Depending on how you bought your hardwood flooring, you might have excess floor planks. You can have extra planks because you ordered extra in case something went wrong in the installation. Some people decide at the last minute not to install it in the bathroom or some other room. Others buy their hardwood from a supplier that only offers certain bulk shipments. Whatever the case may be, here’s what you can do with your excess hardwood planks.
Test Strips
Hardwood flooring is very durable and very resilient. It will stand up to most kinds of damage for decades. However, if you don’t want to damage or discolor it, you need to be careful about what chemicals you use on your floor. Certain cleaners can strip off the finish and stain the wood. If you want to know for a fact that whatever you’re applying to your floor is safe, you can use a few of the excess planks as test strips.
Match the Furniture
Hardwood flooring planks are perfect for use as cladding for countertops, shelves, cabinets, and much more. They’re designed to be the exact same thickness, width, and length. They’re completely flat as well. That means you can easily use them to line the sides of a bookshelf to turn a cheap bookshelf into a piece of hardwood furniture. You can use them to match your countertops to your flooring.
Coasters
A simple DIY trick is to turn your excess hardwood planks into coasters. All you need do is cut them into squares with a saw of some sort. If you want a rustic look, you can even score the planks with a knife or a saw and then just break them. That’ll create uneven, rustic edges. Sand them down so that they’re smooth and you’ve got great coasters. One plank of hardwood should make at least a few coasters.
Sell the Excess
Depending on how many extra planks you have, you can always sell them. You should keep a few for yourself in case you need to repair your floor at some point in the future. People with hardwood floors are always looking for a few planks to help them plug some gaps or repair some damaged lanks. They might be in the market for three or four from you. With the recent advent of variation hardwood flooring and rustic looks, they’re not even necessarily looking for the exact same species or color as the flooring they have. It opens up a broader market.