Rare Wood News

Reclaimed wood flooring brings natural beauty, warmth, and a unique character to any interior space—but will it stand up to the everyday rigors of kitchen use? Yes! Here’s why choosing quality reclaimed materials can give you the best wood floor for your kitchen.

Put Down a Marker for Quality

Whether you’re installing original recovered flooring, a more engineered solution, or E.T. Moore’s custom-milled tongue and groove products, here’s why well-sourced and treated reclaimed wood is a great material for your kitchen floor.

Durable

Reclaimed woods are by definition durable woods. Chosen originally for their strength and toughness as heavy-duty flooring or construction materials, these are often higher quality, old-growth woods that have stood the test of time over decades or even centuries. Treated properly, they will continue to handle years of everyday kitchen use.

Stable

The best reclaimed woods, such as original East Coast heart pine, boast tight grains and long fibers that give flooring superior year-round stability. When treated and installed properly, these woods offer resistance to swelling, shrinking, or movement unmatched by many other natural materials —even when exposed to the elevated heat and moisture of the kitchen environment.

Healthy

The natural spring and slight give of genuine elevated hardwood flooring provide a surface that is a delight to walk on and more forgiving on the back and legs, especially if you spend long hours on your feet preparing food in the kitchen. Look for long pieces of high-quality reclaimed wood for the best results.

Easy to Clean

High-quality reclaimed pine and other smooth, tight-grained reclaimed woods make a naturally easy-to-clean flooring ideal for kitchens. When treated with durable modern finishes, most floors can be vacuumed or swept and treated with a damp mop as required. Use a light natural cleaner to remove minor scuffs.

Easy to Maintain

The more you invest in a wooden floor, the easier it will be to maintain. Investing in good quality wood flooring will increase the durability of both traditional treatments and modern finishes as well as give you a surface that’s suitable for refinishing in the future.

Warm and Inviting

Wood adds a delightful touch of nature to any interior. In a kitchen, it’s ideal for softening the exposed steel or hard edges of contemporary appliances and modern design.

Timeless and Always in Fashion

Kitchen design is constantly changing and once hip concepts can fade quickly. But premium wooden flooring never goes out of style, especially if it comes with the built-in pedigree of reclaimed wood. Choosing genuine reclaimed wood flooring helps to “future-proof” your kitchen design and therefore is a great long-term investment in timeless style.

Wood Wears Well

Good reclaimed wood offers great durability and resistance to wear but is not impervious. It’s important to realize that even the best quality woods will begin to wear over time, especially in a busy area like the kitchen. Part of the unique appeal of reclaimed wood is this record of everyday life, both past and present, left behind in the texture of the wood itself.

That said, there are a few things you can do to keep your reclaimed wood kitchen flooring looking better for longer:

• Choose a matte rather than high-gloss finish to hide minor scratches and marks
• Choose engineered or precision-milled products for maximum durability and stability
• Choose a reputable supplier like E.T. Moore who knows how to source, treat, and finish the finest quality reclaimed woods.

The Best Wood Floor for the Kitchen

Reclaimed wood flooring brings to your home both proven durability plus a particular beauty and patina that reflects its unique past. When you choose to install reclaimed wood flooring at the heart of your home—and to use, maintain and even restore it over the years—you’ll be adding your own chapter to an ever richer story.

E.T. Moore is one of the largest reclaimed wood manufacturers on the East Coast. We specialize in turn-of-the-century reclaimed heart pine flooring and other high-quality antique hardwood products. We offer:

• A wide selection of quality off-the-shelf reclaimed wood floorings
• Custom matching from our unrivaled on-site stock of reclaimed lumber
• Custom milling and molding services
• Decades of experience in sourcing and grading the best reclaimed woods

Click below to learn more about how E.T. Moore can help you find quality reclaimed flooring that meets all of your expectations.

Reclaimed Wood Flooring

Reclaimed wood beams offer unparalleled beauty and durability. They can transform an otherwise dull room into something of interest. When selecting the right beams for your project, several finish and style options are available, such as hand hewn and rough sewn.

This guide will help you better understand wood beam finishes and styles and how to pair them with a reclaimed wood beam.

Wood Beam Finishes

While reclaimed wood is highly durable, there are only a few approved finish products on the market. At E.T. Moore, we carry the following finish options:

Waterlox Original Sealer and Finish

This Tung oil finish creates a protective and elastic barrier against moisture, foot traffic, and common household spills. This is Waterlox's oldest interior finish—it was originally formulated in 1910 and provides excellent adhesion to reclaimed wood beams.

Waterlox Original – Satin Finish

This low gloss level formulation offers a sturdy and elastic barrier to everyday household spills and foot traffic. There is no preparation needed—you can use this product straight out of the can with applicators such as lambswool.

Waterlox Original High Gloss Finish

This high gloss finish tung oil is meant to be used in conjunction with Waterlox Original Sealer/Finish. It provides a high 85° gloss level and is very easy to apply.

Waterlox Original Marine Finish

This traditional exterior Tung oil spar varnish offers a high gloss finish and provides excellent protection against moisture, harsh weather, and sun/UV rays.

Top-quality materials can turn a great project into a timeless classic, but how much does a premium product like reclaimed heart pine flooring cost? In this article, we take a look at what goes into determining your heart pine price per board foot.

Bring Home History: Reclaimed Heart Pine Flooring Cost

Reclaimed heart pine flooring comes with a history and character all its own, while its strength and durability mean it will only get better with age. While you will pay more for genuine reclaimed heart pine woods, you’re nailing down a product that will add value to a property for decades to come.

Let’s take a look at some of the factors that go into pricing reclaimed heart pine.

Limited Stock, Unlimited Possibilities

Heart pine from the original longleaf pine forests of the eastern seaboard was prized for its strength, stability, and durability. From the 1700s through to the early 1900s it was used to build the mills, factories, schools, and homes that became America. Today those ancient forests are gone, but their wood is increasingly prized for its beauty and historical significance.

