Scale Wood

The History Behind Reclaimed Wood Flooring|

What could be amazing about reclaimed wood flooring? Just get some old wood and lay it down, right? Everything between getting it and laying it is difficult, dangerous, and expensive. Old barn wood has long been used for interior walls in upscale homes. However, now, every old barn in the country is under siege from lumber dealers and it’s not only barns, but also old factories, mine buildings, silos, railroad stations and the like. .

Lumber dealers are constantly on the hunt for new sources and seek not only old barns but also areas across the globe, and even the bottom of lakes and rivers. Many of these dealers today are concentrated in the Eastern part of the US where wood was used in earlier days.

Barn siding has long been used in upscale buildings, often pulled out and nailed up without much difficulty, but larger scale “harvesting” means the barn, factory, or silo must be disassembled with the collapse of the building always possible. The problems aren’t over when the wood has been removed from its original location. Back at the sawmill, each piece must be gone over by hand to check for and remove any old metal nails, screws or bolts, which would destroy the saw if left in. Then, these holes must be filled.

Additionally painted wood, as in barns, must be taken off, and any damage from mold or insect must be repaired. Brand new, newly cut wood doesn’t need these efforts. Very old beams can show the marks of the original adze that shaped them, which makes such beams highly coveted. The saws used to cut the wood are very thin in order to preserve more of the wood and to create less sawdust.

The wood reclaimed is often of kinds that no longer exist, like chestnut, which suffered from a long ago blight. In addition to flooring, it can be used in cabinetry, moldings, sidings and decorative elements. It also can give a sense of history when details of its past are known. It can come in a huge variety of finishes from very rough to glassy-smooth. The color range is beyond anything normally used today because of the various environments it comes from.

Reclaimed wood flooring is an ideal model of recycling. There is no forest impact. This wood is extremely dense and stable; it will not warp or twist because there’s no water in it like new wood.

A homeowner’s pride in such a floor is increased by the sense of participation in the history of the country. Reclaimed wood flooring is a direct, tangible connection to the past. It does not twist or warp because it has a very low amount of moisture in it. It’s strength and dependability is pretty obvious: If it held up a building for a couple of centuries without a crack or a twist, it will likely do fine today as well.

Reclaimed wood flooring is currently used in only 1 to 3% of construction in the US. This is chiefly because of its higher cost due to how hard it is to prepare, and how relatively rare it is. It is a model of recycling. It doesn’t go into a landfill, and carries its own history into the future. Check out http://crownwoodconservatories.com/ to learn more.

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