Selecting a Reclaimed Wood Floor

· 9 min read
Selecting a Reclaimed Wood Floor

So you are attempting to choose precisely what kind of floor coverings to choose? Maybe we can help you with the little primer upon some personality differences of reclaimed wooden flooring from the particular perspective of the manufacturer like themselves who specializes throughout making wood floor coverings from reclaimed timber.

Did you discover a picture that you want and now a person have the parasite that you need that special floor? The good news is that it can probably be constructed for you personally, but before an individual go a lengthy ways down the course of choosing which in turn floor you desire and requesting the display room packed with samples, ask concerning some price runs. There is a new common misconception that will since reclaimed solid wood is supposedly salvaged it ought to be cheaper than virgin wood flooring surfaces. For anyone who is buying a new quality kiln dried up and precision milled product, generally that will is not typically the case. The sole expense savings would be should you found many scraps or did some salvage do the job yourself, you may possibly save some fees. For example a person might find a new gym floor or even planks out associated with a barn hay loft that you want to nail down on your floors. The material might possess been next to be able to free, but just how much time will you have in making it usable and pulling nails? Happen to be the results just what you want?

Within this article we are discussing several different types of wood floor coverings. Solid wood flooring is one board together with no glued way up laminations; it is definitely basically wood board that has been sized in addition to profiled to a certain dimension. Manufactured flooring has a good on the top whatever types and texture an individual want, and this is adhered into a plywood dionysus at the bottom. Engineered is usually still all solid wood but is made from multiple layers which might be laminated for better stableness and dimensional accuracy and reliability. Floors that people will not cover here are laminates or virtually any composite products which often are often certainly not wood entirely from the plank or could possibly be made with the photo printed area. We will also not cover vinyl, rug, stone, or flooring.

Hardwood floors are often a generic phrase that could implement to almost any wood flooring. Hardwood trees (oak, maple, cherry wood, walnut, elm, chestnut) are generally trees and shrubs that had finds which fall away in the winter. Softwood trees and shrubs (pine, fir) have needles that may stay on all seasons and usually they produce cones. Wood are generally more thick and more durable as compared to softwoods. Of program, there are conditions to these generalities. Within  floor installation  cost more than typically the softwoods.


As some sort of reoccurring theme within this article an individual will find that will you often get what you pay money for. Admittedly, the larger end price point products ($11+/sf) coming from more rare hardwoods are not automatically better quality nevertheless we discover that up to that period quality improves with value. Our solid wood flooring surfaces range in price through $4-9 per square foot and our own engineered ranges from $7-15 per square foot. We will discuss applications below, yet our point is definitely that you need to have a realistic budget when purchasing. Sometimes a nice alternative if you have your cardiovascular set on the expensive floor is to use much less of it make it just throughout key areas. No longer the actual whole house. Maybe just do the main high site visitors areas and utilize a cheaper alternative within bedrooms..

If your current price-point is not even in a similar zip code, maybe it is within a different express, start shopping various other options. For illustration if you are in the particular $1-2/sf range search at the heavy discounters or laminate options. The FSC certified 12mm outdoor birch plywood that we value to manufacturer the engineered floor coverings costs us of which much alone, not necessarily counting all the other labor and materials.

Also whenever pricing the floor end up being sure to issue in the complete mounted cost as well as the lifetime cost. Here are illustrations of some parameters that could modify the total expenses:

With reclaimed stuff waste factor is usually a huge distinction. Just how much effort does indeed the manufacturer consider to give you a 100% usable product? Poorly milled with almost no defecting and culling carried out on a solid wood floors that costs $6/sf and has some sort of 15% waste component actually costs extra than a related product that is milled better charging $7/sf with a 2% waste aspect. That extra wastes costs more in shipping and labour to defect. This is one of the particular hardest items to demonstrate to a customer the face benefit costs doesn't necessarily represent the particular organic material cost unless of course one is really comparing identical top quality and specified items.

For the next variable here is usually a controversial thoughts and opinions: we do not really end match our flooring which means right now there is no language and groove on the ends of the planks. Due to the fact we recommend the floor be cemented down we say this is a great unnecessary expense regarding the customer. End matching reduces typically the yield in production and raises labor costs. Most ending match profiles will be milled so generally that they really don't support the flooring in place anyways. The biggest profit for the installer is that the plank can be slice by 50 % in any kind of place and reused anywhere without possess to mate up to a complementary tongue or perhaps groove since the particular end is just square cut. This means all finish trim pieces or any type of waste can be reused. Therefore in our engineered floor coverings product the waste factor is nearly nothing unless presently there are angles or even radiuses to function around. We likewise help with waste component by usually supplying a random size product so when one gets close up to the end of a room that they can plan the width combination habits out to not have to rip significantly off the previous row.

The third variable is set up costs. Our engineered product has work savings over each of our solid wood item because it will be pre-sanded and milled to tighter tolerances. It is likewise prefilled in the holes and possesses following to zero waste materials. On the various other hand you may have more in cost of gluing it down in addition to nails, but it is just a phase in direction regarding better quality and peace of thoughts during the set up.