Reputable wood reclamation companies like E.T. Moore are always excited to discover a new source of quality reclaimed wood. It’s one more chance to preserve a unique part of our heritage by making it part of our lives today. That said, two factors play a big role in determining how much any collection of raw reclaimable wood is worth:

• Rarity and Size: The highest-quality heart pine is often the oldest, harvested when large trees were still plentiful. Large pieces of undamaged old-growth timber are increasingly rare and fetch a premium price.
• Grade-ability: Raw reclaimed wood comes as large beams, round and square columns, and floor and roof decking. This needs to be turned into lumber that can be easily installed and used in modern construction^[a]. Up to 55% of a reclaimed lot can be lost after the wood is sawed, straight-lined, end-trimmed and milled, meaning we buy twice as much wood as we sell.

Wood reclaimers also need to estimate how much any demolition work will cost, as well as the cost of cleaning the recovered wood, removing nails and bolts, and eliminating any rot.

Top Grades for Quality

Once raw reclaimed wood has been sorted, cleaned, and milled, a number of other factors become important in pricing a lot for sale.

E.T. Moore: Your Partner in Quality

E.T. Moore offers the largest selection of reclaimed heart pine woods in the country. We hold a vast inventory of top-quality precision-milled grades at our facility in Richmond, VA.

While you will always pay more for genuine heart pine it is always “cheap at the price” to add your own chapter to a true piece of American heritage.

Prices for our classic Number 1 Grade start at about $12.50 per square foot, while our premium Select and Select Edge Grain heart pine start at about $16 per square foot and $19 per square foot respectively.

We also currently offer a sale price of $7.25 square foot for our Number 2 Grade Heart Pine.

Learn more about E.T. Moore’s unmatched range of reclaimed heart pine products below.

Many people turn to the internet when searching for sources for reclaimed wood. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can find and buy it at major hardware stores, Craigslist, Etsy, and other online retailers.

However, you often don’t get what you think you’re paying for—and in many cases, you get useless wood that won’t stand up to the test of time. Rot, discoloration, and poor quality control are a few of the many issues you can run into.

Read on to learn more about the potential pitfalls of buying reclaimed wood online and how to ensure you’re getting the real deal.

Caveat Emptor

It’s no secret that reclaimed wood that’s harvested, processed, and sold by reputable dealers can be pricier than other sources. As with all things expensive in life—scammers will find a way to profit off unsuspecting people. Scams range from gluing reclaimed wood veneer over cheap lumber to high-quality polyurethane replicas from overseas.

There are several reasons why reclaimed lumber tends to cost more. For starters, it gets harder every year to find new sources of reclaimed lumber to meet consumers' insatiable demand. It also takes considerable time and the skills of a master craftsman to harvest and process old barn wood into usable reclaimed lumber.

If you find an online reclaimed wood deal that seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Quality Control Problems

You might think you’re getting a bargain when you search the internet for “free barn wood Craigslist” or “free reclaimed wood near me.” However free is never truly free.

You’ll need to hire someone to process the “free” wood or do it yourself. Reclaimed wood is often chock full of nails that you’ll need to remove before you can cut or mill it smooth—and that will require using an industrial milling machine for the best chances of success.

It’s not unusual for old, dilapidated barns and buildings to have holes in the roof that leak water. The wood soaks it up, leading to bug infestations and higher-than-expected moisture levels. Reclaimed wood with high moisture content will shrink when installed in your home, leaving very noticeable gaps in your flooring and woodwork.

The lower-cost material you order will often show up on the job site at a far lower quality than the original design specified. As such, you’ll wind up having to order more to replace what was rejected. Most people don’t realize that when purchasing raw materials, there is a 50% loss in converting them into a finished product.

Inventory Problems

Buying reclaimed wood from Etsy or another internet source can lead to inventory issues. For example, many smaller dealers will take a deposit and physically go out into the field to find the raw material.

The grade depends on the luck of the draw and what they happen to find—not what you expect and paid for. Often, the product description will not match the delivered material, and the lack of inventory also does not allow for consistent grades.

Ultimately, you may have to change the design you want to fit the limited supply of materials they have on hand.

Delivery Problems

Most Craigslist and Etsy reclaimed wood sellers have an actual day job and consider their “reclaimed wood business” as a side venture that they only work at on nights and weekends. This means they often don’t have the storage space to hold on to your material—you may be forced to take an early delivery and rent storage space until you’re ready to install.

Like all lumber, reclaimed wood is heavy. Shipping costs to a job site can be expensive, and smaller dealers often can’t deliver or arrange delivery. At E.T. Moore, we get up to a 65% shipping discount and pass those savings on to our customers.

Tips for Getting High-Quality Reclaimed Wood

Reclaimed wood is very popular due to its beauty and rugged durability. The premium price you pay covers raw material sourcing, transport, and proprietary processing into something of value and beauty.

Here are a few tips on how to ensure you’re getting genuine and high-quality reclaimed wood that will last for generations to come:

• Ask for pictures of the facility and raw materials. A red flag should go up in your mind if they can’t provide photos of where they process and store the materials.
• Ask to see current orders in production—Google “EXIF Viewer” to find a free online tool that will allow you to upload the photos they send to view the timestamp to ensure it wasn’t taken several years ago.
• Look at their Google/etc. reviews. Consider the number of people who have reviewed their business and look for pictures that customers have posted of the facility. These unedited photos will give you an excellent idea of the supplier.
• Look for modern equipment at their location. Milling machines, sanders, saws, forklifts, buildings—this will indicate if you’re working with a serious operation or a part-timer.
• Forklifts are expensive, and many smaller companies use cheaper skid steers or pallet jacks to move the lumber around. This is a very inefficient way of moving, grading, and sorting lumber; these inefficiencies will often carry over into other production areas.
• Don’t trust pretty finished job site photos. Everyone in this business has worked on high-end projects fitting for major magazines.

Reclaimed Wood From E.T. Moore

A lot of time, money, and effort goes into sourcing, processing, and storing reclaimed wood. To eliminate nasty surprises and potentially spending more than you originally bargained for, avoid buying reclaimed wood from online suppliers. It’s just not worth the risk.

At E.T. Moore, we’re one of the largest reclaimed wood manufacturers on the East Coast. We can get you the size, quality, quantities, and grades of lumber that you need to complete your project. Click below to learn more about our reclaimed wood flooring and lumber products.

The beauty of both reclaimed heart pine and sustainable yellow pine make both woods popular choices for flooring. But what’s the difference between these two woods and what are the relative advantages of either one when it comes to your renovation or new build project?

