Fir Plank Flooring: Rustic Charm under Your Feet

Let’s say you are considering options for flooring in your new home, or just that you want to give your house an old-world, rustic charm. You may re-do your floors using fir plank flooring.

You need not feel guilty about cutting down trees to enhance the beauty of your home. Fir can be used after recycling, after being salvaged from old buildings that are in any case being demolished. This wood can be saved, the old nails removed from it, then resawn, dried and remodeled into long lengthier planks.

Fir plank flooring can also be created from Forest Restoration Material. National forests are increasingly facing the risk of catastrophic wildfire. This is because of excessive, dense, overstocked forest stands, which need to be thinned so that the forests can be safe. So use fir plank flooring with a clear conscience, but try to ensure that the material you are buying is a product from demolished buildings or forest restoration.

Reclaimed fir is available in a variety of widths in clear vertical grain as well as mixed grain. It often has a rich reddish glow, and adds to the warmth and coziness of your home. Additionally, the best variety has tight density grains, which are better dent-resistant, for instance, reclaimed Douglas fir, which has been a very traditional choice for people. This wood has very tight grain, resulting in harder and more dent proof floors. The wood is sourced from beams and posts reclaimed from unused, abandoned, mostly industrial buildings in the United States. The wood of old tall and thick girthed fir trees is beautiful as well as strong and resilient. Though classified under “softwoods”, Douglas fir by nature belongs to the hardwood category.

However, you should remember that nowadays, such fir taken from fast-grown trees is much softer. If the trees are allowed to grow taking their natural time, then thicker darker layers of wood are formed. The growth pattern of the original trees therefore affect the quality of your floors, ranging from soft, nearly fluffy stuff to hard, like steel bands. Thus be discerning while choosing fir planks for your floor. Wood with alternate layers of light, softer, and dark, harder layers have stood the test of time, so go for it.

For more information, choose from one of the following links:

Hardwood Flooring | Wood Flooring | Bamboo Flooring