Thinking about Buying a Reclaimed Wood Floor? Here is the Post for You

Many people who want real wood flooring, and who either can’t afford to buy new, or who care about the environment, reclaimed flooring is the perfect choice. However, many of those people are put off, some because they know the amount of work that is involved, and some because they have no idea of what is involved.

Reclaimed flooring from Mckay Flooring is wood flooring exactly as it was lifted, “nails an aw” as us Glaswegians like to say. Well, that is not exactly true, as we have started to take the nails out now, but some of the flooring we have in stock will need to be denailed, some of it will need a good clean, all of it will need sanded and sealed. Finishing (staining) is also a matter of personal choice.

The best advice I can give — and not just because I work for Mckay – is to have a quote for the floor to be fitted when you order it. Our team of professionals (our contractors, we never sub-contract) will come out and give you a comprehensive quotation on the work necessary to give you a floor as beautiful and shiny as a brand new wood floor.

Whether or not you decide to hire the pros or not, a good first step is to choose whether you want the natural look, or finished with a particular stain before being sealed. There are literally thousands of shades out there to choose from.

Obviously, if you decide to get the professionals in, then all you have to do is open the door and (not to be cheeky) try to stay out of the way. If not, you still have loads to do:

Firstly, if the wood still has nails in, you will have to remove them. The best way is to knock them through the wood by hitting the point with a hammer. You can either knock them all the way up and pull them out with your fingers, or knock them up a little bit so you can get the claw of a claw hammer in and pull them o-ut that way.

Next is to lay the floor. Mostly this is a case of joining tongues and grooves, and then nailing down the boards.

Then the floor needs to be sanded. You will want to hire an orbital sander to do this, and you can find full instructions here.

After sanding comes staining (if you have chosen to do so), full instructions for that can also be found here

Then it is sealing, again, full instructions for sealing are here.

By now, if you have done everything right, you will be looking at a gorgeous wooden floor, as shiny as if it had cost you four times the amount it did. Now it is a good idea to read this post, on how to care for your floor, to keep the need for sanding to a minimum.