Different Strokes: Reclaimed Heart Pine vs. Yellow Pine

Both reclaimed heart pine and yellow pine offer appealing qualities for use in flooring. Each however has unique qualities that are better suited for particular contexts.

Appearance

Good quality heart pine offers a mix of golden sapwood and darker heartwood. Most heart pine today is reclaimed wood, meaning it has been recovered from older buildings when they are renovated or demolished.

Genuine reclaimed heart pine comes with a particular history that adds to its beauty, including nail holes, oxidation, or even the distinctive swirls left by early circular saws.

Yellow pine, however, is usually all sapwood, and its color brings a warm glow to every room it’s used in. Since these trees are usually younger and smaller than the original longleaf pines, they generally have fewer knots than heartwood and their growth lines aren’t as dense.

Durability

Reclaimed heart pine is significantly harder than yellow pine because of its tighter grain and greater age. Heart pine measures around 1225 on the Janka scale for assessing the hardness of wood, compared with around 870 for yellow pine.

Hardness and durability are why heart pine has been the go-to choice for centuries for everything from shipbuilding to construction, and why heart pine lasts so well, even after decades of punishment.

The softer sapwood of yellow pine will not wear quite as well as heart pine, but well-aged and seasoned wood will last for decades if well cared for. Its softness also gives yellow pine more flexibility, making it a popular and affordable choice for flooring.

Sourcing and Availability

Heart pine is available mainly as reclaimed wood, therefore its supply is finite. While wood reclaimers like E.T. Moore are always working to recover additional supplies of heart pine, there is simply less of this wood to go around, especially in longer lengths of wider grades.

Yellow pine is commercially grown and widely available in a range of lengths and grades. However, quality can vary so again, it pays to work with reputable reclaimers who can access stores of older, better seasoned yellow pine that will age with your building.

Cost

Reclaimed heart pine is never cheap, although some varieties, such as those with historic nail holes or darker knots are more affordable. Prices for heartwood generally run from two to four times that of a similar grade of quality yellow pine, if available. And, if you insist on custom milling boards of heartwood to your specifications, the cost can be many times higher.

Yellow pine is an affordable choice that outperforms many cheaper woods. Maintain it well and it will serve you for many years while acquiring a luster and character all of its own.

Matching

If you are renovating or adding to a house dating from the 1940s onwards, it is likely any pine flooring is yellow pine (although possibly also white pine or fir). E.T. Moore will be able to match this well with a suitable grade and color of new growth yellow pine.

If your project dates from the 1920s or older, we will match this with a suitable grade of heart pine. It’s not possible to match a yellow pine with a heart pine in any grade.

E.T. Moore: Your Source for Quality Heart Pine vs. Yellow Pine

At E.T. Moore, we offer an unrivaled ability to match both reclaimed and new growth pine with quality stock—it's why we’re called in to source flooring for historical restoration projects. The difference lies in our experience in sourcing hard-to-find woods and the depth of our huge on-site inventory of carefully stored reclaimed wood.

We can match several varieties of quality reclaimed heart pine in different grades for your special construction or restoration. We also supply sustainably grown and harvested yellow pine and custom milling to provide a premium option for new build projects.

Click below to learn more.

Reclaimed Wood Flooring

Sourcing great quality reclaimed wood for your flooring project is only half the job. Reclaimed wood flooring installation is an art in and of itself. Here are some common installation mistakes to avoid.

Reclaimed Wood Flooring Installation: 6 Mistakes to Avoid

You’ve sourced just the right grade of beautiful reclaimed wood for your renovation or new build flooring—but that’s only the first step. Just as important is a deft, meticulous installation job that brings out the unique character of your reclaimed wood floor.

Reclaimed wood flooring installation is a combination of art, careful planning, and execution. Whether you’re working with a professional or doing the work yourself, here are six common wood flooring mistakes to avoid to make the most of your investment in reclaimed wood flooring.

1. Don’t Skimp on Your Subfloor

Your subfloor is critical to making sure your reclaimed wood floor presents as beautifully as it should. So take the time to ensure your existing subfloor is solid, undamaged, and not warped or subsiding. For new build projects, don’t think you can skimp on subfloor quality just because you won’t see the subfloor!

Use the best quality wood products you can afford to avoid swelling and warping when exposed to moisture. Work with professional installers or structural engineers to ensure your subfloor is sound. This will help extend the life of your reclaimed wood floor by avoiding problems such as creaking, sinking, and uneven surfaces.

2. Moisture Content: Make Sure to Manage It

Wood is a living product that swells and shrinks as it absorbs and releases moisture. A well-executed installation needs to take this into account at every step. It’s most important to ensure that your entire reclaimed wood stock and sub-flooring contain consistent moisture contents during installation.

Forgetting to account for moisture levels in wood can cause several problems, including:

• Gapping — While small gaps will widen and close slightly as your floor “breathes,” permanent gaps can appear if moisture levels are inconsistent during installation.
• Compression set — Boards that swell against others can become crushed. When the boards dry out and shrink, this deformation remains, leading to uneven gapping.
• Panelization — A section of floor can develop abnormal gaps related to movement or swelling in the sub-floor beneath it, especially around heating vents and water pipes.
• Sidebonding — Inconsistent gaps between boards that have shrunk but are still partially bonded together by finishes, particularly by water-based products or adhesive used in glue-down installations.

Moisture levels can be kept consistent by:

• Installing floors in the spring and fall when humidity levels are not too high or low
• Acclimatizing flooring by storing it on-site for several days before installation
• Using a moisture meter to check that wood stocks have similar moisture contents

3. Don’t Assume Your Rooms are Square

While good milling will make your reclaimed floor as square as possible, that doesn’t mean the rest of your house is. Every building has slightly bowed walls and angles that aren’t square, which can be severe in older homes. The long straight lines of hardwood flooring can accentuate these imperfections if not placed thoughtfully.

