Rustic hardwood floors can take on many forms. Before they became popular in recent years most rustic types were considered lower grade hardwoods. Lower grade does not indicate lower quality or structural performance for the

most part, just the overall visual. Appearances can vary from a distressed surface finish to floors that have an enormous amount of color variation or character markings. Those include large closed or open knots, irregular sawing of the surface, or splits on the surface of the hardwood.

New Hardwoods Or Recycled?

For those that are environmentally conscious, recycled, reclaimed or other reusable hardwoods are the answer. Many are being removed from older buildings and barns. The finds are outstanding, as many of these structures were built with older growth heart pine and other valuable hardwoods that are not being forested anymore. Expect prices to be through the roof on most unless you find someone that has no clue on value.

Salvage Yards

More reasonable priced older hardwood floors can be obtained at local salvage yards, but the piles of yesteryear are dwindling and prices are inching up as many are realizing the green movement and the value of these materials. Older schools that are being torn down offer a great opportunity in maple flooring used for gymnasiums. Other sources in obtaining some of these could be volunteering your own labor to remove from older homes that are being torn down and replaced.

Removing these floors and making them ready for installation again is time consuming. If you happen to stumble on such a project don't expect to salvage all of it. Floors could have been exposed to urine stains, nailed to death to prevent squeaks when many were carpeted over years ago, or affected by termites. Removing the boards themselves is probably the easiest task, taking out the nails is another. Some will split if you're not careful. The easiest method for removal and less damage to the hardwood is finding the tongue side of how it was installed and work backward with hammer and pry bars.

Installing Older Recycled Floors

Installation of these classics may not be as simple as you would think. A lot depends on how the floors were maintained over the years, or how they were finished. In other words, if there's quite a bit of filler build up along the edges and ends they will have to be scraped by hand to get a tighter fitting floor. Floors that were left alone will not pose a problem.