| Reclaimed lumber, like many things of real beauty and | | | | where the customer has set a particular limit on how |
| value, does come with a price. You're looking at | | | | many flaws the lumber should have. When buying |
| buying the Mercedes of floors here, after all, not the | | | | reclaimed lumber, suppliers will often focus on grain |
| Yugo. The costs to retrieve and prepare the | | | | quality and species, which means that obtaining the |
| reclaimed lumber are generally not cheap for the | | | | highest possible yield from each batch of reclaimed |
| suppliers, and these costs are always passed down | | | | wood is an absolute necessity. As much as 50% of |
| to the customer in the cost of their wooden flooring. | | | | reclaimed wood might go to waste in the production |
| When harvested from old buildings such as homes or | | | | of high quality reclaimed wood products. Half is a lot, |
| barns, the buildings must be meticulously | | | | to be sure, but as technology and demand increases, |
| de-constructed in a manner that will preserve the | | | | this number should improve. Also consider that half of |
| reclaimed wood and protect it from damage. Once | | | | something is a lot more than nothing at all. |
| these old buildings are de-constructed, the reclaimed | | | | Wood is everywhere. It's in the forests and parks, |
| wood begins a long journey of being prepared, | | | | obviously, but it's also cradling our books, computers, |
| transported, and transformed before it ends up in | | | | and even our selves when we sit in our sofas and |
| your home as wooden flooring. You can see where, | | | | chairs. The world economy, however, is based on |
| compared to traditional wooden flooring, reclaimed | | | | high speed delivery and mass production, which, in |
| wooden floors, while great for the environment in | | | | the end, dictates the prices of everything, even |
| comparison, certainly take a lot more work than | | | | something like reclaimed lumber that is obviously |
| cutting down the tree and running it through a saw | | | | better with time. Like organic food and other |
| mill. | | | | sustainable lifestyle items, reclaimed wooden flooring |
| Embedded materials such as nails, rocks, and building | | | | and other products made from recycled antique |
| hardware from the lumber's previous home have to | | | | wood will cost you a little more. Mass production |
| be very carefully identified and removed in the initial | | | | does tend to drive the final price down, and that's |
| steps so as not to damage the saws and other | | | | obviously not an option when it comes to reclaiming |
| equipment that will be used in shaping the reclaimed | | | | ours or nature's wasted building materials. However, |
| wood. This is a tedious process, and although it | | | | to many it is worth it as you're gaining not only an |
| addresses some of the character marks that make | | | | awesome wooden floor, but one made of material |
| reclaimed wood so sought after as they embody the | | | | durable enough to justify its cost. While reclaimed |
| timelessness that is so endearing about reclaimed | | | | wooden flooring is not for everyone, it would |
| wooden flooring, there is often a limit to just how | | | | behoove you to at least give it a look, especially if |
| much character any piece of lumber should have | | | | you're planning to build or rebuild an environmentally |
| before it's just plain trash. Sometimes this limit is | | | | friendly home with wooden floors. |
| obvious, but sometimes there is a system of grading | | | | |