Measuring rooms carefully can help avoid:

• Sight-lines that call attention to bowed or out-of-square walls
• Unsightly angles where board ends meet
• Awkward rip cuts to make boards fit

4. Crooked Boards

Even with careful measuring, you can still end up with flooring that doesn’t line up with your walls. This can happen if:

• Flooring slips out of alignment during installation; small errors can quickly be compounded as boards are added
• Foot traffic is allowed onto glue-down installations before the adhesive has had time to set
• Flooring is added to an existing floor without checking it is straight
• Reclaimed wood flooring is poorly milled with crooked edges or board ends

5. Bad Racking

Racking refers to the order in which boards are laid and is the heart of the wood floorer’s art. A good racker will plan out an entire project before nailing down a single board to allow the whole floor layout to be seen ahead of time. The racker will then use a mix of standard and shorter beams to create a seamless, seemingly random placement of beam ends and intersections.

Among other problems, bad racking can often result in:

• Beam ends that line up too closely
• Groups of right angles or beam ends in conspicuous places
• Boards laid crossways rather than lengthways in narrow spaces

6. Too Few Nails

Think you have enough nails laid? Think again! Even if it seems solid today, the floor will expand and shrink with the seasons. The more nails you have in place, the better to keep everything locked down for years. Trust us and do the extra work now—you’ll be grateful every time you don’t hear a creak!

Reclaimed wood has seen a massive surge in popularity over the past few years, and it’s easy to see why. It’s environmentally friendly, has unique characteristics, and is extremely strong and durable.

You might have noticed that the cost of reclaimed wood tends to be somewhat on the expensive side—this is due to the labor of love and expert craftsmanship that goes into creating it. Read on to learn why is reclaimed wood so expensive.

The Demolition Process

Demolishing a building to obtain reclaimed wood is no easy task. You first need to find a suitable building and then examine it to ensure the original wood is in salvageable condition. It then takes several weeks to several months of hard, backbreaking labor.

As the building comes down piece by piece, workers take special care to identify and salvage desirable pieces of wood that they will eventually turn into beams, paneling, and flooring. Once the demolition is complete, the salvaged wood is then loaded onto a truck and shipped to the E.T. Moore warehouse, where it will undergo a series of processing and refinement steps:

Denailing

The salvaged wood often has many rusted nails sticking out of it. Before processing work can begin, a team of workers will spend upwards of 50 to 60 hours removing the nails. There’s no machine in the world that can perform this task—it’s all done by hand.

Sawing

After the nails have been removed, a team of expert graders will visually inspect each piece of wood and use a proprietary formula to determine the best way to maximize the yield for standard 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, and 8/4 lumber. Customized Woodmizer and Esterer saws are then used for rough-sawn products.

Defects in the edges and ends are trimmed to maximize each board's widest possible width and remove any remaining blemishes. Once finished, the boards undergo a secondary grading process that includes re-checking for moisture for quality control purposes.

Kiln Drying

Depending on the species or type of reclaimed wood, it may undergo further processing. For example, Old Growth Tidewater Red Cypress Lumber gets slow cured outside for six months and then moved to a passive solar kiln for another six months of treatment.

Product Creation

Finally, we send the reclaimed wood through our state-of-the-art molder machine to create molding, custom flooring, and paneling.

Reclaimed wood offers a unique, durable, and environmentally friendly alternative for flooring, woodwork, or building. However, there are some problems with reclaimed wood you should be aware of before you embark on a project.

Problems to Look Out For With Reclaimed Wood

Beautifully restored reclaimed wood adds something special to a building or room, but sourcing good quality stock comes with some serious potential hazards and pitfalls. Working with a reputable professional wood reclaimer can help you avoid problems.

1. Nails and staples

Old nails, pegs, and staples are time-consuming to remove and can cause cuts and scrapes and put you at risk of a tetanus infection.

At E.T. Moore, denailing is a top job for us as professional reclaimers. We spend hours inspecting “new” wood with hand tools and even metal detectors. We know a missed nail can seriously damage a saw and even endanger the operator.

2. Termites

Not only do wood-eating pests like termites damage wood, but bringing untreated reclaimed wood into your house risks spreading the infestation to your existing furniture and walls.

Avoid barn and pallet wood in particular in favor of higher-quality recovered woods.

3. Mold & Mildew

Reclaimed wood may also contain less visible hazards to your health: Mold and mildew: Reclaimed wood that has been exposed to high levels of humidity or moisture may expose your family to mold or mildew spores.

This can lead to respiratory problems, especially among children, elderly people, or asthmatics.

• Bacteria: Wood that has been used in barns may be contaminated for decades with bacteria from animal waste. Exposure to untreated wood can cause bacterial pneumonia or other illnesses.
• Reclaimed wood that could be infested with mold or mildew or contaminated with bacteria needs to be professionally treated. It is important also to work with companies that can store reclaimed wood long-term in dry conditions, preferably indoors.

4. Cupping and Warping

Excess moisture also has the potential to cause reclaimed wood to warp or cup. Make sure the wood you choose is a good-quality stock that has been dry stored since it was reclaimed.

At E.T. Moore, we specialize in recovered long-leaf yellow pine and other high-quality heartwoods that are naturally resistant to warping.

5. Variable Grades and Quality

The biggest challenge in using reclaimed wood is sourcing enough wood of a consistent grade or quality to meet your project needs or to match existing stock.

• Higher-quality woods can be hard to find in wider grades
• Milling techniques and standards may have changed, and
• Woods acquire a particular grain or patina as they age, weather, or wear that can be difficult to replicate. To have the look of that era, it needs to come from that era!

The Best Source for Flooring and Lumber

As the world’s largest producer of vintage heart pine products, E.T. Moore can work with you to source the best products for your project, depending on your particular needs:

• Flooring: Stock of rare woods such as white oak can be hard to find. An 1850’s floor will be very different from a 1950’s floor. With a huge inventory at our five-acre Richmond site, it’s likely we can replicate what is needed for the best possible match.
• Lumber: Lower-quality lumber can sometimes be poorly milled or not be available in the grade you need. We are experts at sourcing rare or obscure lumber products. And, with more quality lumber in stock, our customers know what they are getting at the start of a project, allowing them to deliver work of the highest quality on time.
• Beams: Finding large beams or varied lengths for large projects is a challenge, especially high-quality old-growth timbers that have been properly stored. We know the value of old timber, which means we can supply significant numbers of 30-40 foot structural beams — turning architectural impossibilities into possibilities!
• Mantels: it takes time to source and finish just the right piece of wood for an eye-catching mantel. While other suppliers may be able to source largely unfinished pieces, we have mantels up to 11 feet wide ready for final finishing to meet your needs.

