Wood Is Everywhere, Not 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.

Reclaimed Wood Floors Use Something Previously Left To Waste

As much as 50% of reclaimed wood might go to waste in the production of high quality reclaimed wood products. Half is a lot, to be sure, but as technology and demand increases, this number should improve. Also consider that half of something is a lot more than nothing at all. What if someone came up with a device that could turn half of a city's garbage into a profit generating product that was considered superior to its competition simply because it was made of garbage? Suddenly half doesn't seem like so little. Not too long ago, this wood would've simply rotted in landfills or at the bottoms of rivers and lakes. The stuff was literally laying around, waiting to be picked up and made into something useful.

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 Wooden Floor Planks Start Out In Other Buildings

There is extra work to be done any time people are going to take a step back and do things int he most environmentally friendly way. Everything changes when a building's remnants are going to be used for reclaimed wood. The buildings must be deconstruction in a way that will protect the future building materials, as opposed to simply leveling the structure. Once the old buildings are deconstruction, the reclaimed wood, full of nails, rocks, and other stuff you wouldn't want in your floor, begins a journey that will see it start as trash and end up as some of the most beautiful wooden flooring ever seen. When you think on it, it becomes very obvious that using reclaimed wood as opposed to destroying a tree is going to require a lot more work.

Reclaimed Wooden Flooring May Not Be The Cheapest

As with many things, especially things of real value and beauty, reclaimed lumber does come with a price. While it does support a sustainable building approach to life by re-using materials that would've otherwise gone to waste, the costs to retrieve and prepare the reclaimed lumber for use are not always cheap to the suppliers, which trickles down to the cost of your wooden flooring. Eventually there may be some sort of subsidies on something so incredibly environmentally friendly, but it doesn't seem like there's any chance of that anytime soon. Unfortunately most people view lumber as an infinitely renewable resource which, though kind of true, is a bit naive. The take a tree, plant a tree idea works, but it takes time for those trees to grow, and they're nowhere near as tough as what they're replacing.