Installing a Reclaimed Wood Floor

This casual setting works well with a Douglas
fir rustic rough-sawn reclaimed wood floor. 

Each home's distinctive design character as well as lifestyle factors, like kids, traffic patterns and whether the space will be casual or formal, need to be integrated into the design, layout and installation of your antique flooring. To ensure your satisfaction, we recommend hiring a professional installer for your reclaimed wood floor.

Television shows can make DIY look simple, or make you feel guilty for not doing it yourself, but a professional installer will make sure the job is done right the first time. Following are some high-level tips for you and your installer.

Start with the right expectations. Your reclaimed flooring will have open knots, star-checked knots, checking as well as nail and bolt holes. These marks, holes and knots help give your reclaimed wood floor its character and beauty. But there are decisions that need to be made when selecting which boards to install:
• Size — This floor is a random-width floor and should be installed in a non-repeating pattern.
• Character — Place boards with varying degrees of character and color. Spread out the naily boards and character boards so they are not all grouped together in one area.
• Ratio — You may choose to cut out or keep in knots and character marks based on your personal preference. If you decide you want fewer character marks, your installer will need to calculate for more waste.

The back of the boards need to be set with a construction adhesive, and every knot on all boards over 5-inches wide should be dotted. We suggest using PL-400 adhesive.

Square-edge Installation
With a square-edge installation, the layout should end on a joist. Manomin recommends a 32-inch nail pattern with alternating rows so it doesn't look like a deck with visible repeated nailing pattern. Rack (lay out) three rows at a time and randomly stagger boards by shade, while staggering the board ends by 16 inches between adjacent rows (to ensure the board ends on a joist, which is typically 16 inches on center). Wedge boards with triangular scrap pieces that have been screwed to the subfloor. After you have completed installation, set all the nails just slightly below the surface so they do not become shiny when sanding the antique floor.

We strongly recommend that the ends of the boards be predrilled prior to nailing.

Tongue-and-groove Installation
Tongue-and-groove flooring may be installed like a traditional T&G floor, but must be glued to the subfloor (any boards over 5-inches wide). PL-400 is a good construction adhesive.

Fill open knots, star-check knots, nail and bolt holes as desired with wood filler. You may want to use epoxy on areas that have a dip or a chunk of wood missing. Another option for filling knots is fiberglass resin, which can be found at most hardware stores. But mix it up in small batches, because it hardens quickly. Add color (knot-brown powder putty works great) so the resin is brown and not greenish. Then pour the mixture into open areas. It dries quickly, does not shrink and will sand like wood.

Speaking of Sanding
Over wood can be hand planed. In fact, you can add to the effect of the antique flooring by leaving some planer marks on the wood.

Smooth planed floors are generally drum sanded. For a more distressed look, sand with a buffer instead of a drum sander, and use 60-, 80- and then 100-grit sand paper.

For original weathered-face floors, apply more sanding for a lighter-looking floor and less sanding for a darker floor. Again, buff using 60-, 80- and then 100-grit sand paper.

Recommended Finishes
Waterlox — Two coats of sealer and two coats of matte topcoat.
Rubio Monocoat (not recommended for rough floors) — Follow the manufacturer's recommendations.
Oil-based sanding sealer and poly in a satin finish — On planed smooth reclaimed wood floors, use one coat of sealer or stain and a minimum of two coats of poly. Original-face floors will require a minimum of three to four coats of poly. You may also need to epoxy or resin any rough or open spots between coats of poly.

Manomin Resawn Timbers has a variety of antique flooring to choose from: Douglas-fir, yellow pine, white pine, hickory, end-grain tile, salty fir, black walnut, oak and elm — but the customization doesn't end there. For an extra special statement, you can ask your installer to incorporate borders and patterns to offset the floor. From herringbone to diamond or any pattern you can imagine, it can be custom designed. Custom stains and finishes will add an additional dimension to your custom floor. Manomin also offers beautiful railings and stair treads, risers, skirt boards and antique timbers to complement your reclaimed wood floors.

All Those Leaves Aren’t from Softwood Trees

Softwoods come from coniferous trees — needle-bearing trees from the order Pinales known as evergreens, or gymnosperms. Rather than losing their leaves all at one time, they tend to shed their leaves, called needles, throughout the year. Thus, these trees are not creating the beautiful fall colors, nor the yet-to-be-raked yards buried in leaves.
 
Softwood-producing trees include yellow pine, white pine, spruce, cedar, fir, larch, Douglas fir, hemlock, cypress, redwood and yew. There are softwood coniferous forests scattered throughout the world.

