I have done several floors with reclaimed wood and it is lots of hard labor. First you have to remove the wood which can be an adventure in itself and requires care and patience, not just brute strength. In my experience, many construction laborers do too much damage by trying to remove quickly. Then you have to move all the wood without scratching it, the rest of the building or yourself. Next step is pulling the nails which is never easy but sometimes darn near impossible.

After that is done, it has to be sorted and the cut offs packaged separately. It takes at least two people to make bundles of 4 boards wide, 3 high, held together tightly and shrinkwrapped. Finally at that pount, you can now move it again and store for reuse. If you are careful and the spaces are large, you might get 90% usable but with hallways, closets or odd angles, you might be at 75 to 80% yield

I work cheap and have experience, so I can probably do the above around $1/sq ft. You will probably be looking at $1.50 -$2.00 per sq ft of usable product which isnt a great savings unless you have higher quality wood than you would purchase at a distributor. Do it for long length boards, quarter and rift sawn boards, tight grain, low color variation that you cant easily buy. I have beautiful oak flooring in my kitchen reclaimed from a teardown where the shortest boards are over 6 feet and the two going across the stair landing are 12 feet long.

@Sina Sadeddin Architectural Design, I have to say that I have no clue about the wood. I do agree with you, I would typically go ahead and spend that money on the hardwood. But I do have a lot more things to be done in the house and so am at a quandary between my heart and my purse!!!

I'd never replace real wood with laminate, it would bug me forever. I can't tell you how many times I cheaped out, regretted it, went back and got the real thing and ultimately spent more in the long run. Laminate has come a long way and has it's place -- if you need to replace something really bad and have no wiggle room with money. that doesn't sound like your situation.

as for replacing it with new wood - go ahead and get contractors in to give you estimates for fixing vs replacing. if you do replace the floor, please consider donating the wood to a Re store!

Lyndee Lee, now I know why the two quotes I got have to this work have so much difference. I am not sure about the quality of the wood. Also since I am not able to point out why the squeaking is occurring (not sure if its a subfloor issue or the wood flooring not being nailed) so I am reevaluating my initial decision to try and save the wood. Hence the post!

B F , I know I know, I had a two fold reason to try and keep the old wood. Material cost and the flooring just looks great (not old at all). So I swear I will try my best to save that wood.

My opinion is to never downgrade the quality of materials when renovating a house. Replace ceramic tile bathrooms with tile, not acrylic shower surround. Replace solid hardwood with solid hardwood, not laminate. Much of the cost in a remodel is labor and cheap products arent going to be cheaper to install than midrange materials. Sometimes, the cost savings on materials are partially spent on extra labor trying to make the cheaper product work without damaging it

Post some photos of your existing floor as a flooring expert should be able to tell you whether the wood can be matched. If the floor is relaid, it will all have to be sanded and finished so probably not a big deal to match the existing. Also, see if you can find a spot to see if the wood has enough material remaining to refinish. How old is the house?

Our house has had the same issues. When we got new flooring the contractor said that the subfloor had not been nailed in nearly enough places. So, a few nails later the problem is gone. That was the first floor. The second floor is just as bad. If we ever change the flooring we will be sure to get it nailed securely.

How old is the house? Can you add photos of the existing wood floors? Depending on how old this house/floor is, the squeaking could be subfloor (newer build....like from the 60's or younger) or it could be the wood floor itself (older home like from 1920 - 1940's).

The source of the squeak will depend on the age and structure of the home. Poorly installed subfloors are normally the BIGGEST source of squeaks (nailed in place OSB is a BIG noise producer). Whereas a well installed plywood (screwed into place) is often quite quiet.