Hardwood Floors August/September 2017

WFOY WINNER SPOTLIGHT:

Virginia Barn Finds New Life in Michigan Unique, durable, and sustainable, reclaimed flooring offers homeowners the opportunity for a truly distinctive look and feel. This one-of-a-kind floor offers a timeless look highlighting American history. The wood was sourced from an old barn inWest Virginia built more than 100 years ago and was given new life in a Michigan home by the dedicated team at 1 Wood Floors based in Livonia, Michigan. The oak for the project was carefully reclaimed and remilled by Wellborn +Wright, leaving the original sawn face untouched. Wellborn +Wright’s products are reclaimed from all over the East Coast – from turn- of-the-century barns in western Pennsylvania, to textile mills in Boston, and down to centuries old lumber mills inWest Virginia. The salvaged wood is saved from landfills and revitalized through the utilization of detail-oriented processing techniques. The wood for this project was factory finished with natural oil produced by Rubio Monocoat. “We are seeing a lot more reclaimed flooring and a lot of different styles in the wood itself: the color, the width, and the texture,” says 1 Wood Floors owner, Edmond Malaski. “A long time ago, it would have been more about the border, inlay, a diagonal, or whatever the customer wanted to do to make the job unique. But now it seems to be more about the materials themselves being unique. The best part of it is that these materials were made in the USA and are more than 100 years old.” By Stacy Brown

THE DETAILS MAKE THE DESIGN After delivery, the materials sat on-site for about two weeks while the wood was properly acclimated. Then, installer Arron Kida began the tedious process of establishing the pattern for the floor. “When the wood arrives, it comes in bundles of very long boards because it’s older wood,” says Malaski. “You have to determine the pattern yourself because it’s all random. It’s a little bit of artwork. Working with the materials, blending things together, and mixing it in the right patterns takes a lot of talent.” One of the unique aspects of reclaimed materials is that what could be considered a flaw in other materials can add character to the floor. “One of the treads had a nice big split in it. I thought it was the most beautiful piece out of the whole shipment,” says Malaski. “So I called the

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homeowner to verify that he was okay with that piece. He was, so we did some epoxy fill on it and used it. ”