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You've decided to put down wood floors in your space. Now what? Wood can be overwhelming! There are endless species, shapes, and sizes. Here is our buyer�s guide to reclaimed wood. We can't cover every species, so we'll highlight the materials we offer here at Evolutia. This guide covers the different applications of each material and any other points of interest specific to materials. We won't cover pricing in this guide, because reclaimed wood prices fluctuate based on the material�s availability and the required processes to create a finished product.
Our most popular hardwood flooring material is Antique Heart Pine. These trees were first harvested around the beginning of the 20th century when the southeast was covered in old growth Long Leaf Pine. The tight grain pattern and dense heartwood are the recognizable traits of this wood. Most of our heart pine comes from joists salvaged from old textile mills across the southeast and midwest. When the trees were harvested, they were likely several hundred years old, and the growth rings had been compressed into tight concentric circles. This compression over time created extremely dense wood. Once harvested the wood with the highest density was milled into support material for roofing and flooring. The Heart Pine we offer ranges in age from 200-600 years old from the time that the trees were saplings to now.
Antique Heart Pine is a great material for residential flooring, rustic furniture, countertops, and shelving. Its compressed wood grains and subsequent density elevates it in comparison to new pine. New pine, often used in new construction homes, is too soft for flooring or tabletop applications. If you put new pine flooring down in your home, you will likely find yourself replacing it in a few years.
The patina on Antique Heart Pine tends to lean more in the direction of reddish brown tones, with
The other hardwood flooring material we offer is Red and White Oak. Typically, they are blended together when it comes to us. Oak is an intelligent choice for hardwood flooring applications, as it is one of the hardest common domestic wood species in the US. Common misconceptions are that there are only two species of oak: red and white; and that they are easily distinguishable. The truth? There are hundreds of species of oak, most of which can be divided into the two classes: red and white. The red does not always appear red, and the white almost never actually looks white. Whether red or white, oak�s patina leans toward grays with some browns popping up here and there.
Our reclaimed oak can be used for much more than just flooring, though. Oak is a great material for our reclaimed skins product, a veneer about 1/2� thick applied as a covering to existing walls, ceilings, or doors. This allows for the look of reclaimed wood without the trouble of mounting dimensional lumber. The skins are a great way to re-vamp existing furniture without a total remake.
Most of our beams are made of oak as well. We have two styles of old oak beams: rough-sawn, which have circle saw marks and are rough cut; and hand-hewn. This timber was hand cut more than 100 years ago with nothing more than an ax and an adze. These beams can be used in a number of different applications. Our favorite are ceiling beams and timber frames, but the sky is the limit on what we can make out of them.
We currently have a unique beam product called Sinker Pine. These beams are old-growth longleaf pine that served as dry docks in the Mobile Bay during WWII, used for the construction, maintenance, and repair of ships and boats. After WWII, the city of Mobile chose to sink these beams as they were no longer needed. In 2005, we had the opportunity to dredge the beams out of the harbor. Because the beams were submerged in salt water for 60 years, the coloring is unlike any other. They carry unique shades of rust, browns, and greens.
We offer other wood species from time to time, including Hickory, Chestnut, Walnut, Poplar, Maple, and Cedar. Additionally, we can millwork provided material. If you have an old tree or other reclaimed material that you want to be processed, we can assist you. We would love to help turn that old barn on your property into new beams in your home, or take the tire swing tree from your front yard and create beautiful new flooring. No job is too big or too small, and we always love a good story!