Wanting pine and heart pine are 2 different things really. Short leaf southern yellow pine floors are very soft about 690 on a janka hardness scale. Walking on them with spike heels will dent them in some places. Newly harvested old growth long leaf southern yellow pine is much harder and durable at 870 janka hardness albeit no match for maple (1,400) or oak (red oak at 1290 and white oak at 1350) janka. I had white oak floors in a house and that was some hard flooring.

Antique heart pine remilled from old warehouses and mills is what you have described and is much harder than any of the southern yellow pines at 1225 janka hardness so not much softer than than red oak.

Then comes the grade. The really good heart pine is very expensive - $15-$20 per sqft compared to oak or SYP at about $2-$3/sqft but it is absolutely beautiful and will hold up just fine. You hear the stories about finding heart pine under the carpet of 100+ year old homes that refinishes beautifully... and it held up for probably 80 years b4 somebody decided to put carpet over it.

So, lets say you want to do 1,000 sqft. That takes 1,150 sqft of material counting for waste/culls. Then lets say you find some good HP for 15/sqft (you won't find the really good stuff much if any less), that's $17,250 for materials. Then add $6/sqft to lay, sand and finish or $6,000 for a total of $23,250 for 1,000 sqft of flooring.

OUCH! I know b/c I did it and went into therapy after writing the check. But it is beautiful!

I didn't have pine flooring, but my best friend did. She had it all ripped out 2 years later. She hated all the scratches, dents and gouges. It was her nightmare. It wasn't heart pine, though.

I saw a picture of Red Birch today. It seems to have a reddish golden tone vs. heart pine's orangey golden. Anyone familiar with red birch?

happymom3 - I recently posted requesting advice/opinions on pine floors. Like you, we are building and like you, I love the look of pine but have been warned against installing it.

I received several informative replies. If you haven't come across it yet, you may want to check out that thread.

I had reclaimed heart pine throughout the first and second floors in my former house which were absolutely phenomenal in terms of durability. Neither my son, his many friends with their muddy shoes (Virginia clay - ugh), nor our black lab who came to live with us at the tender age of 3 months was a threat to the floor. However, the floors were finished with tung oil, not poly.

I replaced the existing flooring in my present house (a combination of w-t-w carpeting and 3" red oak) with reclaimed heart pine.

If I had it to do over again, I would buy flooring from Timberknee in Vermont. Don't settle for checking out the web site. Call Tim and talk to him. His products offer the character of reclaimed without the uncertainty.

wmwalker

wmwalker - you end the first paragraph by saying your floors were finished with tung oil and not poly...any insights??? Was it that you wished you had done poly or you felt tung oil was better. We have to decide on a finish soon.

Sorry for the hihack happymom3.

I contacted Carlisle Wide Plank Flooring via their website this morning to request a brochure, since they were so highly touted by a number of people on this forum.

Within hours I got a call from them and the person I spoke with gave me a lot of useful information in helping me sort out what type of flooring would best suit our needs. I was really impressed by his knowledge and his patience.

If you're considering pine, I encourage you to check out their site.

If cost is no factor, the heart pine would be lovely. But, as Breezy 2 said, heart pine and pine are two entirely differnt products, both in density and price. I wanted the heart pine, but only the 10 inch wide planks. That also makes a difference in price. I ended up going with traditional oak and I am staining them dark. My conpormise is to do the kitchen island top in antique heart pine, which will only cost $650, not to mention I had to use something for the island anyway. Now that I am used to it, I am really happy with the decision.