Reclaimed Flooring-Austin Tx

Hardwood Reclaimed Floors

  • Showroom Location
    2315 Rutland Dr
    Austin, TX 78758

    Hours
    M-Fri 8am -5pm
    Tue & Thu 8am -7pm


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Reclaimed Floor by Austin Flooring Store.

Reclaimed flooring in Austin Texas is the term used when a wood floor is reclaimed or salvaged as it was probably from an old barn from the American Revolution. Similar to rustic flooring or
handscraped flooring reclaimed flooring may have some history behind it. It can be wood that has been salvaged from a deconstruction, used railroad ties, siding from an old house, old beams from Chicago or an old factory, or sometimes it can be from sunken logs. Sunken logs or "recovered wood" is another term used differently than "reclaimed wood". The reason is that sunken wood never made it to a processing factory, so its was never used. Another term used is "virgin wood". This type of wood has no nail holes or any kind of history to go with it. Some people might prefer this over the reclaimed flooring and vise versa. It also can come from forest salvaged projects. This can be standing dead tress caused from storms or removed from forest due to urban expansion. These trees are then salvaged in turned into reclaimed flooring.

Reclaimed wood floors use to have some kind of use in the past. Buildings build in the United States in the last 2 centuries used wood as the main structural source. These buildings are now being demolished and wood that comes out of them is being turned into recycled or reclaimed hardwood. Taking advantage of the buildings resources and reusing them again for a different life is a fantastic way to recycle hardwood.
Sometimes people might go locally and reclaim an old barn or an old factory beam. Other people might travel across the globe in search of the perfect floor. Of coarse different regions on the earth will yield different species. For example places in the Pacific Northwest might be yield locally Douglas Fir. While Chestnut, elm or oak might be found more in the Midwest region. Other regions across the globe like in Asia might yield Teak since old buildings there are made of this type of wood.
Reclaimed hardwood is also used in things like furniture, and counter tops.

The Benifits of Reclaimed Flooring

The benefits is that it is environmentally friendly. The idea of  preserving the forest and avoiding the landfills from wood that comes from these old buildings is a plus.

Some reclaimed wood come from nearly extinct and exotic wood. For example American Chestnut is a kind of wood floor you cant get anymore because of its nearly extinction due to a blight that happened at the turn of the century. So the only way people can obtain American Chestnut is from reclaimed hardwood. Some other woods that are protected are types of teak from Asia. Some of these teaks you can only obtain from reclaimed hardwood.
All reclaimed wood floors have a uniqueness to them due to their history behind it. All tell a story and have individuality and character. In fact some are as old as 400 years like the Chinese Elm.
Some other benefits of reclaimed hardwood is the ability to obtain old growth wood. Some of these woods that took centuries to mature have characteristics not found in younger trees. Getting wood floors from these reclaimed flooring can benefit the forest as less of the older standing remaining tress get left alone. Reclaimed hardwood flooring also come in the engineered form. This makes it possible to install over concrete or in basements otherwise solid wood floors would not be acceptable.
Things to keep in mind when purchasing reclaimed hardwood
The amount of wood to buy is very important. The reason being is that there is only a few old structures and resources that these reclaimed wood floors come from. It is wise to consider buying allot more than you will need, just in case you will have to do a repair later on down. If you delay this, it may be too late by the time you decide on getting some extra. Keeping around 20 to 40 square feet extra stored away is recommended.
Also a good practice, but not necessary is to know if the floor you are purchasing comes with a certain certification. For example the (FSC) or Forest Stewardship Council. This organization of makes sure that the reclaimed wood was obtained in a clean responsible manner. The SmartWood program is another organization that validates environmentally friendly practices when obtaining reclaimed timber.

 

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