While the savings may not be worthwhile for a smaller project, the client who contacted Dave Long of Lubbock, Texas-based Long Flooring out of the blue one day last fall wasn't thinking small. He wanted to know how much it would cost to install 28,000 square feet of flooring. Long told him: for new flooring, $8 per square foot; for recycled flooring, $4. The customer's ears perked: only $4 per square foot? But he was still uncertain.
What sealed the deal, Long says, is the second advantage of using recycled wood floors: Recycled wood flooring is not as fussy as new wood when it comes to acclimation and climate control.
"I told him, 'You realize you'll have to keep your heating and A/C on solid for the first year? You can't turn it off,'" Long recalled. The customer balked. Recycled wood it was.
The recycled wood came from Long's warehouse. The company specializes in replacing courts, and salvages as much usable material from each job as it can. Six installers began the floor in October, and the job was completed the second week of January. Although the Guinness Book of World Records wouldn't sanction it without a hefty payment upfront, Long is sure the floor his company laid down has to be the largest recycled floor installed on Earth.
