Reclaimed or Antique Heart pine flooring?

[rgramjet]

Anyone use the "Antique heart pine" flooring? If so, how was it to install and hows the durability? Ive seen samples and the stuff is Beautiful!

[CThomp]

See my post "Refinishing 55 year old Floors".

Reclaimed heart pine is generally 3/4" Thick, extremely durable, crazy hard, and very very beautiful. Its generally all T&G so it installs accordingly. I'd use liquid nails or brads with a nail gain. You won't even notice the brads. Some people might recommend a vapor barrier or pad underneath for sound and vapor (obviously).

You can sand it until you're blue in the face and you won't hurt the stuff.

Wipe the floors down with Tac cloth to get all dust up. If it comes sanded already then I'd use tung oil or linseed oil. DO NOT USE A STAIN. The wood is far to pretty to muck up with a stain. Oils will just bring the natural colors out. Which on heart pine there are tons of different hughes of browns and oranges.

After the oil let the floors dry for a good day or so. Oils stink as bad as stains so open a window. Soak the linseed oil rags in a bucket of water after using. They can spontaneously combust through the drying process reacting with oxygen. No your floors won't catch on fire.

Rub the floors obsessively with tac cloth.

Apply first coat of poly. I used quick dry. In a non-humid environment this stuff actually does dry quick.

Wipe the floors down with tac cloth again. If sand or dirt made it into the brush or poly get a new bucket of poly and a new brush. If you feel dirt or sand in the poly you've applied sand it down with a palm sander and some 120 or higher fine grit sand paper.

Wipe the floors with tac cloth

Apply last coat of poly, let dry and your done.

If this is the perfect procedure i'm not sure. But this is how I did it.

The floors should be extremely smooth and almost soft feeling when the second coat of poly is dry.

Be VERY generous with the first coat. And clean OBSESSIVELY with the tac cloth before the first coat of poly and after. Dirt and dust will muck up the deal.

[CThomp]

nail gain = nail gun.

[rgramjet]

Just found a place in GA absolutely amazing customer service! They actually get the wood from old mills and distillerys and mill it into flooring....recycling in its purest form. I spoke with "Lisa" and had a big box of samples within a couple days!! Place is called authentic pine floors I believe.

[CThomp]

Go for it.