Caribbean Heart Pine

The complete guide to Caribbean Heart Pine

 When you find a description online, this is what you read: Caribbean Heart Pine is a beautiful wood prized throughout the world for its distinctive grain, rich, lustrous patina, and durable hardness. Manufactured with the same precision as our hardwoods, end-matched in long lengths, it is the perfect alternative to reclaimed heart pine.

How are we so sure this is the one that you will see? Everyone cuts and pastes from the same importer’s website. The difference between us and them? We have a daily inventory and sell the stuff versus listing it as advertising. We understand how to install and finish both grades. Our A+ BBB rating and customers in 49 states. Shall I continue with the most important? We have low overhead and use wholesale markups.  

What is the difference between rustic and prime grade Caribbean Heart Pine? 

Prime grade might be what you imagine when thinking about Heart Pine flooring, classic if you will. The colors are more uniform compared to our rustic grade, of course but there does exist enough variance to make it “interesting”.  Prime Grade Caribbean Heart Pine will have a few tiny pin knots compared to the larger knots and sapwood in the Rustic grade. Prime Grade wide plank Caribbean Heart Pine screams luxury, email us for recent customer pictures and samples. And just in case you are wondering, prime costs about .60 more per square foot. 

Never heard of Caribbean Heart Pine?

You are not alone, Caribbean Heart Pine has been imported into the U.S. for the past 25 years. However, when sold to the homeowner the name may change to, or a word is removed to be more accurate. Caribbean Heart Pine becomes Heart Pine or old growth Heart Pine in some states. Our floors come from Honduras, and all from sustainable timber stands under substantial government control. To be clear, this is not the “umbrella drinking resort area”, it is Honduras. Why do we tell you this? Because just like everything else about your floor you deserve to know 100% of the truth when choosing your floor. 

Historic Restorations using Caribbean Pine

Historic restorations often require a very specific type (age) of pine. Matching an old floor, first and foremost find the correct materials, furthermore this is the most critical step. The question: create the age or pay for it, i.e. Antiqued New or Antique Reclaimed Heart Pine. The d added to antique means a process not a declaration of age. In fact, Antiquing desribes the act of creating age, which becomes much easier with the right materials.

The “right” nail

For the record, we understand that most of you are not managing an historic restoration but for those that are starting the process or srambling for the right nails, look no further than Tremont Nail Company. “Time tested for over 200 years. As America’s oldest nail manufacturer, we are in a position to offer the older patterns of cut nails appropriate to the period of restoration being undertaken. In addition to a variety of styles of nails, we can provide information to help the restorer in determining authenticity in the project.” (Tremont.com 2023)

Aging a pine floor

The featured image on this post show the before picture of this floor, here is the ‘after’. So, immediattely some of you are thinking and maybe speaking, “I don’t like that”, we get it. Not everyone wants to make their new floor look old, but some of us think it looks amazing but that is not the only reason to use this technique.

Prime grade contains less varation in color, plus only pin knots if any. Prime grade, sometimes refered to old school remains popluar with old homes and restorations. Prime grade Caribbean Heart Pine is currently only available in 5″, as of January 2023, until further notice.

Customer testimonial

I was extremely pleased with the product and service.  We ordered 3,000 SQ ft of rustic grade CHP.  It looks gorgeous. Furthermore, the floor has held up very well to scratches from several large dogs.  Jason and Heather were both extremely informative, friendly and helpful. They were very effective communicators throughout the entire process. Plus during the shipping portion of our order, they were in constant communication. I highly recommend this company and its product and have referred them to others. “(John S. 2017)

Why do we age Floors?

First of all, the finish you see here has an amazing 85% heartwood floor creating a patina that will one day reinvent this floor. In fact, they are enjoying their faux age which hides everything life can throw at a floor while being the showpiece of this home.

Why darken the edges?

Darkened, and in this case distressed edges give the illusion the separation that you would expect with a floor of this “age”. In fact, the term French Bleed aka Black Bleed, are the same thing. This effect is created by blacking the edge of each floor plank which draws a contrast between the color of the planks and the beveled edge of each board. A French Bleed is intended to give the floor an antique or vintage look.

Sometimes you feel like a knot, sometimes you don’t!

Rustic does not mean cheap or “country”, not always anyway. Rustic Caribbean Heart Pine can be found in some of the most expensive homes in the United States. How do we know? Because we sold the floors, and shipped them to those zip codes that should have dollar signs in them; plus the amazing Montana, Idaho, and New Mexico ranches just to name a few. 

The point is that rustic does not mean anything other than knots and variation when talking about Caribbean Heart Pine. Both versions have 85% visible heart content. So, what is heart content? Heart content is color and color variation;, sapwood and heartwood, also known as character. Rustic Caribbean Heart Pine contains more sapwood, as you would expect since sap comes from knots. The sapwood color, grain and knots differentiate the rustic from the prime grade, it is not about quality just your style. 

A substitute for Antique Heart Pine

Caribbean Heart Pine is the great substitute, “tell them it came out of Benjamin Franklin’s boyhood home, and they will never know it”.  The question: create the age or pay for it, i.e., Antiqued New or Antique Reclaimed Heart Pine. The d added to antique means a process not a declaration of age. In fact, Antiquing is the act of creating age, which becomes much easier with the right materials. Caribbean Heart Pine meets all the criteria in either grade, prime or rustic.