At E.T. Moore, our experience and our deep inventory of well-seasoned reclaimed heart pine and other woods allow us to match the needs of the most complex and demanding projects for our customers, again and again. We’d love to help meet yours.

Click below to learn more about our reclaimed flooring and lumber products!

Reclaimed Wood Flooring

Reclaimed Wood Lumber

Keeping your antique wooden floors looking as beautiful as the day they were first installed can seem like an uphill battle. It often feels like your floor is a magnet for dust bunnies, scraps of food, and pet hair.

At E.T. Moore, we often get asked, “how to clean reclaimed wood floors?” The short answer is that maintaining an antique floor is very similar to traditional wood floors.

However, there are a few things that we advise our customers to do to ensure the longevity of their investment. Read on to learn more about how to clean antique wood floors.

Preventative Care for Reclaimed Wood Floors

Preventative care is the first line of defense for maintaining investment, and it’s part of how to protect reclaimed wood. The finish and unique patina are susceptible to damage from a wide range of elements. Here are several tips to take into consideration: Humidity

Certain types of reclaimed wood, such as antique heartwood, have excellent moisture resistance and “move” very little with seasonal changes. Other wood species require that indoor humidity levels be kept at 30% to 50% and temperatures from 60° to 80°F, which helps prevent warping and movement throughout the year.

Food, Wine, and Liquid Spills

Clean up food and liquid spills as soon as possible. If necessary, use a slightly damp mop and gently wipe the wood floor dry of any residual water or liquid. The less time the liquid spends on your ground, the better, and the less likely for long-term damage to the wood.

Candle Wax and Chewing Gum

If you notice chewing gum or candle wax on your antique floor, take a few ice cubes and freeze the entire mass. Once frozen, use a credit card or plastic scraper and gently scrape it away bit by bit. You should be able to remove the wax or gum without leaving a permanent mark or stain.

Rugs and Carpets

UV rays from the sun shining through the windows can slightly alter the color of the wood over many years. It’s essential to occasionally move rugs and carpets to avoid getting different rug-shaped spots over time.

Try to avoid using plastic, rubber, or foam-backed mats as they could cause discoloration. Instead, use a high-quality vinyl rug underlay to prevent rugs and carpets from slipping when you walk over them.

Furniture

Apply soft felt pads on the feet of your furniture and chairs to avoid scratching the floor finish. Make sure the pads are free from harsh chemicals or any “wonder materials” that could wind up ruining the rich patina.

Reclaimed Wooden Floor Maintenance

There are several crucial things that you should not do when it comes to cleaning your reclaimed wood floors:

• Avoid using Swiffer cleaning products on reclaimed hardwood floors, as it makes it almost impossible to refinish the wood.
• Do not use hardwood flooring cleaning machines or steam cleaners.
• Do not use 2-in-1 cleaning solutions with polish that may contain acrylics or urethane polish to restore gloss.
• Do not use oil soaps, liquid or paste wax products, or other industrial cleaners that contain citrus oils, lemon oil, tung oil, silicon, or ammonia.

Daily and Weekly Cleaning

Regularly sweep your floors with a soft-bristle broom. Fine sand, dirt, or grit particles from Fido’s or Mitten’s paws—or the kid’s soccer cleats—will act like sandpaper and create fine scratch marks in your floor’s finish. You may not notice it immediately, but these fine lines will catch the indoor light and seem like they’re magnified 10x in size.

You can also place doormats at the various entry points into your home. This will help remove some of the dirt and debris—but not all. This is why it’s advisable to ask family members and guests to remove their shoes, sports cleats, and high heels before walking on your floor.

Tiny grains of dirt, gravel, and sand particles can get trapped in the soles of shoes and create long scratches as that person walks on your floors. The same advice pertains to sharp animal claws—be sure to regularly trim your indoor pet’s nails to avoid damaging the finish or patina.

Renewing Your Antique Wooden Floor

After a few years of use, you might want to renew the look of your antique reclaimed wooden floor. There is a wide range of approved finishes, stains, and sealers that will allow you to protect your investment while bringing out its natural beauty.

If you’re the DIY type, contact the flooring experts at E.T. Moore for customized advice on how best to apply and use renewal products.

Antique and Reclaimed Flooring from E.T. Moore

At E.T. Moore, we’re one of the largest reclaimed wood manufacturers on the Eastern Coast. Founded in 1969, we strive to provide our clients with a wide range of beautiful antique heartwood and other types of wood flooring.

Our facility, large inventory, and proprietary reclamation methods ensure that we have what you’re looking for and can match any sample that you provide. Click below to learn more.

When museums throughout the country height="720">

E.T. Moore completed a high-profile, challenging, and complex renovation project for the Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor’s Center. This job required strict adherence to an unprecedented 11-page spec sheet that called for large quantities of extremely rare wood delivered under very short lead times.

Wright Brothers National Memorial

Managed by the National Park Service (NPS), the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, commemorates the first flight achievements of Wilbur and Orville Wright. The on-site Visitor’s Center was originally built in the 1960s and had fallen into disrepair over the decades.

The NPS hired the contracting firm Group 3 to remodel the Visitor’s Center back to its original specs. Group 3 reached out to E.T. Moore to undertake the massive job of providing rare and specialized wood for the internal/external siding and wood benches while ensuring compliance with strict LEED standards.

The Challenge

This job presented E.T. Moore with several concurrent challenges. For starters, the National Park Service wanted the new Visitor’s Center to receive a coveted and hard-to-obtain LEED Certification, which certifies environmental friendliness. This meant that only old-growth and local Cypress trees could be sourced.

However, there was a catch—the trees used in the restoration could only be found reclaimed. This meant that the buyers at E.T. Moore had to procure old-growth, local Cypress, and LEED-Certified lumber within a 500-mile radius of the job site.

The Visitor’s Center required extensive wood siding, so much so that delivering it all in one shot would be impossible due to the limited onsite space. The siding also required an exact match of a very old style and unique shiplap pattern.