Fourth, factor throughout the cost of refinishing typically the floor later or perhaps doing touchups. This particular is an entire another article. Several finishes can get spot touched upward like some of the natural oils while others require a full sand on the whole floor. A few finishes require a professional installer and even may have intense odor in the remedy. If you experience the floor regarding long, factor these decisions in intended for the type associated with finish to pick for lifetime strength and the cost & effort in order to refinish.

Fifth, compare overall thickness plus the height from the particular top of the tongue or even nail groove to the the top of deal with on the ground. By using an engineered flooring this is certainly generally the particular thickness of your wear layer. Most solid wood floors are 3/4" overall ahead of sanding (but some are less) with 1/4" above the fingernail groove. Our manufactured floor is produced to equivalent proportions but most engineered floors have a thinner use layer. This arrives down to the amount of times the floors may be sanded. What kind of surface finish and texture you would like on the flooring factors into precisely how deep you are going to re-sand the floor in the course of refinishing. A amount of our gotten back wood floors will be sold with a good original texture that will shows the old saw marks and character in the floors, so almost certainly an individual won't want to be able to sand this out and about. As a rule of thumb, the thicker the particular wear layer then the longer the particular floor will last.

Sixth, compare the particular cost of a character grade virgin flooring to reclaimed. Typically the reclaimed may cost more at the start, nevertheless the additional variability, texture and persona in it may possibly hide or mask the abuse far better. It could possibly therefore last longer due to forgiving nature within the inherent look in the reclaimed material. What is resale value to having a great unique product set up? You may alienate some buyers simply by taking a chance or impress other folks with the modification.

Seventh, are an individual a do-it-yourselfer? Think through every step of the procedure to be confident which can be done it on your own. Usually the install can be achieved with fairly moderate skills plus simple tools just like a chop saw and rented flooring nailer. The finishing process is a whole different matter. The sanders and buffers take some special abilities to operate. The normal cost range with regard to labor and components to install a wood floor is $4-5 per rectangular foot. It is possible to build your own perspiration equity into a floor install. Could be this is how you choose to use our own engineered product such as because it is definitely presanded to even more accurate tolerances compared to a solid wood item. It could be touched up with a hand held orbital sander rather than business floor sanders. Next in case you are doing the finish yourself, you will want in order to consider using a stop that may certainly not require as many buffing between coats.

Here is a word on prefab product if they factor into the selection. If you arise short on your current order, the up coming lot that you buy may not fit your previous order. This is specially a problem within the lower end price floors and import floors. Good good luck trying to combine it in using your previous floors. If you go this kind of route, be extra accurate on your current measurements. Today typically the rage is lifetime warranties on floor. We think about it is that really even probable? First will that importer or company really be in regards to lifetime? A lot of tools are made oversees; the warranty is only excellent if there is usually somebody still around intended for the life of the warranty. Are you going to be able to enforce the warrantee? Also, do you really believe that a finish can carry on the? For example take a toe nail and try scratching it across the particular surface. Sure it is a sturdy, well applied end, but it is impossible to help to make a product that will not get abused sooner or later in its life-time. Do you think that the only serious tryout your floor may ever see is really a stinky sock? Read the fine print on the guarantee and regardless associated with what it states consider the true replacement cost on the floor. It probably only covers the cost of material of the particular specific damaged item under normal use and tear. Your own product may not be made specifically the same later (trends and item lines change) to replace the segment that is warrantied, so you may have to replace the particular whole floor yrs later. You will have labor price along with displacement of trim, units, and appliances. Furthermore the majority of these lifetime completes should not be repaired or sanded because associated with a micro bevel put on the particular edge of prefab floor. Our suggestions is instead in order to buy a quality product that can easily be refinished in addition to repaired because some thing will go inappropriate within the lifetime regarding the floor; don't get a false sense of security.

Many of us personally do certainly not care for prefinished flooring due to be able to installation problems associated with it, thus our product requires site applied finish off. This means of which your floor surface finish if site used will be easier to sand and refinish than a prefinished floor. Also you do not have to deal with that micro bevel groove between each board that seems to fill upwards with dust and even crumbs. Most prefinished hardwood floors really can't be refinished effortlessly. To sand this off means that the wear coating has to be thicker than the particular height in the toenails and have area to sand off of the micro bevel among boards; that sums to a whole lot of sanding. You also will not get able to spot sand or jazz up parts of the particular floor.

Inside a gotten back product the designed flooring really shines. Since the character of reclaimed stuff is rustic using splits, various level, warps and therefore forth by doing a great engineered product we all can eliminate these issues. We match up the texture and color that an individual want in the particular floor but a person don't have in order to deal with the inherent problems that come with installing and living with a gotten back wood floor. A number of solid wood gotten back floors have warped and twisted boards, gaps between lanes, height difference in between rows, holes, and even other "nostalgia plus romance" that could turn into unwelcome after existing with the floor for some time. Due to our precise texturing during the laminierung process for the engineered product and after, pieces will be more consistent high, more uniform in texture, fit jointly tighter, no waste material, holes and splits already filled, and no sanding necessary after install until you want to be able to do a mild monitor or buff.