How to decorate your room with reclaimed wood
Wood has served man in many different ways ever since the human race came into existence. From barns to roaring campfires, wood is a very versatile material that has helped us countless ways since it was first harvested. Unfortunately, high demand has been depleting reserves and taking trees out of Earth’s ecosystem at an alarming rate. In order to combat deforestation, many people are now finding ways to use reclaimed wood instead of cutting down new trees. Keep reading to learn more about reclaimed wood, its benefits, and how it can be used to decorate your room.
Reclaimed wood comes from a variety of sources including churches, barns, buildings which had wooden structural joists, mines, and old floor boards. One great way to use reclaimed wood is to install prefinished hardwood floors. These floors can be solid hardwood or engineered hardwood. Solid hardwood planks offer a surface that is the same kind of wood the entire way through the plank while engineered hardwoods offer the reclaimed wood as a veneer tightly bonded to a composite wood base. Some of the benefits of using reclaimed wood for prefinished hardwood floors include:
Cost Savings: Since the wood is reclaimed, it is often much more affordable than purchasing solid or engineered hardwood made from new wood. Having the floors delivered in a prefinished condition saves money on the installation charge because you do not need to pay the installer to take the time to finish the planks.
Health Conscious: Many times, stains and finishes can have strong odors or fumes which can be harmful if the installation area is not well ventilated. Prefinished hardwood removes this issue because all finishes are applied directly at the factory so the most your floor could need is a final sealing to protect the joints where planks meet during installation.
Stability & Durability: Wood products are naturally susceptible to warping due to changing weather conditions. The warping occurs because the moisture locked into the wood fibers expands and contracts with warming or cooling temperatures. Reclaimed wood naturally combats the warping problem because the wood has already been well seasoned meaning that much of the moisture has already been released from the wood during its first life cycle. Since there is less moisture, your floor should be more resistant to temperature changes than flooring made from wood harvested today.
Eco Friendly: Prefinished hardwood floors made from reclaimed wood provide significant benefits to the environment. First and foremost, the wood has already been cut down and is recycled instead of using new trees. This helps to preserve forests which provide necessary oxygen to all life and a home to many wild animal and insect ecosystems. Another eco friendly feature involves the pre finishing process. Since the wood is finished at the factory, you are less likely to end up with extra stains and sealers at your home where they would be eventually discarded. By keeping the finishing at the factory, there are less chemicals ending being wasted and ending up in landfills around the world.
Greater Choices: When choosing what type of wood you want to use for your pre finished hardwood floors you might be surprised to learn you actually have more choices of wood type in reclaimed wood compared to new hardwood. The greater selection is due to many older varieties of wood either dying out or becoming overharvested to the point where they are now protected and unable to be used for new hardwood flooring.
Enhanced Beauty: Pre finished hardwood floors provide beauty that is unique and unable to be replicated in new hardwood floors. Since reclaimed wood was originally sourced from trees which grew much slower than trees today you can often find unique swirls, knots and grain patterns that are unlike current marketplace offerings. Furthermore, the aging that reclaimed wood has gone through during its first lifespan offers exceptional color variation which is sure to create a lasting impression on your guests.
We at REAL GOODS Company pride ourselves in providing excellence in customer service to go with our excellent quality products. We are proud to offer a wide range of wooden flooring systems include pre finished hardwood floors, wide plank hardwood oak, engineered wood floors, solid hardwood floors, and even unfinished floors for those looking to give their house a more rustic look. Visit our website and give us a call today. Our experts are ready to help you source the floor you always wanted!