The LEED Certification inspectors also placed heavy demands upon E.T. Moore. They were required to adhere to a very strict set of rules and material requirements. All materials had to be LEED-Certified Green Materials; otherwise, they could not be used.

The Solution

When museums throughout the country height="720">

E.T. Moore perfectly matched the interior and exterior Cypress shiplap samples and produced 7,500 lineal-feet of siding for the renovation project. Due to the large size of the E.T. Moore facility, they manufactured everything at once and then stored it for incremental shipments to the job site.

This process meant they could easily adhere to the strict timelines and provide as much wood as the project required. If something were to go wrong, the depth and inventory of the facility would enable a very quick turnaround.

The team at E.T. Moore decided upon delivering a few weeks’ worth of wood at a time. Because it was a restoration, they didn’t know exactly how much wood needed to be replaced until the project was completed.

As it turns out, more wood was required than they had originally anticipated. Thanks to their large inventory and streamlined shipping processes, E.T. Moore was easily able to meet this increased scope of work.

The buyers at E.T Moore sourced the rare Cypress wood from trees that had fallen into a nearby swamp 600 to 1,200 years ago. Over the centuries, the wood pulled from the swamp had developed a substance called cypressene, making them extremely durable and ideal for LEED Certification projects.

The Results

Throughout the 5-month project, E.T. Moore continually met the rolling deadlines with multiple shipments. The project came in on budget and the renovation moved forward as planned. In total, the Visitor’s Center at the Wright Brothers National Memorial required over 1.5 miles of reclaimed wood!

Shortly after completion, the Wright Brothers National Memorial received a LEED Gold certification. Group 3 and the National Park Service were very pleased with the results, and the renovated Visitor’s Center at Kitty Hawk now stands as a proud testament to the accomplishments of Orville and Wilbur Wright.

When museums throughout the country height="720">

Let E.T. Moore Supply Your Next Project

Founded in 1969, E.T. Moore is one of the largest reclaimed wood manufacturers on the East Coast. Our large facilities and extensive inventory mean that we can match any sample and provide your project with premium reclaimed wood. Contact us to learn more!<

To celebrate 50 years in business, we’ve scoured our warehouses to find some very special items to make available to our past customers at never before seen savings.

We will be offering these specialty items over the next few months starting with Tidewater Heart Pine. I hope the unique historical character of these fine, mater crafted wood products will inspire you with ideas you can use to add to the character of your home.

Sale

Tidewater
Heart Pine

$6.25 sq. ft. (23% off!!)

This reclaimed Heart Pine Flooring grade is in limited supply. It is very popular for flooring, walls, ceilings, and paneling. In the early 1900’s, the material was originally used as pilings for the US Naval Pier in Washington D. C. and was salvaged in 2001. The earth tone colors impregnated into this lumber tells the story of its past service to our country.

View Flooring SelectionView Lumber Selection

Sale

Hickory

$7.25 sq. ft.

Our Hickory Flooring was sourced from logs and timbered in New Kent County, Virginia. This gave us the ability to control the entire sawing process from logs to flooring. Noted for it's durability, wear resistance and character with it's deep brown heartwood to a creamy white sapwood makes hickory flooring an excellent choice in family homes.

View Flooring Selection

View Lumber Selection

Sale

Number 2 Grade
Heart Pine

$7.25 sq. ft.

This excellent antique Heart Pine grade is popular in cabins, beach houses, and homes built with a Rustic or country look The blend of colors with its varying knots and nail holes reminds you of its past history. This is one of our most economical grades of reclaimed heart pine.

View Flooring Selection

View Lumber Selection

Our designers can help you explore how you can incorporate this material into your home enhancement project. Give them a call at 804-231-1823

E.T. Moore Manufacturing Inc. and the National Wood Flooring Association have partnered to bring customized training to you with their “Jigs and Medallions” master class!

Enhance Your Knowledge and Technical Training Close to Home

Master Craftsmen Training For the artists and enthusiasts in the wood flooring industry- a course taught by the industry’s most prestigious instructors along with Dr. Daniel Cassens, Professor of Wood Products at Purdue University.

Prerequisite

Three years experience and previous attendance of an Advanced level training.

Receive four CCU’s

Receive four CCU’s upon successful completion of training NWFA Training Events At E.T. Moore Manufacturing Inc.

Registration Fees:

Master Craftsmen Training: November 2-6 Registration Fees:

• $975 for non members
• $875 for NWFA members
• Early Bird discount before October 19th

Register Today

Call 800.422.4556 or Visit: https://nwfa.users.membersuite.com/home

Dr. Dan Cassens, Professor of Wood Products at the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources from Purdue University to present for us at the November school at ET Moore. Dan has a Ph.D from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in wood science. He worked at US Forest Products Lab with Regis Miller, the predecessor to Dr. Alex Wiedenhoeft. He has quite the Vitae, and will be an excellent opening to the school we have scheduled.

This home is designed by William E. Poole, from Wilmington, North Carolina. He is a well seasoned architect who by trade has visited and studied all forms of early American architecture from Natchez, Mississippi thru and to Nantucket, Massachusetts. He is the only architect in America to be licensed to copy and interpret Colonial Williamsburg Buildings for today’s modern living advances, while being true to classical design.

This Nantucket shingle style home is reminiscent of an eighteenth century New England Coastal home that could withstand harsh winters as well as sun, sand and water year round, but architecturally practical, orderly, and pleasing to the” eye”, as they used to say.

This home is being crafted by E. T. Moore Homes, LLC which is a small family owned business that specializes in creating “one of a kind” custom homes that bring together timeless design and a multitude of reclaimed building materials, modern technology, tried and true old world technology, and lastly, a lot of hands on workmanship and attention to detail to achieve a finished product that is seldom seen in today’s super paced society. The founder, E. Taylor Moore, Jr. (who lives only four miles away) visits the project almost every day. He will work with any homeowner or personally select and, in house, manufacture all of the homes finest millwork materials. Mr. Moore has forty years experience in the building and reclaimed wood business.

