In recent years, the demand for reclaimed wooden floors, as well as the myriad of other products made from reclaimed wood has increased dramatically throughout the United States, as well as the rest of the world.
This wood is harvested from various places, such as the bottoms of rivers and forests, and structures that are no longer useful, such as old barns and homes that are no longer suitable for habitation.
Like any other building material, wood will suffer from the passage of time, as well as general usage.
The wonderful thing about the reclaimed wood used in wooden flooring, however, is that suddenly the effect of age make the end product even more desirable.
Reclaimed lumber has become popular for many different reasons.
Many times there's a historical story that is associated with the wood, such as it being harvested from an old chapel or factory, and reclaimed wood always has a unique appearance.
Also, for the wood to have survived long enough to become reclaimed lumber, it has to be of the highest quality, assuring durability for years to come.
Reclaimed wood offers an unusual chance to match existing materials when renovating an older home.
Even if just doing a simple repair to the wooden floor of something from the Victorian era, repairs can be made to look transparent.
Reclaimed lumber is also useful in new structures as well, either residential or commercial, as it creates a sense of permanence and stability and often allows new design possibilities such as hand crafted beams or stair rails.
Customers are always looking for ways to make their home different, and as antique wooden flooring can never be anything but unique, this seems to be one of its key selling points.
There's no building material that's more environmentally friendly than reclaimed wood, either.
Now that there is actually a rating system to rate how environmentally friendly new construction is, reclaimed wood and wooden flooring is suddenly in high demand.
This system, called the LEED rating system, rates a structure on exactly how environmentally friendly it is.
Using reclaimed lumber for your wooden flooring will boost your LEED rating.
Also, wooden flooring is great for your HVAC system, so it will save you money in the long run on electric bills as well.
Because you're using lumber that's already been cut, there's no need to destroy new trees.
Not only that, but you're helping avoid the energy expenditure required if that reclaimed wood had ended up in a landfill.
Believe it or not, the quality of the reclaimed wood from older buildings is almost always better than new wood.
First-growth timber, which grew much more slowly than the newer, faster growing or plantation grown timber, is far more stable and dense.