# ideas for used oak flooring



## jimmyjj (Nov 20, 2011)

I am doing a home renovation and unfortunately will have to rip out 400 ft2 of oak flooring. Any interesting uses for this wood? It is in fine shape - i believe it is <5 years old, and sitting on an older wooden floor.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

Get a metal detector first. Then after all the nails are pulled, see what you've got. Is it a solid wood floor or veneered? The "engineered" flooring will have a reasonably thick veneer applied to substrate. If it just a laminate, the oak will be very thin.
Bill


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## Hermando (Sep 28, 2010)

I have run into the same situation. I took out some oak flooring and kept the best boards. I could not see trashing everything, which happens in so many renovations. I used a thin grinder blade to cut a notch to remove the nails and not damage the surface. I had plans to either reuse the oak planks inside closets and also for a nice bench top. They can also be used for hidden parts in projects and maybe even a table top if trimmed carefully.

Just a few ideas I have had to reuse some good wood.

H


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## pete57 (Jan 22, 2009)

Hi if you go to Charles Neil's web site

http://www.cn-woodworking.com/boxes/keeping-chests-keeping-boxes/

and look at his boxes that is a nice thing to use your oak for. I took a whole barn down and it had all solid oak on the it. White oak and a little red. Planing it and de-nailing it is very important and if you have a metal detector it will save you time and money, but there is one thing that is hard to prevent and that is is getting the dirt out of it and that will dull your planer blades. I have built several of those boxes with that oak and it makes good gifts and if you sell stuff these will be the first to go but pricing them is the thing, I charge 600 for a plain cherry box but the oak ones went fast I sold one got 950 and the other for 1200. It had a lot of nail holes and dovetails. I have one on the bench right now and this is the last of my oak. I used a half and half mix of polyurethane high gloss for a couple coats to fill the voids and then went on to use wipe on poly about 10 coats in all. I sanded with 600 grit sand paper in between coats for the finish. Message me if you need more detail. This new box is mine and I am going to try the turquoise in the nail holes and voids. It is beautiful stuff to make projects with. peace


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## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

I have repuposed oak flooring. Two of my blog entries (#1% #2) are about repurposing oak flooring for my fre*n*ch cleats & shop fixtures. I also posted my chisel rack from reclaimed flooring as a project.

There are any number of potential projects from reclaimed flooring, with your imagination providing the only limit!!!


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

I thought about using some solid oak flooring to build a top for a coffee table (or end tables). But the Habitat for Humanity store wanted $2.00 bd ft which was more than I wanted to pay for used stuff…and they had cut the nails off but left the heads embedded so I would still have to find and remove the nails. Bummer for me.


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