| Much has been written about Bamboo as the green | | | | (which is now extinct in the United States) and many |
| flooring alternative. It is true that Bamboo has many | | | | others. |
| green aspects to it when used as a flooring product. | | | | The process of reclaiming this material for use in |
| This article explores another green alternative to | | | | flooring removing the material during demolition and |
| flooring which is reclaimed hardwood flooring. Much as | | | | sending it to a flooring re-manufacturer instead of the |
| recycling your aluminum cans, newspapers, plastic | | | | landfill or burning it. Once the material has arrived at |
| bottles from your daily lives gives you a feeling of | | | | the re-manufacturer it is inspected and nails, bolts and |
| helping the environment, reclaimed flooring | | | | other metal objects that have been embedded in it |
| accomplishes this goal with the flooring that you are | | | | during the construction of the building are removed. |
| using in your home. | | | | The heavy beams are then re-sawn into the boards |
| Reclaimed flooring is flooring that has been salvaged | | | | that are required to make flooring. A single beam |
| from old buildings, warehouses, factories and other | | | | that is 12" thick, 16" wide and 20' long will produce |
| buildings as they are being demolished. For years the | | | | over 400 square feet of flooring. After the beam has |
| buildings have been leveled and then materials such | | | | been resawn into planks it is sometimes ripped to |
| as the beams that supported the building and the | | | | reduce it in width. For instance a 12" x 16" beam may |
| wooden flooring in the building have been burned or | | | | be cut into 16 boards that are each 12" wide and 7 |
| land-filled to clear the site for the next project. Many | | | | 8" thick. These boards are then ripped into thirty-two |
| times it is impossible to stop the razing of old | | | | 6" wide boards. The boards are then typically taken |
| buildings and many times it is warranted that they | | | | for kiln drying where excess moisture that can cause |
| should be torn down. Reclaimed flooring allows the | | | | bending or warping of the boards is removed during |
| materials in these buildings to live on in another form | | | | the kiln drying process. The boards are then taken to |
| in the homes that we live in. | | | | a flooring machine called a side matcher or moulder |
| It is really amazing when you look at the construction | | | | where the tongue and groove are machined onto |
| of buildings from the 1800's and early 1900's to see | | | | each edge of the board. |
| the materials that were used. Heavy heart pine | | | | After these processes have been completed the old |
| beams 12" thick and 16" or more wide and many feet | | | | beams that were destined for destruction are ready |
| long were used to support these buildings. Floors | | | | to be installed as flooring in someones home. Not only |
| were made of wood as well. Doesn't it make sense | | | | is the quality of the flooring exceptional, the color and |
| that there is a lot of use left in these old timbers? | | | | character of the wood is something that you cannot |
| Today there would be no way to find trees large | | | | find in new flooring. So in this case there are no |
| enough to make the solid beams that were used | | | | sacrifices in quality or look necessary to be "green". |
| years ago. The fact is that the trees just are not | | | | Quite to the contrary, in the process of being green |
| given enough time (hundreds of years) to grow as | | | | you are getting a unique, beautiful conversation piece |
| large as the virgin forest that were used back then | | | | that is different than any other floor in the whole |
| to produce the materials used in construction of a | | | | world. Many times the seller of the flooring can also |
| factory. These woods have very tight grains and are | | | | provide you a history of the flooring showing what |
| of extremely high quality as their use in the | | | | building it was removed from, when this building was |
| supporting of a building or factory required a high | | | | first constructed, and maybe even a photograph of |
| quality as to be strong enough to hold up the building | | | | the building. |
| without failing. Many different species were used in | | | | When you are looking for wood flooring in your |
| the construction of these buildings including heart | | | | home, please keep in mind the green alternative of |
| pine, oak, both white and red oak, hickory, chestnut | | | | reclaimed hardwood flooring. |