There is no doubt that antique and reclaimed wood flooring are flooring options which are becoming more and more popular as time goes by. With a growing number of people seeking design or style options with a story to tell or a heritage behind them, antique and reclaimed wood flooring appears to be able to tick all of their boxes. Without question, antique and reclaimed wood flooring are both truly authentic flooring options which come with a guarantee of no environmental footprint (very important to people with a strong “eco” conscience) and often having the added attraction of a bit of a story to tell.
The authenticity and aesthetic appeal of antique and reclaimed wood flooring are definitely two of this option’s strongest points. Sought after for their look and heritage, on the downside, certain styles of antique and reclaimed wood flooring can prove extremely difficult to track down and will also often give rise to installation challenges.
Although there are now many flooring reclamation specialists offering a good range of options in both antique and reclaimed wood flooring, if you have a specific type of flooring in mind, you may be in for a long wait or a broad search. What’s more, because of the simple laws of supply and demand, combined with this option’s sought after nature, you should expect to pay more for either antique or reclaimed flooring than you would for similar quality new flooring.
It’s easy to understand why antique and reclaimed wood flooring is so popular, but to be honest, this option leaves many people struggling to find exactly what they’re looking for. What’s more, sometimes when they do, they find that their dream solution is so far outside of their budget that they are forced to have a re-think.
If you’re looking for an antique or reclaimed wooden floor and are being blocked either because you can’t find what you’re looking for, or your budget won’t stretch to fulfilling your flooring dreams, an alternative might be to consider new wood flooring that has been aged and, or distressed. Aged and, or distressed flooring is new flooring which has been (artificially) made to take on the same look or appearance of an antique or reclaimed wooden floor. In fact, ageing and distressing methods are now so good, that if you shop around carefully, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between this option and the real thing.