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You have questions, we have answers. Explore the most frequently asked questions about Heart Pine wood flooring below. Need assistance or want to know more? Contact Carlisle or call 800-595-9663 today to get all your inquiries answered.
Heart Pine timbers have been used for flooring in the United States for over 200 years. Heart Pine floorboards are cut from the center, or heartwood, of Longleaf Yellow Pine trees. This species produces flooring planks with rich colors that range from pumpkin and amber to darker hues, along with attractive grain lines, interesting knots and a density that rivals Red Oak. Heart Pine floors are very durable and have lasted for hundreds of years.
As Heart Pine floors age, their color tends to darken over time as it is exposed to light.
Wide plank Heart Pine flooring is made with boards that are up to 11” wide and 16’ long. In contrast to standard commercial flooring – where floorboards are only 2¼” to 3” wide and 4’ long – a wide plank Heart Pine floor will seem less busy and cluttered, producing a more spacious feel in the room and a floor that lets the personality of the wood emerge fully.
Explore and select from our gallery of our most popular finishes, specially categorized by the personalities and traits of the floor designs.
ExploreHeart Pine flooring offers a warm, rustic appearance. Heart Pine planks have more knots, pinholes and variations in grain, giving each plank a rustic character that infuses the floor with warmth and charm. Heart Pine can be stained in a variety of colors to coordinate with almost any interior color palette. To get the most out of your Heart Pine floor it is important to ensure that the boards are coming from Longleaf Yellow Pine and not other inferior pine species.
Heart Pine floors are extremely stable and may last for hundreds of years. With a Janka rating of 1225, Heart Pine is nearly as dense as Red Oak, one of the most common hardwoods used for flooring. Many historic homes from Florida to Washington DC boast floors that are well over 150 years old.
Heart Pine can be stained in a variety of colors to match different interior design schemes. The one thing to note is that Heart Pine has a large differentiation in grain density. The spring growth wood is much more porous than the summer growth wood and will absorb stain much more readily. This difference can accentuate the grain variation in some colors, creating a more striped or grain-accentuated look in the flooring.
Since Heart Pine is not currently readily available, Heart Pine floors can be more expensive than other types of Pine floors. Heart Pine can be found in both newly sawn material and reclaimed wood that is taken from old mill buildings and turned into flooring. Reclaimed Heart Pine is more expensive given its rarity, while the cost of newly sawn Heart Pine can be about the same as other hardwood floors of similar width and length.
Sweeping a Heart Pine floor frequently will remove debris that might scratch the surface. Cleaning a Heart Pine floor with a mixture of vinegar and water can help to loosen and wash away stubborn dirt and contaminants.
To speed installation and minimize mess and inconvenience in the home, homeowners may choose to have their Heart Pine floorboards sanded, stained and sealed at the factory rather than within their home. Prefinished Heart Pine flooring can be treated with stronger sealants in the manufacturer’s facility before they are shipped to a job site for installation, adding extra protection for the floor.
Reclaimed Heart Pine flooring is made with timbers that have been salvaged from centuries-old houses, warehouses, barns and factories before they are demolished. Reclaimed Heart Pine boards can be created in different styles and grades with the option of maintaining the original sawn surface of the old factory floor. However, it is also possible to create very refined grades that could easily be used in historic restoration or in new homes that may be designed in a historic style.
Eastern White Pine floors feature lighter colors with reddish knots and light grain variations. Over time, the color of an Eastern White Pine floor will darken to an amber/orange patina known as Pumpkin Pine. Eastern White Pine is very absorbent and can be stained easily to various colors. Heart Pine floors are cut from the center of the Longleaf Yellow Pine tree, a slow-growing species that produces denser grain patterns that enhance the durability and stability of Heart Pine floorboards. Heart Pine has a more prominent grain structure than Eastern White Pine. With a Janka hardness rating of 380, Eastern White Pine is much softer than Heart Pine, which has a hardness rating of 1280.
Heart Pine floors may be textured by craftsmen to give new floorboards the appearance of planks that are decades or centuries old. From adding hand-scraped edges to gently wearing away the grain with a wire brush, texturing techniques make Heart Pine floors look like surfaces that have been lived on and walked on for generations.
Carlisle Wide Plank Floors offers Heart Pine flooring cut from the center of mature longleaf Pine trees grown in the optimal climate conditions of Alabama. We offer both new and reclaimed Heart Pine flooring, as well as Eastern White Pine floors and textured Pine floorboards.
