The Art of Reclaiming Oak Flooring:Upcycling Shop Workstand

We recently had our old hardwood flooring refinished. There was some repair work needed and that left several pieces of flooring left over. Some of the old flooring begged to be re-used so I decided to cover a shop table with these pieces. I like to sketch in pen and ink, hence the artwork.

I had this Dewalt shop stand and had covered it with an old, weathered piece of 3/'4 in. plywood. While extremely functional, the stand looked very beat up. So I knew I could make it look great with the floor covering. The photo above shows newly installed flooring.

The oak flooring is 2in, x 1/2in. The amazing thing about our 60 year old floors is that when sanded, the wood looks absolutely brand new! Watching the flooring crews stain and finish the flooring was inspirational.

I used my pneumatic nailer with 1in. brads to attach the flooring pieces. It was very easy to do and went very quickly.

When the flooring had been completely installed, it was time to finish the wood. Since it's a small area to work on, it would not take much prep work to ready it for staining. I did fill a few minor gaps and defects with a wood filler.

When that dried, the top was sanded to clean up any high or low spots and to remove any excess filler. Then the stain was applied. When dry, the top was given 4 coats of the water based polycrylic coating.

I really like the way this turned out. Being in the shop is pure joy and this attractive piece adds to the satisfaction!