The terms “hardwood” and “softwood” are mostly used to describe types of wood used in construction and furniture making. While these terms suggest that physical density determines which is which, that is not true. Both groups have a large variation in actual wood hardness, with the range in hardwood density similar to the range in softwoods. Some hardwoods, like balsa, are softer than most softwoods, while yew is an example of a hard softwood. Likewise, Douglas fir is one of the strongest woods, and it is a softwood. A tree’s lifecycle is actually most important in differentiating between hardwoods and softwoods.

Most things constructed of wood today are made from softwood, and softwoods are the primary wood used in framing wooden homes and buildings. Softwood is less expensive to use. It grows faster than hardwood and, since it can be replenished more quickly, it is thought to be a more environmentally friendly option. Of course, reclaimed softwoods are an even “greener” solution.

Manomin Reswawn Timbers offers reclaimed wood flooring in softwood as well as hardwoods like cherry, black walnut, oak and elm.

World’s Biggest (and OLDEST) Picnic Table

OK, it’s not a “picnic table,” but since we’re featuring this gorgeous table at the Manomin’s “Hog-elujah!” open house on October 14, we thought we’d call it that.

This isn’t your grandma’s picnic table! 

It’s definitely BIG and OLD. It’s nearly 40-foot long — the largest piece of slab wood in the U.S. (a single plank is 38-1/2  feet long, 4-3/4  feet wide and 4-3/4 inches thick — 870 board feet). And it’s as old as 50,000 years!

The wood comes from the ancient Kauri tree, and it’s the oldest workable timber on Earth. The trees grew for 1,000-2,000 years and then they were preserved underground for 50,000 years. How do we know this? Radio carbon dating places the age of the Ancient Kauri trees at 50,000 years old. This is the maximum limit of radio carbon dating, so it is possible that this wood is even older. Our Kauri wood is certified and guaranteed.

Harvesting Kauri wood doesn’t involve cutting any standing trees, and all of the land is redressed to its original contours, so Kauri is totally eco-friendly. It qualifies for LEED credits — perfect for green building and design.

Extraction of a Ancient Kauri Tree

The colors and finishes are stunning! The highly polished finish is rich and luminous with warm gold and cognac color and distinctive grains. It glistens as if lit from within. This isn’t your grandma’s picnic table! The finish and size of Kauri wood makes it ideal for high-end uses such as corporate conference room tables. Manomin is one of only a few companies in the U.S. to offer the wood to trade professionals and consumers.

Following are a series of photos, but you really should see this table in person! You can view the Kauri wood during showroom hours on Friday, Oct. 15 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Manomin will have two Kauri slabs on display. Come talk with Manomin representatives about Kauri wood and see rough-sawn and finished slabs as well as a finished coffee table and high-top table.

Or call 651.464.1771 and see if we can make room for you at our Hog-elujah table on the 14th!

Some perspective on the size of the Kauri planks.

The grain and finish are stunning.

Beautiful shimmer in active grain.

Rich and luminous with warm gold and cognac color. 

Green is Good, but Don’t be Fooled by the Wood

Every second, a slice of rainforest the size of a football field is mowed down. That’s unsustainable, particularly when you consider that rainforests help regulate temperature and weather patterns, and are critical in maintaining the Earth's limited supply of drinking and fresh water.

Growing public awareness of these environmental concerns coupled with the fact that wood floors remain a top flooring choice is creating a green building movement that has people looking for sustainable flooring alternatives. Because Manomin is in the business of resawn and reclaimed wood, this blog is going to compare reclaimed wood to the green flooring alternative bamboo.

Bamboo flooring is a very popular green choice today because it is highly renewable. The bamboo plant (technically a grass) grows faster than most of the trees used for wood flooring. It also requires less water and grows in easily managed groves. What’s more, harvesting bamboo does not kill the plant. This is all very positive for our environment. Bamboo flooring can be found at reasonable prices, too, which is a positive for homeowners’ budgets.

But bamboo flooring has a number of negatives. For one thing, there is not a Fair Trade certification for bamboo, and while the Forest Stewardship Council can certify other woods, most bamboo products have no certification. Another issue is that bamboo can't be locally sourced, so most of it is grown in China, with some bamboo plantations having displaced natural forests. Shipping bamboo from China to the United States creates a considerable amount of carbon emissions due to the product. Another environmental concern is the tilling, pesticides and chemical fertilizers used to increase bamboo yields. They contribute to soil loss and increased toxicity, resulting in a loss of native plants and animals due to the changes in habitat. Once converted into flooring, the majority of bamboo floors have formaldehyde binders in the adhesives. And bamboo floors are hard to keep looking good. It can bleach in areas that receive direct sunlight and will stain easily if not sealed properly. Plus, it can be easily scratched, dented and chipped. This may mean you have to replace your floor sooner.

