Reclaimed wood is the ultimate “green” or sustainable product.  A wood floor will last for a hundred years or more.  Nothing goes into a landfill. Wood flooring that is removed can be either reused, or burned as fuel.  To “make” wood requires nothing but a forrest, rain and sun.  No chemicals are used.  Processing the tree into the final floor uses very little energy.  As long as a forrest is harvested in a proper manner, the environmental impact in negligible.

The closest product to true reclaimed wood flooring is a laminated floor product that uses a “plywood” type substrate, with a reclaimed wood veneer on top.  This option uses very little of the old wood, but uses a lot of chemicals to create.  Another disadvantage to laminated floor, is that it can only be sanded and refinished one or two times.  Solid wood flooring can be sanded and refinished for 100 years or more before it needs to be replaced.

Other floor choices, such as vinyl, use the most energy, chemicals and resources to create.  While these floors can be very durable, they will not last as long as a solid wood floor.  When the end of the vinyl floor’s life is reached, the material is put in a land fill, with no option for reuse.

Reclaimed wood flooring comes from wood that has been harvested over 100 years ago.  It is even more desirable as a sustainable option than new wood flooring.  The wood has been used, and is now being reused for perhaps another 100 years.  Most of the energy to transform old barns, warehouses, and other structures into flooring, is human labor.  Very little fossil fuel is needed.