Reclaimed Flooring: Recycling History

Reviewed by:
Rosemary Thornton

A floor that was reclaimed and remilled from old California wine tanks could be quite a conversation starter at your next cocktail party. Or how about floor from a downtown warehouse in Seattle or a farm building in Oregon?

The wood is air dried to a moisture content of 15% or less. Next, it goes into the kiln and is then planed into rustic lumber or finely finished flooring in a variety of widths and lengths.

Recovering and salvaging first-growth Douglas fir keeps this valuable lumber out of the waste stream. According to this company, reclaiming one million feet of board lumber can prevent the cutting of 1,000 acres of forests.