Now let’s consider reclaimed wood flooring. Reclaimed lumber is rescued from old buildings and recycled, refined, resawn and refinished for use as flooring, furniture and other home and commercial building uses. The original trees were cut down years ago. Reclaimed species include Douglas fir, yellow pine, white pine, hickory, salty fir, black walnut, oak and elm. People like the character and look of reclaimed wood because it usually has a story to it, coming from an old barn, warehouse or home. There’s distress in the boards with saw marks, nail holes, wormholes and dents that when sanded and varnished create an art-like effect. It also has a warmer feeling, with rich, deep patena.

Another advantage is that reclaimed wood has been dried naturally over 100+ years verses kiln-dried new wood that is forced to dry. This makes new wood less stable. Also, newly logged wood is not as dense as old growth, making the reclaimed wood that comes from old growth stronger, harder and more durable.

Whether you are restoring a vintage house or constructing a new residence, there are many good reasons not to buy new-growth wood flooring. Hopefully this article has taught you a few things about two of your sustainable flooring options. We’d be happy to discuss them with you! Contact us today.

From Wood-fired Ovens to Wood Floors

Punch Pizza — Stadium Village

Using the same centuries-old techniques the Neapolitan masters used to create delicious Italian pies, Minneapolis-based Punch Pizza is one of a few pizzerias outside of Naples, Italy to be a member of Vera Pizza Napoletana. A requirement of authentic Neapolitan pizzerias is that they must use wood-burning, bell-shaped brick ovens that can cook a perfect pizza pie in 90 seconds!
 

To ensure their stores have an old-world Italian feel worthy of the authentic techniques they use to make their pizza, Punch Pizza turns to Manomin Resawn Timbers for antique timber flooring. At Manomin, we too are dedicated to the traditions and skills of our craft — milling the antique timbers with a saw mill, drying it in a kiln, planing it, fabricating it in our shop and then hand-sanding and staining it to the perfect finish. 
 

Featured in all seven of Punch Pizza’s Twin Cities locations, Manomin most recently helped with the Punch Neapolitan Pizza – Stadium Village location at 802 Washington Ave SE in Minneapolis. 

A striking exterior door that we crafted from hand-hewn timber skins invites guest in, and a one-of-a-kind antique wooden door handle completes the look. Upon entry, our huge 22-foot long vintage timber community table greets customers, and a welcoming antique Douglas Fir floor sets the stage with gorgeous 3-inch wide planks. 



More reclaimed Douglas Fir (salvaged from old industrial warehouses) adds charm to tables and benches. Tabletops crafted out of hardwood from a central Wisconsin dairy barn built in the 1850s complements the weathered antique panel wainscoting to add to the old-world dining experience. 
 

So we invite you to enjoy the world’s finest San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and top-secret dough that forms the foundation of a Punch Pizza cooked to perfection in the wood-fired oven! But please, make sure you take a look around and enjoy the whole experience that Manomin helped to create.

Manomin Resawn Timbers is at the “Bring Fresh Ideas Home” Home and Garden Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center February 24th through the 28th. We hope to see you there. We’re in booth 2129.

Show Dates and Hours:
Wed Feb 24 - 12:00pm-9:00pm
Thu Feb 25 - 10:00am-9:00pm
Fri Feb 26 - 9:00am-10:00pm
Sat Feb 27 - 9:00am-10:00pm
Sun Feb 28 - 9:00am-6:00pm

You can get more details about the show at homeandgardenshow.com, but if you go to their “Tips and Trends – Go Green” page, you’ll see in tip number 7, Green Flooring, they’ve left out an important green flooring option: reclaimed wood flooring! Of course we’re biased, but we think wide plank flooring that is milled from reclaimed antique timbers is the best green solution out there!

Reclaimed wood flooring has both environmental and aesthetic benefits, inspiring new and innovative style for homes while also preserving the traditional warmth and durability of natural wood.

The Home and Garden Show highlight, Timber Barn Bungalow, illustrates what a modern, rustic attitude can do for a home. We invite you to stop by booth 2129 and talk to us about the benefits of going green with reclaimed wood flooring. Whether you choose a rustic or contemporary finish, the benefits of a more stable, harder wood with tighter grains are strongly worth considering.

You can also visit Kitchen Conversations to read a blog about our time with Holiday Kitchens discussing the advantages of recycling timber and the phenomenal results that can be achieved. Or stop by our Manomin Resawn Timbers Web site to learn more about the green-friendly antique flooring available.

Thanks
Sarah and Mark
Manomin Resawn Timbers