Hello!
Does anyone know if heart pine that is "red" and somewhat darker with a few hundred years of history, can become lighter through some chemical treatments or solely by sanding? We are considering buying this type of material for flooring, but would prefer a lighter floor, and we have no idea what old red heart pine is.
Is heart pine a particularly good or bad material?
Can someone who knows something about this help us with an answer?
//Generellt
Does anyone know if heart pine that is "red" and somewhat darker with a few hundred years of history, can become lighter through some chemical treatments or solely by sanding? We are considering buying this type of material for flooring, but would prefer a lighter floor, and we have no idea what old red heart pine is.
Is heart pine a particularly good or bad material?
Can someone who knows something about this help us with an answer?
//Generellt
Heartwood pine is found in the core of a pine tree. Depending on how the pine has grown, there is more or less. More is often considered better, as it is resistant to moisture and extremely hard. Good for flooring and outdoor use, in other words. The downside is that it can be difficult to paint, as the paint 'slides off'.
OK
What about it being red? Is it possible to treat it with lye or something else to get the lighter color? We don't want yellow floors that pine might be associated with, but we're looking for nice old floors that are light in tone. So painting is not what we have in mind, but rather soaped light floors that lean a bit more towards the gray side.
Does anyone know?
What about it being red? Is it possible to treat it with lye or something else to get the lighter color? We don't want yellow floors that pine might be associated with, but we're looking for nice old floors that are light in tone. So painting is not what we have in mind, but rather soaped light floors that lean a bit more towards the gray side.
Does anyone know?
We are planning to renovate the 18th-century house and the extension with the same materials. The bedrooms have pine floors and are in the light color with nicely worn. Now we need to add more in the halls and rooms, and we prefer the lighter tone that we associate with a truly old house. Therefore, no yellow floors and preferably not dark to match the rest of the house.
Now we have found a floor that is old and should suit us, and we really want to know if it can be treated so we get it as we want it because it costs a lot to buy this.
I guess the answer is that we can get light floors with treatment
Now we have found a floor that is old and should suit us, and we really want to know if it can be treated so we get it as we want it because it costs a lot to buy this.
I guess the answer is that we can get light floors with treatment
Heartwood was used for "fine work like windows" or unpainted woodsheds/even beams in the past. My father has a woodshed that's been unpainted for over 100 years without visible damage in the Dalarna region. The color can range from yellowish to pinkish-red depending on where the tree has been located and grown.
But buy an old used spruce floor and reuse it; it will absolutely be the most "authentic" in your case, and it will also be light as you want it. Tons of houses are being demolished, so there must be hundreds of thousands of square meters of spruce flooring from the period 1700-1950, and it's probably cheap too.
Best regards, Jawen
But buy an old used spruce floor and reuse it; it will absolutely be the most "authentic" in your case, and it will also be light as you want it. Tons of houses are being demolished, so there must be hundreds of thousands of square meters of spruce flooring from the period 1700-1950, and it's probably cheap too.
Best regards, Jawen
Thanks for the response. We've bought the floor now and are waiting for it to arrive. I think it will fit well with the rest of the house where there are wide planks (about 30-45 cm). I believe pine will be better because this will be in the hallway and has higher wear, and from what I hear, spruce floors are quite sensitive. I believe, and hope, that if we sand and treat it and then allow it to wear and age, we will get the floor we desire.
What I'm not quite clear on is the difference between a spruce floor and a pine floor. What exactly should I look for to see the difference?
//Generellt
What I'm not quite clear on is the difference between a spruce floor and a pine floor. What exactly should I look for to see the difference?
//Generellt
The wood you describe sounds to me like tar wood. Stumps from such trees were broken up and used to burn tar. It is because of the tar that the wood holds up so well.
Smell it when you get it home, tar wood smells like tar and usually is dark yellow to red, and looks oily when you cut into it.
If it is that, I don't think you'll manage to bleach it...
All pine wood usually darkens over time, from what I've seen at least.
Smell it when you get it home, tar wood smells like tar and usually is dark yellow to red, and looks oily when you cut into it.
If it is that, I don't think you'll manage to bleach it...
All pine wood usually darkens over time, from what I've seen at least.
Spruce flooring is from spruce and pine flooring from Scots pine, the biggest cosmetic difference is usually that there are very small knots in spruce, while pine is often almost knot-free. Additionally, spruce is much more durable/stronger than pine; all structural timber like floor joists and roof trusses are spruce, while panels and facades are often pine.
Regards, Jawen
Regards, Jawen
But spruce is softer than pine, so for flooring, pine would be better. Moreover, pine is also a soft floor when compared to oak and maple, for example. The use of spruce as construction timber is largely due to it being cheap. Spruce is Sweden’s most common type of wood. Pine is used for visible items such as stairs and doors, where spruce "is not good enough."
You should compare different manufacturers on how carefully they have selected the wood for the floor, as there can be more or fewer knots and even the fit can vary. Both are soft wood types, so there's not much difference here, and if you're not a professional, you probably won't see the difference.Generellt said:
You can choose either one, as it is the choice of finish and maintenance that determines how they age and what color they get.
fn76:
The fact that spruce is the most common type of wood might be true in terms of the number of trees, but the way spruce grows means that you can't make use of much when it comes to thicker joists. Pine, on the other hand, grows thick and very straight.
So, it's likely that it takes 2.5 spruces to equal one pine in terms of cubic volume in old growth forests. I am certain that spruce is a much tougher type of wood regarding durability under load, and that's the only reason it's used in construction timber such as beams and trusses. If it were possible to use pine for construction timber, much longer lengths could be manufactured and purchased, but currently, most limits are about 5.5 meters, although I've seen someone selling 6.8 m.
Regards, Jawen
The fact that spruce is the most common type of wood might be true in terms of the number of trees, but the way spruce grows means that you can't make use of much when it comes to thicker joists. Pine, on the other hand, grows thick and very straight.
So, it's likely that it takes 2.5 spruces to equal one pine in terms of cubic volume in old growth forests. I am certain that spruce is a much tougher type of wood regarding durability under load, and that's the only reason it's used in construction timber such as beams and trusses. If it were possible to use pine for construction timber, much longer lengths could be manufactured and purchased, but currently, most limits are about 5.5 meters, although I've seen someone selling 6.8 m.
Regards, Jawen
When selling the timber to a sawmill (buyer), there is not much difference between spruce and pine, although they do have slightly different properties. For example, I believed that spruce is used for paneling and facades because when the wood dries, it "closes," and does not absorb moisture as easily as pine. Pine is more commonly used for timber and joinery indoors.