A hundred years ago it was not uncommon to see oiled-plank floors in the kitchen of a home. Pine planking was a common flooring and later oil-cloth, a forerunner of linoleum, was laid over top of the wood.
Old wide-plank, wood floors have what used to be termed as undesirable attributes: knots, flags, worm holes, color variations, and heavy wear. But now this wood is prized for these very things because people see it as a piece of history. These products are cleaned and refinished to a point where the blemishes still show through but the product can be maintained. In many cases the original finish is left for a true rustic look. To ’speed up time” the boards can be scraped for a distressed look, and this can be done to the newer floor planking to achieve the old.
An amazing find is wood in log form from the past that has been soaked in water for many years. These are salvaged and reclaimed from river & creeks. Ten they are cut and made into flooring. The old pine logs are pulled from water that once used to transport them to sawmills. Some of them got waterlogged and sank a hundred years ago.
Reclaiming old wood from floors, homes and barns is a great way to save new-growth wood .
Posted by floorcoverings 