Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between “white” pine and Southern Yellow Pine?

Southern Yellow Pine was extensively distributed throughout the Colonies / United States during the 1700’s and 1800’s. It was favored over “soft” (white) pine and was the material of choice due to its hardness and durability over white pine. According to the National Wood Floor Association and the many wood handbook reference guides, Southern Yellow Pine, in hardness tests comes in at 690-870. White pine comes in at 290. Hardness is measured by the load required to embed a 0.444 inch solid steel ball to one half its diameter into the wood. Know as the JANKA Test, this best measures the ability of the species to withstand denting and normal wear-and-tear. In other words, Southern Yellow Pine is up to three times as hard as white pine.

Does Southern Yellow Pine make a good floor… is it too soft?

Although considered a “soft” wood rather than a “hard” wood such as Oak, Southern Yellow Pine is the hardest of all pine species. Like all wood species, it is susceptible to a normal amount of wear-and-tear. All wood species are by nature imperfect. Customers that elect a Southern Yellow Pine floor from Historic™ Floor Company, Inc. accept the historical significance of this age-old material and appreciate the inherent beauty, warmth and charm of an aged floor made with these planks.

Is SugarPineT (white pine) too soft for a floor?

SugarPine (white pine), although considerably "softer" than the yellow pine family, was and is still used today for two primary reasons-- one, to replicate the federal and colonial styles of extra-wide planks (up to 20" face widths) in the New England motif for period replication and secondly, due to longer length boards (up to 14' long). This specie of pine is the most dimensionally stable flooring known for its widths, meaning little expansion with seasonal changes. It also has the most mellow grain pattern in the pine family when staining. This makes a great floor where a natural distressed look is desired since it acquires a great deal of bumps and bruises with normal foot traffic.

Are Heritage™ wide plank floors from Historic™ Floor Company face nailed?

Yes. We face nail every plank to ensure they properly “seat” to the sub-floor. Further, this process replicates how planks were installed in the great homes of Early American dwellings—most noted in cities such as Williamsburg, Charleston and Savannah. We face nail the planks with our exclusive Portsmouth™ cut nails that imitate the method of using hand-forged nails which kept the boards from “cupping” or “buckling”.

Are our plank floors kiln dried?

Yes. In fact, we work very closely with out select mills to ensure that moisture content is under 10%. Additionally, we air dry for long periods of time and then allow planks to acclimate at the job site so that they take on the ambient humidity of your homes normal living conditions. This ensures very minimal shrinkage, splitting, cracking or gaps and produces material that is very stable (in fact 30% more stable than Oak).

Are Historic™ planks made from solid wood?

Yes. All our flooring planks are ¾” thick Southern Yellow Pine and are very sound.

What is the average length of our planks and how are they installed?

The average length of Historic™ planks are 8 feet in length. However, many of the planks installed will be 10 and 16 feet in length provided the home allows for such expanses.

Are Historic™ floor planks tongue and grooved or square-edged?

We offer our planks in both tongue-n-groove (end-matched) and square-edge material. Our Heritage™ line is square-edged to replicate the type floors installed in America’s historical homes, public buildings and great plantations. In the “old days”, each tree was chopped down by hand with ax or handsaws. Planks were then procured by using “pit saws”, which resulted in boards that were slightly varied in thickness. Historic™ planks may at times have very slight (1/16”) variances. Even the most elegant and formal of Colonial, Early American homes incorporated these charming planks.

How long will a Historic™ wide plank floor last?

A lifetime or two, or three. You get the idea. Since these are exact replica floors from Colonial times, they too, will last as long as the original floors still found throughout such historical cities as Williamsburg and Charleston. If you visited such great cities today and took a historical tour of these wonderful homes, you would see that these wide plank pine floors have withstood the test of time beautifully and wonderfully.

How are these floors priced in comparison to the more common, pre-fabricated wood floors of today?

Surprisingly affordable. In fact, a Historic™ wide plank floor is priced about the same as having a new hardwood floor installed.

Why was pine used more often in homes from the 18th and 19th century compared to other species such as Oak?

Precision milling machines, kilns and power tools were unheard of for working with wood in the “old days”. Pine was also easier to work with as compared to hardwoods. Further, pine was known to be more stable than hardwoods (generally 30% more stable) such as Oak. In fact, for those that desired hardwoods in those days, it was not uncommon for them to use pine and then stain it to look like mahogany, walnut, etc.

If I’m rehabilitating or building a new reproduction era home, should I use pine floors?

We think that people go to great lengths to ensure that their lighting, trim, bricks, siding, paints, hardware, cabinets, etc. is correct for their period dwelling and for this same reason, we believe that the same care should be used when selecting a flooring solution. Nothing is as important as to replicate the expansive charm of wide plank floors. Since pine was the wood of choice in these historical homes. American homes from the 17th, 18th and 19th century simply did not incorporate the common 2 ¼” milled Oak seen in many new homes today. In order to create this genuine warmth and charm, a historically accurate, wide plank floor is a must.