The best part about the SYP Direct philosophy, it is so easy; “One House, One Floor”. We have grown our business organically with referrals and repeat business. Old school customer service, personal and without any sales pressure. In fact, most of the time we are validating what you already knew but because of all the nonsense you hear when shopping for a floor you begin to think; “is laminate just as good as real wood”?
Adding age not buying itSalvaged Southern Pine
The SYP Direct Philosophy- “No repeat business unless you move or add on”.
Why do we sell a product that has zero support in the industry? Furthermore, unfinished wood floors have small margins; in addition it is very long and heavy requiring far more work that something you stick down by peeling of the back. Because the SYP Direct Philosophy is about creating value for the homeowner, and frankly, we do not want to lie to every single customer that called us. If we sold laminate, LVT or 2mm engineered flooring, every caller would hear the same garbage you hear in box stores.
Southern Yellow Pine Direct – “No small print, hidden fees or unhappy customers”.
Our success and growth has been organic, not repeat business and certainly not advertising. Imagine, your being told to buy that creates a future liability rather than investing in your home. It is disgusting and it all started with laminate, read my rants for more on this transfer of wealth, from you to shareholders and executives option packages. A+ BBB Rating.
And ask were they “engineered” you floor, somethings are better as imports but not your floors.
Research and compare engineered versus solid wood floors; throw in LVT and laminate floor covers for kicks. As a buyer, online marketing and most local stores will have you buying covers not floors. What do we mean? Real wood is floor you buy whereas engineered and the rest, a floor cover. Comparing engineered versus real wood floors and you are comparing an investment to a product designed to fail. Yes, some are better than others, but all floor covers have planned obsolesce in the blueprints. Want to read more- Investment Flooring. No matter how you keep score, engineered versus real wood is an unfair comparison. Hailed as a great innovation for homeowners, engineered floors are more popular than ever. Flooring companies love them because of the repeat business, huge margins and time savings compared to real wood.
Solid versus engineered
Solid versus engineered wood floors should be rhetorical, but not today. The market has convinced buyers that veneers glued to composites are a better way to go than real solid wood. Plastics that will end up in landfills handle moisture better than real wood, give me a break. Repeat business demands reusable products and engineered floors are perfect in the role. Real wood last forever, engineered, laminate and others all end up in landfills.
Marketing in disguise
Remember, the “media” or resource pages such as Angie’s List are paid for by marketing dollars paid by people wanting to sell you LVT or laminate. Therefore, the research articles you read are 100% generated by someone with a product behind the posts, a sponsor of sorts.
Baseball, Apple Pie and Southern Pine
It has to be real wood. Southern Pine, real wood, is the most Eco-friendly choice for your floor, period. The exceptions, of course, are endangered or illegal timber, but that is not relevant to our discussion. Our New Heart Pine is not farmed and take from private landowners. While our Yellow Pine is sourced from North Louisiana, farmed timber. That is great information but the reason the real wood is green? IT LAST FOREVER. In […]
Box store pine floors are not as good as ours and they are more expensive. Let me repeat, apples to apples they way more expensive. And even their cheaper stuff is stupid expensive for what it is, or certainly what it is not. In world where laminate and hardwood are regularly used to market some floor cover, you might want to use a healthy skepticism when floor shopping. Rule number 1- or at least the […]
2024 Dog Friendly Floors Update Dog friendly floors are all about the finish. Of course, you will here that real wood is not good for big dogs or even dogs in general. This is simply not true, at all. However, before we talk about the finish, we should address the question of Southern Pine and if it is a dog friendly floor. There is so much confusion regarding pine because there are so many variations [...]
How long does acclimation take? Asking how long does acclimation take has no honest answer only experience and product knowledge. Acclimation, sometimes called conditioning, is the process of allowing wood to reach its equilibrium moisture content (EMC) within “normal living conditions.” It is also one of the most important steps of hardwood floor installation. How long does acclimation take? My installer said 2 weeks! How long does acclimation take? Acclimation is not about time but [...]
Green, eco-friendly floors are about longevity Our company offers homeowners the power to choose an investment versus a product. The difference? An investment increases in value when a product is designed to wear out and then replaced. One outlives the house, the others on average, about 7 years. So I ask, which is the green floor? But wait don't you cut down trees to get real wood? Yes, once and it does not involved any [...]
Our company offers homeowners the power to choose an investment versus a product. The difference? An investment increases in value when a product is designed to wear out and then replaced. One outlives the house, the others on average, about 7 years. So I ask, which is the green floor? But wait don’t you cut down trees to get real wood? Yes, once and it does not involved any plastic or formyldehyde.
Marketing is not accurate information not anymore
Today, most of us will choose the product best for the environment provided the price is reasonably close to the other choices. In fact, some of us will choose the green product even with a much higher price. So why is the opposite true when green floor shopping? Simple, most of us are not given the information necessary to make that decision accurately. Want a good example, look no further than recycling.
LVT can be recycled just like carpet- FALSE!
Carpet cannot be recycled despite the propoganda, try it some time. Laminte is just chemical “goo” with zero value after ruining your home. And now LVT is the fastest growing component of our landfills. It absolutely cannot on any scale be made into anything useful! So, instead of the nice recycling thoughts you knew it was going to spend the next 100 years contaminating your groundwater, would that play a role in your decision?
Because most carpets are made from plastics sourced from the petrochemical industry, they can take centuries to breakdown. As these carpet fibers break downbreakdown in landfill, they release methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gasses, into our atmosphere. Meanwhile, toxic chemicals from the carpet can leach into the surrounding environment, especially in landfills that aren’t properly managed.