A sampling of specialty building products include:

• Reclaimed wood mould sand cast handmade bricks
• Specialty 16″ wood siding shingles
• Repurposed heart pine porch columns and beams
• Brazilian walnut porch steps
• Custom mahogany doors with beveled glass
• Custom exterior fascia, soffit, window and door trim
• All Flashing to be 16 oz. copper; custom site bent.
• Reclaimed and custom flooring of heart pine, spruce, hickory, lyptus, oak and or cherry accents
• Stairs to be antique heart pine and mahogany
• Interior reclaimed ceiling beams in kitchen and great room
• Moulding including base, shoe, flooring, chair rail, window and door casing, all custom profiles of various reclaimed woods
• All stainless kitchen appliances
• Custom shop made cabinetry out of reclaimed woods

Square Feet
5,000 s.f.

Directions
From Richmond: 64 East to exit 211. Go left off of ramp and follow signage 1.5 miles to Viniterra.

OPEN HOUSE – MAY 7th

Attend the E.T. Moore’s Open House and see product demonstrations from NWFA manufacturers, meet company representatives, and win prizes.

There is no cost to attend the OPEN HOUSE and no RSVP required.

NWFA Intermediate Installation and
Sand & Finish School - MAY 6-9

E.T. Moore Manufacturing Inc. partners with NWFA to provide you with quality training.

E.T. Moore Manufacturing Inc. has partnered with the National Wood Flooring Association to bring customized training to you. Enhance your technical skills with training close to home.

Intermediate Installation and Sand & Finish is a four-day training event covering different topics and hands-on experiences at an intermediate level.

Sharpen your installation skills, including job-site evaluation and preparation, installation techniques, safety, custom entry-level borders, and medallion installations.

Training features a hands-on approach to installing unfinished and factory finished wood floors, including thorough training of installation methods for nail-down, glue-down and floating floors.

Learn how to incorporate simple design elements, allowing you to offer your client a custom wood floor while increasing your portfolio. Learn basic job-site tool set-up and maintenance.

See You There!

VIDEO

Watch last year’s NWFA Expert Sand and Finish School at work!

E. T. Moore Manufacturing, Inc. hosted the NWFA Expert Installation / Sand & Finish School at our facility on Dec 4 – 12 2012. We supplied American Cherry, Lyptus, and End Grain Heart Pine to create the field. The center medallion was created with Hard Maple, and Black Walnut. The finish is Synteko conversion sealer, Synteko Best 20, Synteko Best 50.

E. T. Moore Homes is a wholly owned subsidiary of E. T. Moore Manufacturing, Inc. and turning your dreams into reality is what we set out to accomplish from day one. We listen to your desires, needs, and ideas and then with beautiful designs by one of our recommend, award-winning architects or by a designer of your choice, combine them with exceptional value and long-lasting quality materials.

Our goal was to choose a European old world style home that we could freely and liberally incorporate many of our own specialty building materials. All of our employees that worked full time on the project have an average of 25 years’ experience with construction and antique building materials. We feel as though the unique combination of old world materials and craftsmanship created a finished product that is unparalleled.

Exterior Site

• Lot Selection
• House Orientation
• Pool; wrought iron fenced
• Outdoor kitchen with fireplace
• Circa 1810 hand cut granite English flower station
• Professional landscaping
• Mature trees

Exterior Home Features

• Roof – Old growth, quarter sawn red cedar shingles with 5″ exposure (instead of 10″)
• Metal Flashing – Custom Made; All 16 OZ pure copper, open valleys, hips, cheeks, sills, headers, transitions, and window framing
• Rafter-tails – Custom designed old growth reclaimed red cedar ogee decorative soffit supports. All roof eves “kicked up” 15° in the European manner with timber terminations.
• Siding, Vertical – Reclaimed rare Atlantic White Cedar boards covered with red cedar battens.
• Siding, Horizontal – Custom made juniper “live edge” lap; reclaimed – applied with handmade wrought iron nails. Please Note: Both siding applications are more costly than typical brick applications.
• Windows – Custom made Weather shield European style casement; aluminum exterior, triple mullion and insulation. Custom maple interior.
• Dormers – Oval top, copper covered; cheeks covered with handmade “fish scale” shingles
• Porches and Veranda – Reclaimed heart pine oversized columns and beam supports braced by hand cut mortise and tenon curved braces. Floor surface, reclaimed fire brick surrounded by South American cumaru wood.
• Steps – Circa 1896 hand cut sandstone, reclaimed
• Exterior Doors – 8 Sets; 1 3/4″ thick x 6′ 8″ tall mahogany French doors. All glass insulated and beveled. All jambs custom made with reclaimed heart pine.
• 3-Car Garage – True custom made raised panel, remote operated doors with arch tops. Reclaimed wood. All wood mold sand-cast brick reclaimed (c. 1830′s) laid in true Flemish bond and raked joints covering entire garage with copper covered reclaimed wood lentils.
• Garage Accoutrements – European gable end “birdhouse overhang”; Copper lined, handmade flower box supported by protruding ogee brackets; Copper cupola – 11′ tall 3 stage hand rolled, crimped, and soldered copper.
• Roof Vents – 8 European attic hand crafted functional copper vents.
• Chimney Caps – Imported from France; 24″ x 36″ handmade vented copper, integrated with massive 3′ x 6′ Flemish brick chimney.

Interior Home Features

• Flooring – All reclaimed plank heart pine, South American lyptus and cherry incorporating boarders, feature strips and rhombus patterns in contrasting grain orientation by nationally known flooring installation and finish expert.
• Great Room & Master Bedroom – Vaulted 18′ x 15′ ceilings accented with 6 x 6 reclaimed beams.
• Doors – All doors solid mahogany, two double raised panels with European arched top. All premium figured wood. All jambs custom made heart pine.
• Wall Thickness – All exterior walls 6″, interior walls 4″, 6″ and 12″ thickness for old world feel and additional insulation.
• Wainscot – Master bedroom, great room, and dining room finished with circular-sawn reclaimed original finish heart pine paneling.
• Casing – All window and door, two member custom milled trim with back band, heart pine.
• Trim – Base, shoe, chair rail, all reclaimed custom milled.
• Closets – All custom made with local reclaimed eastern aromatic red cedar.
• Kitchen – Sub Zero refrigerator, Bosch dishwasher, icemaker, wine cooler, microwave, imported French “CornuFe” cast and enamel professional cook stove.
• Kitchen – Custom fabricated copper hood and backsplash, custom designed cabinetry with antique wood, soft close hardware, under counter lighting, tree member crown tops.
• Kitchen – Counter Tops – Butcher-block style (reclaimed rock maple from bowling alleys) with walnut double profile edge treatment, copper sink and faucet ensemble in massive island.
• Kitchen – English two tiered beamed ceiling over kitchen and breakfast nook.

