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You have questions, we have answers. Explore the most frequently asked questions about White 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.
In the U.S., Eastern White Pine timbers have been used for flooring since the early days of the New England colonists. Those early settlers found they could cut long, wide planks from mature trees, making Eastern White Pine suitable for structural timbers, siding and wide plank flooring. Although Eastern White Pine is a softer floor, the dents and dings that tell the story of the lives lived on it are often cherished and maintained, creating a floor that lasts for hundreds of years. With smooth grain and beautiful knots, White Pine can be finished in various ways to complement a range of décor and styles. For home and business owners who want a surface with a sense of rustic, Old-World charm, White Pine floors may be the perfect option.
With a Janka hardness rating of 870, Yellow Pine floors are much harder than White Pine timbers with a rating of 380. Heart Pine timbers cut from the Longleaf Yellow Pine tree are even denser, with a Janka rating of 1225, nearly matching the density of Oak. That means White Pine floorboards will show wear more easily than Yellow Pine, but both types of wood will develop a distressed, rustic appearance over time – part of the appeal of Pine plank flooring. White Pine is easier to stain than Yellow Pine, which has more resin pockets. Since the cost of both flooring options is similar, the choice between White and Yellow Pine comes down to the homeowner’s preference.
Explore and select from our gallery of our most popular finishes, specially categorized by the personalities and traits of the floor designs.
ExploreAlthough White Pine is one of the softest materials used in flooring, it’s not uncommon to find Eastern White Pine floors that are over a century old. Pine floors harden over time as the floorboards are walked on and the fibers in the wood become more compressed. It is also the choice of many homeowners to create a more antiquated look by using materials that more easily distress.
Many consider polyurethane to be the best finish for White Pine flooring. As one of the hardest finish materials available, polyurethane will help protect the soft Pine floor from scratches and stains more effectively than other treatments. More traditional site finishes like high resin tung oil can also be used to create a more authentic old world appearance.
While it’s possible to leave a Pine floor unfinished, the wood will be even more susceptible to scratches, dents and stains from water or spills.
As a plentiful softwood species, White Pine is among the least expensive types of wood flooring and maybe less expensive than some hardwood options, depending on the grade and width that is selected.
Unfinished Eastern White Pine floors are very light colored almost white with minimal appearance grain. Often solid red knots are scattered about the face of the board. The boards can be stained to achieve a wide variety of color palettes.
Wide plank floors are made with boards that are much wider and longer than the floorboards in standard commercial flooring. With floorboards that range from 5” to 20” in width and up to 16’ in length, a wide plank White Pine floor will reveal much more of the grain patterns and personality of the wood. Wide plank floors also have many fewer seams between floorboards, adding a sense of spaciousness to the room.
White Pine has been a popular flooring choice in the U.S. for centuries for its beautiful rustic appearance. Pine is highly plentiful, making it a sustainable and highly affordable option. While White Pine is a softer wood that becomes worn more quickly, it is nevertheless highly durable. Its worn, rustic appearance is one of the attractive qualities of a White Pine floor. The softness of White Pine makes it very easy for craftsmen to work with but also means you may need to refinish it more often.
Eastern White Pine flooring is quite soft – it has a hardness rating of 380 compared to 1290 for Red Oak, the most common wood used in floors. This softer density means White Pine floors will be more easily scratched, dented or dinged. For most homeowners, this natural wearing down is part of the appeal of Pine, creating a more lived-on look. Additionally, as White Pine floors are walked on, the wood fibers in the floorboards become compressed and harder, enabling the floors to last for decades or a century or more.
White Pine is among the least resinous of all the Pine species, allowing unfinished White Pine flooring to accept a stain very easily.
Because White Pine floors will show wear more easily, they require more frequent cleaning. Sweeping or vacuuming can remove debris that would otherwise cause scratches and wear. Mopping a Pine floor with a mild solution of water and white vinegar (1 or 2 ounces of vinegar to 2 gallons of water) will help remove any stubborn grime.
White Pine floorboards can easily be distressed to give the floor the appearance of a surface that has been lived on for generations. White Pine floorboards may be distressed by hand scraping edges, adding saw kerfs or treating the boards with brushes to give the wood a timeworn appearance.
A “dirty top” Pine floor is a grade of timber where the imperfections, knots and saw marks are left untreated to create a rustic appearance. Dirty top Pine flooring can be made with reclaimed floorboards or new timbers that are textured to create the look of boards that were once prepared by hand.
Prefinished floors are sanded, stained and sealed inside the ideal conditions of a manufacturer’s facility. After being shipped to a job site, prefinished Pine floors can be installed far faster and with none of the mess and inconvenience that’s associated with finishing a floor on site.
Reclaimed Pine floors are made with floorboards that have been salvaged from old structures designated for demolition. The nail holes, saw marks, discoloration and other imperfections in a reclaimed Pine board add a timeworn beauty and rustic character to the floorboards.
Carlisle offers wide plank floors made from Eastern White Pine as well as Heart Pine and reclaimed timbers. With proprietary flooring grades, lengths up to 14’ long and widths up to 19” wide, Carlisle White Pine floorboards are air and kiln-dried for enhanced stability in a wide plank board. Our design specialists work with each customer to create a beautiful, distinctive and versatile White Pine wide plank floor that can suit the design needs of any style from elegant colonial to urban loft to rustic retreat.
