demo your floor can ever see is really a stinky sock? Watch out for hidden clauses on the warrantee and regardless involving what it claims consider the real rc on typically the floor. It almost certainly only covers the cost of material of the specific damaged item under normal put on and tear. Your current product may certainly not be made specifically the same after (trends and product or service lines change) in order to replace the part that is warrantied, which means you may have to replace the whole floor years later. You will have labor price along with shift of trim, cabinetry, and appliances. Likewise a large number of lifetime completes may not be repaired or even sanded because regarding a micro bevel put on the particular edge of prefab floor. Our tips is instead in order to buy a good quality product that may be refinished plus repaired because some thing will go inappropriate within the lifetime of the floor; do not get a false sense of security.

We all personally do not care for prefinished flooring due to be able to installation problems related with it, so our product calls for site applied surface finish. This means of which your floor end if site applied is going to be easier to be able to sand and refinish than a prefab floor. Also a person do not have to deal along with that micro bevel groove between every board that tends to fill upwards with dust and crumbs. Most prefinished hardwood floors really can not be refinished effortlessly. To sand it off means that will the wear layer has to get thicker than the particular height with the nails and have room to sand off the micro bevel among boards; that levels to a whole lot of sanding. Additionally you will not end up being able to spot sand or touch up parts of the particular floor.

Inside a reclaimed product the designed flooring really stands out. Since the mother nature of reclaimed substance is rustic using splits, various elevation, warps and thus forth getting into a great engineered product all of us can eliminate those issues. We complement the texture plus color that an individual want in the particular floor but a person don't have in order to put up with the built in issues that come using installing and existing with a gotten back wood floor. A variety of solid wood reclaimed floors have warped and twisted panels, gaps between rows, height difference between rows, holes, and even other "nostalgia plus romance" which could turn into unwelcome after residing with the floors for a time.  Engineered Flooring Kenton  in order to our precise layering during the lamination process for the particular engineered product and even after, pieces happen to be more consistent high, more uniform within texture, fit jointly tighter, no waste materials, holes and fractures already filled, and even no sanding necessary after install until you want in order to do a light monitor or buff.

Built is also completely essential if installing more than radiant heat, solid, below grade, substantial humidity areas, in addition to wide planks above 6" are extra stable. We suggest gluing with floors mastic and nailing our engineered down therefore it won't include squeaks like many wood floors could have. Our specialised is the strange such as super wide width planks floor that will be 12"+ wide; the belief is it is only not safe to achieve that with a sturdy wood floor. Many of our broader width products happen to be actually less high-priced than if bought in a less wide width. You can see additional information about our reclaimed good and engineered solid wood floors at http://www.reclaimedlumberproducts.com/wood-flooring-and-paneling.