I'm surprised you can't find any pine flooring salvage in the SE! :) I have actually used new lumber cut to spec for similar problems (moldings, trim, etc) - cost was not too bad either. If you have a lumber yard that does custom work they can cut a piece of pine for you in the right length and width, with tongue and groove. You could probably even take them a picture of your current floor so they can see if it is heart pine or whathaveyou. The trick would then be to stain it to match the other boards. You might not get a perfect match, but for me this is part of the charm of an old house. Good luck! :)

There are companies in every state in the southeast that sell reclaimed pine. You don't say where you are, but if you google "heart pine" and your city/state, you should be able to find them. You may not have heart pine, but the companies usually sell varying grades of lumber.

I just had to buy some southern heart pine to repair some damaged areas in my 1912 colonial revival. The company was local, so they sent someone over to determine the grade that would match best. It worked out to about $9/sq ft, but they had a minimum order of 30 sq ft. I didn't need that much, but now I'll have extra to make thresholds etc or do future repairs.

If your house was built in the 1940's it's doubtful that the floors are heart pine; that species was pretty much extinct before 1900 although it's possible the house was built with old stock. The easiest way to tell if it's heart pine is to sand a small area down to bare wood & wet with turpentine (or water). Heart pine will turn a very distinct red while other pines will remain the original color.

You probably have southern yellow pine. That species is hard enough for flooring, northern pine tends to be softer.

I am thinking that it is yellow pine. The more gunky linoleum that comes off, the more yellow it looks. I have two boards so far that have turned red when wet, but maybe that is just a fluke.

I did find a guy who said that he can make replacement boards for my hole, however, I have to get a piece out to bring to him to match. Any ideas for the best way to do that? Or any ideas on getting the nasty linoleum to come off, other than chipping it off slowly?

Thanks!

If it's in the kitchen, can you shift the boards so that the "gap" falls under cabinets? Sorry if that's a dumb suggestion! or, do you have any similar wood inside a closet somewhere?

Good luck!

Mary

Hi Mary,
I asked about shifting so the problem is under the cabinets, but they didn't seem to think that would work at all. I'm really not sure why.

The rest of the house has a completely different wood in a smaller board size.

I think I've found someone who can make me some new boards (does this sound odd? He thinks he can make them match), I just have to get a piece of the flooring OUT so he can match it. And I'm still struggling with the awful linoleum. Yuck!

Thanks for the ideas!