There are many reasons to reclaim wood, including the profound environmental impact, and we’re happy people are seeing green. For our star woodworker here at Wood Anchor, it was all about quality. 10 years ago he worked with a restoration company for heritage buildings in Victoria, BC, where he learned all about reclaiming wood. He loved working with old growth wood and if you talk to him, he’s passionate about the different grains and swirls of old wood that give it character and strength. He also loves the stories it has to tell. “New wood” is largely from fast-growing forests where fertilizers have been used to increase productivity. Reclaimed wood is generally from naturally growing forests where trees have had to struggle to survive. Old growth timber is harder, denser (with tighter growth rings), and more stable than wood from young trees. The best quality wood comes from large trees, which is scarce (and rightly so) in new wood. If you have an old growth reclaimed piece of oak and a new piece of oak, you’ll very likely see the difference in look as well as density.
We're always looking for new sources of reclaimed wood. Whether it's a hardwood floor that needs to be removed, old beams, or trees destined for a landfill. We want to reuse wood to the best of it's ability in a responsible, sustainable way. We remove wood from old buildings that are being torn down, traincars where the wood is destined for the garbage, old churches, local trees that are being cut down and wasted... anywhere really. We reclaim any type of high quality and reusable wood.
It's very important to us that you are getting a high quality product. When we reclaim wood floors, we remove them carefully with a special process that minimizes waste to about 4%. So far the best machines to remove nails and prepare the floor are just plain hard work and hand tools. Thus, every board has ample time to be inspected by hand and reused in a different way if it is not a high quality suitable piece for your floor. We make sure our wood floors can be sanded again and ensure that you know what you are buying and how to care for it. We will include with specifications height, width, lengths, and the amount of times the floor has been sanded or at least how many times we think it can be sanded in the future.
On the other hand, our new floors always start with a high quality piece of wood that has been kiln dried to 6-9% moisture content (MC). The wood goes straight to our moulder out of the kiln and is moulded to our specifications. We have processes to ensure that our moulder is constantly spitting out high quality flooring and the boards are immediately stacked and packaged to keep them straight and of course in great shape. Wood floors are the pride and joy of our business and quality is #1!
If properly maintained, installing an unfinished floor is superior to installing prefinished floors because unfinished floors need to be sanded and finished. Not only do you have more selection in staining or finish, but there is a greater moisture seal between the slats of wood when the finish is applied over a whole floor giving you a more protected and hence higher quality floor to last a lifetime. In addition, prefinished floors have a bevel between the wood slats to hide height differences that inevitably occur. This bevel limits and possibly eliminates the number of times the floor can be resanded decreasing the sustainability and longevity of your floor.
The best way to care for floors is to avoid problems in the first place. Clean up liquid spills immediately to avoid moisture in the wood. Sweep daily (or frequently) with a soft broom to clean up dust and sand, etc which can scratch the floor when it is being walked on. (It sounds like the microfibre system is a good one, although not from hands on experience.) Use pads underneath furniture to avoid scratching the surface. Use floor rugs in high traffic areas or in front of a sink. Avoid using a wet mop, but rather use a sponge mop or something similar where moisture is effectively wrung out…and use a soap specifically for wood that doesn’t leave a residue and doesn’t need to be rinsed. We've used Murphy’s Oil in the past because it’s easy to find, but we now use Osmo Wash and Care. We love the Wash and Care because there is defenitely no residue...just a clean floor. Most importantly, don’t sweat it! It’s a floor that you’re going to live on, so just make memories!
Length of time for acclimatization is not the important issue, but rather moisture content. A contractor who is installing flooring should have a moisture meter and the flooring and the subfloor should have a moisture content between 6-10%. This is to ensure that the wood does not shrink after installation and leave gaps between the floor boards as wood is constantly expanding and contracting with changes in moisture content. Acclimatization could be a week in a dry home in the winter with dry wood or months in a home with no dehumidifier or air conditioning in our Winnipeg summers.
Wood being kiln dried is important because wood contracts and expands depending on moisture content. When wood is dried to 6-10%, it has contracted to it's smallest state. Wood should be used for projects in its dry state so that when the wood expands with increased humidity, there is no warping of boards or gaps between the wood. It gets more complicated then that as different types of wood respond differently to moisture, etc...you need to understand wood and allow it freedom to do what it's going to do to have a successful woodworking project that lasts a lifetime.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a green building rating system built on a point system. It is a voluntary national standard for building efficient, sustainable buildings. The main focus of LEED buildings at this time are water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. LEED is the standard for green building in Canada and other countries around the world. Using LEED standards benefits our environment, long term energy costs, and are currently eligible for tax incentives. Some jurisdictions are using LEED for building codes and standards. Our products are 100% recycled and are eligible for LEED points. You can even get extra points if you are local and within 500 miles of Winnipeg! Check out the LEED website.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international organization that brings people together to find solutions which promote responsible stewardship of the world’s forests. You can read more about forest stewardship and certification at the Forest Stewardship Council website. Our goal is to become certified within the next two years (late 2009). We are proud of all of our reclaimed wood and its origin and are happy to provide you with a chain of custody for all of our products.
"Responsibly Harvested" is a broad term that is used to describe how a timber stand is harvested. Our responsibly harvested wood is most often (probably 99%) from trees destined for a landfill. These trees are usually cut down for the purpose of development or because they are diseased. We also work with a local sawyer who uses landfill diverted trees and practices selection silviculture. "Selection silviculture" is the practice of removing mature timber or thinning to improve the health of the timber stand for the purpose of regeneration. Trees are selected by the single tree selection method which means that scattered individual trees at their peak are selected and marked and harvested.