Reclaimed flooring is your sustainable option
Reclaimed flooring opportunities abound and offer exciting and varied possibilities to be environmentally sensitive without having to feel guilty.
Whether resawn beam pine planking or traditional hardwood boards are your preferred choice, a little extra preparedness to seek out a good reclamation yard can yield the reward of a seriously different character floor finish…and is sustainable in spades!
Parquet varieties
Many yards will stock parquet woodblock pine, oak or mahogany (well, tropical redwood variants!) in various sizes, which can be laid in basket weave or herringbone patterns. Alternatively, if you are very determined, you can sometimes source the more exotic Parquet de Versailles.
Nice wood if you can get it
Mainly traditional Victorian and Edwardian yellow pine or Deal 6″ and 7 “ are plentiful in imperial sizes and, when stored properly and taken up by good deconstructors, are more interesting and stable than their modern counterparts. Aged timber rarely shrinks and has better colour and grain figure than the white baltic rapid growth boards available in most builders merchants today. Sadly, limited availabilty and high demand mean that this better quality flooring often sells at a premium. As with all things, you get what you pay for and that fantastic floor finish can only be achieved by purchasing good reclaim.
Wide Oak and Elm boards are extremely difficult to source and need to be carefully inspected and, if necessary, treated for beetle infestation. Antique boards will last for another hundred years if prepared correctly and handled properly.
More choice from MASCo OakieDoakie
In the abscence of regular sources, MASCo OakieDoakie has returned to acquiring Ammonia smoked French Oak wide boards to compensate for the need to match traditional antique patination for important conservation and restoration work.
The secret of acquiring best value for money in the current economic climate is to consider woodstrip or parquet removed from public buildings constructed between 1930-50. This product is not as expensive as the premium hardwoods and laid to an interesting pattern and, when finished with flat hard wax, can look quite stunning without breaking the bank. Currently in stock at MASCo OakieDoakie is our beautiful Burmese Teak parquet , reclaimed from the V&A Museum following its refurbishment.
The MASCo OakieDoakie Woodstore staff will provide free advice and encouragement to assist you in your choice of sustainable floor covering.
Do visit our Cotswold Woodstore between Cirencester and Stroud, Gloucestershire, to collect free samples and to discuss your flooring requirements with our experts. Ask for James Walker or Debbie Kedge. Full fitting and finishing service is available.
You can also order online on our new website.
