Reclaimed Floor

The Environmentally Friendly Flooring

Why is having a reclaimed floor both attractive and environmentally friendly? Well, buying reclaimed flooring is an ideal way of using old materials that would have been thrown into landfill sites. This both reduces the need for manufacture of new flooring products as well as saving on waste. Aged materials hold a beauty of their own and generally are of a much higher quality than new products.

Salvaged floor tiles

Ranging from Victorian times to modern day, post consumer floor tiles and floor bricks grow old gracefully! You can find excellent quality tiles such as limestone flag tiles, handmade tiles, slate tiles and ceramic tiles. As they age they gain beautiful characteristics which can be refreshed with a new coat of wax or hard oil. Depending on the size of your floor, choice may be limited. Contact your local reclaim and salvage yard for types and availability.

Reclaimed granite

Some kitchen worktop manufacturers & stonemasons throw away offcuts of granite, marble and stone which can be used as flooring. Some will not charge for the offcuts if you can take delivery yourself. Contact local businesses for types and availability.

Reclaimed timber flooring

Ranging from the 17th century to modern day, reclaimed timber flooring is typically high quality hardwoods which develops beautiful characteristics as the wooden floor boards age. Please read my article on reclaimed timber reclaimed timber in the materials resources section. Some companies will dry, prepare and sand the reclaimed timber for you, others may only provide the reclaimed planks. Contact your local reclaim and salvage yard for types, availability and their services.

Recycled timber flooring

This is slightly different from reclaimed timber flooring as instead of renovating the original floor board, these reclaimed boards are remilled into new floor boards; either traditional planks or tongue and groove boards. Although this method makes good use of waste timber resources, the manufacturing process increases the level of embodied energy. The aesthetic advantage is that you are not restricted by material availability or size, as remilling creates an even patina/appearance and standard sizes. A variety of finishes are also available from distressed to polished.

It is wise to check the original source of the reclaimed material, to ensure that you reduce the amount of embodied energy created during transportation and distribution from non local and overseas locations.

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