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!

Yeah, just go for it! People pay good money for antique, reclaimed, and/or distressed wood flooring. No "ifs" - It WILL work, if you do a careful sanding and finishing job. If the sample in the photo is any indication, you'll have beautiful honey colored floors and IMHO, removing them does compromise the authenticity of your 150 yr old house. It will look "rustic" in the sense of being old, but not in the sense of being rough or crude or grungy. I just re did my old pine floors on its last legs using Bona Deeptone sealer + Mega poly finish and it exceeded all expectations. Others may suggest using Waterlox or some other easily renewed finish (I would go the latter route if your floors are still reasonably thick - I only went with the poly because mine were sanded down by PO to the tongue and groove and there was still poly on it in places - so I was pretty much stuck with poly) Don't use drum sander, don't get hung up on it looking "new" or unblemished but do sand enough to brighten the wood, take out surface scratches and stains and smooth to a silky smooth feel. The buffer or orbital sander using a higher grit would do it - maybe start with 80 and end with 180-240. If hiring it out, make sure they're in tune with the concept of antique floors and not into extreme sanding to make them look new. Some guys are, but some aren't. They are not making 150 year old old growth flooring anymore and leaving it/preserving it is really the best thing esthetically and in terms of dollars and sense. Law of supply and demand right? Yes soft woods will dent but just a little care is all you need - remove shoes, go over with a dust mop periodically to pick up dirt and abrasive matter. The wear your family puts on it just becomes part of its history - and having an easily renewed finish means you'll just re-do it periodically without it being a big deal.

My 100+ home in South Texas has long-leaf pine in the attic. It had never had anything done to it and had aged to a silvery-grey color. When we finished out the attic space we sanded and applied a poly sealer. Ours also became a warm dark honey color and it is beautiful. Our floors are mainly 6" boards and depending on which section of the house they are over they run in different directions. Here is a pic of my floors before and after. The after picture is between the second & third coats of poly-sealer and the "white-ness" you see is the dust from sanding. Attic Floor Before Attic Floor After

Why would all those males vote no? Maybe because they are allowed to have an opinion about what the inside of the house looks like too, it's not just females who get to pick everything inside? If the final vote is to not paint it, I think you are going to have to work With it rather than trying to ignore it. Right now your proposed color palette is going to look a little pinkish with that ceiling and it's going to highlight the orangey yellow color of it. I frequently see people trying to work with an existing finish by picking out everything else to go with the finish they Wish it Was instead of the finish it actually Is. Ignoring it and hoping it will go away is not going to work, and I see people trying to do that all the time. Of course that is one way to force someone who doesn't want to paint it to paint it, by picking things that look better if you went ahead and painted it after all. I don't really have a strong opinion either way. Looking at one picture like this I might be tempted to paint it too. I have no context really. But if you are Not going to paint it you have to work with it.