Rustic Southern Pine (Knotty) floors are not created equal, not even close. We produce Heart Pine flooring from Longleaf Pine timber, not building materials from farmed Loblolly pine. Our #2 Knotty Southern Pine floors can be compared to Character grade Heart Pine, with up to 50% heart content. What this means is our #2 knotty pine simply lacks the heart content to be deemed Heart Pine which requires a minimum of 50% visible heartwood. So, in reality the distance from the middle of the tree (heart) determines if our #2 becomes Heart Pine. This is quite different from mills producing building materials from younger timber. 

New Heart Pine is not new at all, not compared to dimensional lumber or farmed pine. While it is true the longleaf pines of old were allowed to grow hundreds of years and develop dense hearts, trees grown today do still develop some heartwood. The term Heart Pine refers to the non-living “heart” of a pine tree, as opposed to the outer living layers, known as sapwood. A pine tree’s heartwood is highly valued and preferred by many woodworkers and builders, because it is strong, hard, and has a beautiful reddish-gold color. Heartpine is a grade given to flooring with more than 50% visible heart content on the face over every board.

Yes, if you use a polymer-based adhesive such as Bostiks. Bostik’s Ultra Set “Single-Step2” is a high-performance adhesive with built in moisture control and a sound reduction membrane. Using Bostik’s helps maintain the long-term durability of your floor. Based on its polymer technology, allowing for movement just like nails. Bostiks contains one percent recycled rubber and is a certified Zero VOC product along with the Greenguard stamp. Bostiks is the only adhesive SYP Direct recommends for gluing down solid wood.

Face nailing is when the nail is driven perpendicular into a piece of material, with the nail head exposed. We suggest that our customers face nail wide plank Heart Pine when the width gets to 10" and up. Although our slow-growing Longleaf Heart Pine, as with our 85% heartwood Caribbean Pine, are far more stable than box store versions, we still suggest a little extra prevention in the wider planks. So, while you do not have to face nail our Wide Plank Heart Pine, and in most cases, all will be well, it is still better safe than sorry when the solution takes such little effort or resources.

Does anyone remember in 2018 when the plastic straw got stuck in the sea turtles’ nose? The video went viral and people were (justifiably) horrified, and some places banned plastic straws. Ok, so the industry tells us we (planet) use 500 million plastic straws per day, which is a very big number. However, in 2024 5.8 billion square feet of plastic floors were sold, and in 5 -7 years they will be in the local landfill. Remember, this stuff cannot (or isn’t) recycled meaning in just a few years we will be dumping 15.9 million sq feet per day into those landfills, as they are replaced. So, since 1000 square feet of plastic floors equates to ½ million plastic straws; we are dumping the equivalent of 9 billion plastic straws per day into the ground.  

White Washing a floor, in its original form is about paint, white paint. And while by definition white washing involves paint, that might not be practical for a floor. Over the past decade the style known as ‘Shabby Chic’ popularized shiplap and funky floor colors, including many versions of white (washing).