Thanks for your reply! Would new heart pine match well with the old heart pine?

I second the statement by Sina. And just for fun, old pine is VERY difficult to stain. It *can be done....but it is tricky. Right after that it is tricky. And then just to be absolutely clear...it is tricky. Pine will mottle (like chicken pox) when stain is applied. I've seen pine look as if it had a bad case of black mold it was soooooo terribly spotted! The homeowner's where not very happy...and the flooring "guy" couldn't figure out what happened.

I would assume the pine will be finished naturally and that what goes in the kitchen will be something other than hardwood. Personally I would suggest looking at different patterns of cork. The natural colour of cork compliments about 15 different types of wood. That makes it SUPER easy to work with - especially in a situation like yours.

Or go with tile or stone. Both look handsome with old pine.

We thought about tile/stone, but our main concern with that is the floor is not level, the house is old and we were afraid tile/stone would crack whereas wood will be more forgiving.

Being out of level isn't horrible so long as it is FLAT! Think of a thick sheet of metal put on an angle. It is FLAT but not LEVEL. Humps and bumps (like a roller coaster) are the problem - with all floors. A wood floor still needs the same level of "flatness" as a tile floor. It is just that a tile floor needs a proper deflection rating. That's the only difference.

To get your floor "flat enough" to handle tile will be the same as getting it flat enough for hardwood. Sheet products or carpet are the only two products that can handle a wavy subfloor...and even then sheet vinyl/lino look really BAD. They can "handle it"....but they won't look very good.

To get anything that is rigid onto your subfloor will require the subfloor to be dealt with - properly.

Update: We found a great deal on reclaimed heart pine and have purchased for the kitchen. Next question: What finish? We are thinking natural. Also, would a gloss, semi-gloss, or matte poly look better? We are excited as we were very lucky to find this wood. Thanks!

I have pulled crown grade heart pine from homes slated for demolition. You are lucky to find old growth heart pine.

Lots of finish choices in film forming (polyurethanes) and non film forming finish materials. Each category has pros and cons, so lots of research for you to do.

However, those I have refinished looked absolutely great given a natural staining and a satin (matte) commercial waterborne polyurethane.

Good luck with your floor.

Thanks so much!

Just curious...was the heart pine you found denailed and cleaned?

It was not denailed, well some of it wasn't. It came straight out of an old mill home similar to the one we are remodeling. Little bit of work ahead of us but we got 200 sq ft for $300 so we're happy.

Wow...a bargain! Cleaning the tongues and grooves will be a lot of work...sharp scrapers...wear gloves if you can work with gloves. I always found gloves annoying in my work.

Thanks for the heads up. We are definitely excited about seeing the finished product. The seller used some of the wood for their master bedroom and it looked amazing.