| Wood floors have been a mainstay in our homes for | | | | available. |
| several hundred years. Born out of necessity to cover | | | | Some woods are no longer commercially available |
| dirt floors they have evolved into tapestries of utilitarian | | | | because of their rarity due natural causes or |
| beauty beneath our feet. Most wood floors today are | | | | over-harvesting. American Chestnut was once used to |
| made from trees harvested in the present, from | | | | build barns and factories but a blight at the turn of the |
| common varieties like oak, maple and cherry. But there | | | | century virtually eliminated this species. Using reclaimed |
| are some unique choices available that not only | | | | wood gives you the opportunity to have a floor made |
| provide diversity from the more common varieties, | | | | from these unique types of woods. |
| they offer a benefit to our environment too. | | | | - Wood that comes with a history makes a unique |
| Antique and reclaimed wood floors are made from | | | | style choice. |
| wood that once was used for a different purpose. | | | | Think about it. Installing a floor made of wood from |
| The wood may have been the walls of a threshing | | | | beer casks from a turn-of-the-century brewery has |
| barn, shielding its contents from the elements of the | | | | some character and history behind it. In fact, it has a |
| Midwest plains. It may have been the beams that | | | | story to tell, one that you might enjoy retelling to your |
| formed the structure of an old textile mill in New | | | | dinner guests some evening. It's unique and definitely |
| England or a sawmill in the Pacific Northwest. It may | | | | not in everyone's home. |
| even have been used in the barrels that housed a | | | | - Antique wood has attributes that new wood doesn't. |
| prized vintage wine. | | | | The wood used to build the factories, barns and other |
| Now this wood is being recycled into antique and | | | | structures 150 years ago was likely to come from |
| reclaimed wood flooring. Floor companies and | | | | virgin old-growth forests. It exhibits a tight, dense grain |
| entrepreneurial individuals are taking this wood and | | | | structure that doesn't exist in the trees found in today's |
| processing it so that it's usable as floors for your | | | | managed and relatively young forests. This offers you |
| home. | | | | not only a beautiful floor but one that has less |
| So what does antique and reclaimed flooring mean to | | | | tendency to warp and "move". This is a beneficial |
| you as a homeowner looking for new flooring ideas? It | | | | attribute particularly in wide plank flooring. |
| gives you a whole new range of options that benefit | | | | Antique and reclaimed wood flooring is truly one of |
| both you and the environment. Consider this: | | | | those unique types of products that's not only |
| - Reusing old wood preserves existing forests. | | | | desirable but offers benefits as well. What other |
| Using recycled wood preserves our environment by | | | | products for your home offer the undeniable beauty of |
| reducing the need to cut existing trees to make new | | | | wood along with a history too? If you're leaning toward |
| floors. What could be better than getting a new wood | | | | wood for your next flooring choice you owe it to |
| floor while knowing that you gave a little help to the | | | | yourself to check out antique and reclaimed wood |
| environment? | | | | floors. They offer a distinct style option and are good |
| - You can get wood species that are no longer | | | | for the environment too. |