Summary

We will work with your builder or architect to provide the industries finest materials.

For more information visit our website, etmoore.com or call Ashley Moore or David Jackson at 804-231-1823.

We will be posting images here that would be interesting on Pinterest

This Surfboard was built by our customer to be displayed in a Nags Head Beach House

Our customer’s can create anything

Hotel Side Entrance door to Grande Real Santa Eulália Hotel

We supply material to restore and replicate many of the outbuildings and structures on George Washington’s estate

Cumaru Deck in Va. Beach

The New Kent Winery was built by E. T. Moore Homes with 80% reclaimed materials

heart pine timber-frame and select edge grain flooring

The sales center at Viniterra was built created with antique heart pine timbers and reclaimed heart pine number 1 grade flooring

Reclaimed Heart Pine Trestle Table

Reclaimed Heart Pine Trestle Table

Heart Pine columns and beams frame the entrance to the dining hall

The View from the Grande Real Santa Eulalia Hotel Door in Algarve Portugal

The Grande Real Santa Eulalia Hotel Room Door in Algarve Portugal

This is Reclaimed Brown Board Heart Pine Table Top that we custom made for a client. Our Cabinet Shop can turn dreams into reality!

E. T. Moore MFG was asking to pit saw 400 SQ FT of Reclaimed Long Leaf Heart Pine flooring for a museum. This is all vertical reclaimed heart pine flooring, the pit sawn face was gauged and undercut facing the floor joist and not walked on. To reduce the number of cuts, we cut the lumber on our German Sash Gang Sawmill to 3 inches and pit-sawed them in half to the desired 1 1/2 inches. Here at E. T. Moore, anything is possible

We are proud to deliver this house over to the homeowners. We are currently looking at designs to start a second house in the near future. Not only do we manufacture all of the building components from antique heart pine flooring, reclaimed beams with antique connection hardware, cabinets, siding, and shingles, our constructions division, E. T. Moore Homes can build the entire package for you. The relationship of manufacturing and building gives us insight and flexibility that few reclaimed lumber dealers and general contractors could ever achieve at the same budget levels.

The antique brick, and heart pine timbers blend beautifully together.

Front Exterior Elevation

These kitchen cabinets were custom designed with select edge grain heart pine rails and styles, original finish panels, and reclaimed bowling alley for the counter tops

A rhombus patterned floor with antique heart pine and lyptus

End grain flooring made from reclaimed heart pine beams

Our select grade heart pine flooring blends beautifully with reclaimed timbers and original finish wainscot

The original finish floor blends beautifully with the reclaimed beams and custom cabinets

The counter top is reclaimed bowling alley. The darts and dot are visible on the end.

Custom designed and built kitchen

Our original finish flooring and antique heart pine beams

John K. George did an amazing job transforming Rothesay’s Kitchen for the 2010 Richmond Symphony Designer House. We donated and helped design all of the material to build the Coffered Ceiling. Be sure to look at the before and after pictures.

TraditionalHome.com

The antique heart-pine beams match well with the antique fir paneling. The fir paneling is only 3/8″ thick.

The Model home, in Viniterra, is nearing completion. The artisans of E. T. Moore Homes are reviving lost traditions in home building and design. Not being satisfied with the quality of many material and components, we choose to manufacture them our self. In the kitchen we custom designed and built the cabinets, and even the copper vent hood above the stove. The counter tops were made from recycled bowling alleys and incorporated the original dots and arrows. In the foyer we installed the floor using a pattern of three diamonds, to create a hexagon; Cad programs were utilized to manufacture the perfect sized diamonds, resulting in even spacing around the perimeter of the foyer. The front and rear steps were reclaimed sandstone window lentils. Throughout the house, we incorporated a very popular product, Original Finish Antique Heart Pine. These boards are specifically chosen for the patina and rustic look to coincide with the French Country architecture. We are proud of this home’ s materials and construction as it sets the standards for the Viniterra Community.

Strike up your next meal while sipping on award winning NKW merlot

Original Finish Heart Pine trim with a Medium Back-band

Details of our custom made cabinets

Antique Sandstone Lentils repurposed as steps

This antique heart pine was hand selected especially for the armory project. We are very proud to help Colonial Williamsburg save and restore a piece of American history.

Webcam of the armory construction

This Antique Heart Pine laptop used for writing in the field during the 1700′s and 1800′s. The portable desktop measures 20″ x 36″ and weight’s only 2 pounds. It’s surprisingly comfortable to use. Long Leaf Heart Pine was the wood of preference to use because of resistance to warping. Rediscover the past and stop by our showroom to see the uses of this reclaimed lumber throughout history.

We have some great shots of our Western Red Cedar Roof and Juniper live edge siding. We are applying a specialized oil, on the roof shingles, that was referred to us by Mt. Vernon

We are proud to donate distribution space Meals on Wheels Feedmore. They are currently running 12 routes serving an average of 15 meals per route, that’s 900 meals per week right here in Richmond, Va.

We will be delivering Reclaimed Antique Heart Pine materials to George Washington’s Mt. Vernon Estate tomorrow to rebuild slave quarters and gates.

This is just one of many Historical treasures that E.T. Moore supplies premium materials.

This will not be part of any “stimulus package” as they did it the old fashion way; they EARNED it.

We are breaking ground in Viniterra. We are excited to be a part of this great project. Our new home for sale on lot 88, will be custom created by E. T. Moore Manufacturing, Inc., from the footers to the roof shingles. We plan to use a combination of Antique Heart Pine, Reclaimed chestnut, Chinese Elm and other rare woods for Flooring, Beams and millwork. Old growth sinker cypress and live edge Juniper for siding and exterior trim framing the antique brickwork. Please check for progress on this magnificent home.

Viniterra Blog

We are proud of the New Kent Winery being published in the national magazine Traditional Building. See how our construction and manufacturing company’s team up to build this green building out of reclaimed materials