Reclaimed wood floors at Graycliff

In the past 15 years, reclaimed timber has become a growing environmental cachet.

Logs recovered from lakes or rivers by divers, ”sunken timber,” are described as logs that were lost on their way to a mill, or forgotten in a holding pond.

The logs used for Graycliff’s floor restoration were underwater for more than 100 years, before being reclaimed. Graycliff’s cypress was sourced from the company, Sinker Treasurers, of Freeport, FL.

This is unique to Graycliff, states Rebecca Master, Project Manager from BRD. "There were many details to be historically accurate. The thickness, width, and length of the new boards had to be precise, which caused some issues for Sinker Treasures. It took them extra time to find logs large enough to accommodate the 10-1/8” width of the boards. Each board had to be face-nailed in place at particular locations to match the old flooring, and then the nail heads were covered with cypress plugs.“

There is a richer patina, and more character in old wood versus the newly milled. Antique woods can have more than 30 growth rings per inch, compared to a new growth tree. Often, they stand up better to foot traffic as they have been absent of oxygen and that makes it like a time capsule for recovered logs.

Reference for further readings:
www.oldhousejournal.com (Jan/Feb 2001)
www.swamploggers.com