Plus: Have you ever taken up an old carpet? How about when pets were living on it? It is disgusting, no matter how clean you think you keep it.
Salvaged heart pine
Carpet is NOT King
For decades, carpet was king. Home remodeling took off with the advent of those little synthetic fibers. A small percentage of carpet wore out, but most was replaced when it became outdated, or the house changed hands. Today decomposing carpet holds an impressive and increasing percentage of total landfill tonnage. The E.P.A. estimates that every year, about 5 billion pounds of carpeting go into landfills. That’s 1 to 2 percent of the total U.S. landfill contribution, or 17 pounds of carpeting per person. (Don’t Sweep Carpet’s Eco-Impact Under the Rug – The New York Times (nytimes.com).
5 Things to help you buy an eco-friendly (Green) Floor
Engineered floors are not eco-friendly
Real wood is the only green choice
Engineered “hardwood” floors are created using a veneer measured in Millimeters. In case you are curious, 1 MM = .039 inches. So, a 2 MM wear layer is .117 inches thick. The veneer is glued to backing that may be ⅜ to ⅝ thick and created from a huge variety of materials, which is why you see dramatic differences in prices. It is like advertising just the word Car, with various prices and no other information. Makes a comparison almost impossible, which is precisely by design, trust us we know people in the business. (Humor attempt). – Green floors are real floors.
Quality engineered flooring has a minimum 4MM Wear Layer
Engineered Flooring cannot be refinished without a minimum of 4 MM ‘wear layer’ (veneer).The average lifespanlife span for a quality engineered floor is 7-10 years, then it heads to a landfill including the chemicals used in manufacture. So, where it is made and with what materials are information key to this decision, but so elusive. Terms such as hard scraped and brushed are used interchangeably and the only time you hear the species that comprises the backing is when it is good, not the other way around.
Want a green finish? Moncoat by Rubio
War-anties what are they good for?
We bought it because of the warranty. Please NEVER Buy for the warranty. For the record, all of our prefinished floors come with a warranty on the finish but that addresses manufacturing defects, not every day wear and tear and certainly not all the claims made concerning durability.
Tough standards
Read the warranty, the actual document and these “hard to meet” criteria jump out quickly. When claiming water damage for example, if exposed to standing water for more than 20 minutes your claim is in-valid. Question: How is the amount of time verified or proven? Of all your relatives that havehas multiple jobs a year, are anyany of them a certified independent flooring claims specialist?
The truth about real wood
Resistance to moisture real versus faux
LIE: Compared to solid hardwood, engineered wood floors have superior resistance to slightly lower and higher moisture levels, which makes them more ideal for use in damp basements or regions with higher or lower than standard humidity levels.
Truth: Buyers are told how a compressedhow compressed particle board with an unknown adhesive handles water better than real wood? The fact is that Southern Pine handles moisture better than any engineered floor. We build decks out of the stuff because it handles moisture on a microscopic level based on the relative porous nature of the wood.
In fact: Moisture is absorbed and released (expansion and contraction) without the breakdown of the board’s integrity. Ask your pro this question. What if you put poly on the bottomon bottom of real wood during the installation? Simple logic and a solution very few professionals even know and much less share.
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, researchers believe that nasal allergies affect about 50 million people in the United States alone, and that number is increasing every year. Allergies affect as much as 30 percent of the adult population in the U.S. and about 40 percent of children. Hypoallergenic means a product contains few allergy-producing substances known as allergens, and in our world, VOC’s. More on that later. So because there’s no agreed-upon scientific or legal definition of the term, the word “hypoallergenic” printed on a label doesn’t necessarily protect you.
Real wood reclaimed one dayReal wood is Green
Volatile Organic Compounds, aka VOC.
VOC stands for volatile organic compounds, which turn into vapor at room temperature and enter the atmosphere through off-gassing. In turn, the VOC off-gas process creates that fresh paint smell, for example. Depending on the compound, VOCs can severely impact indoor air quality and result in negative health consequences. While short-term issues might be irritation of the eyes, nose or throat, or nausea and dizziness, some VOCs have the capability of causing liver or kidney damage, or even cancer.
Hypoallergenic has no real meaning and Zero VOC is just a rating.
Tung Oil on wide plank Caribbean Heart PineReal wood is Green
As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) writes on its website; “There are no Federal standards or definitions that govern the use of the term ‘hypoallergenic.’ The term means whatever a particular company chooses, i.e. how they market the product. It is a marketing term in that it provides no real information about the product and how it performs. Our unfinished floors can be toxic or hypoallergenic, the finish is up to you.
Monocoat by Rubio- The green finish
7″ Rustic Caribbean Heart Pine.
Rubio Monocoat uses a unique molecular bonding technology to adhere to the topmost fibers of the wood it is applied to. Rubio Monocoat unique molecular bonding technology also allows for a one-coat finish. This means there is no need to continually apply oil or build up layers of polyurethane like with traditional finishes.
Carpet is the worst source for allergens
Carpet is king, of our landfills. The EPA estimates that there is 15 lbs of carpet for every citizen of the United States, in our landfills. It does not decompose quickly or even safely, and no it cannot be recycled, no matter what you read. Try to find a center that takes your carpet, not gonna happen.
Laminate and LVT
Laminate and Vinyl are the fastest growing components of our landfills. It’s difficult to quantify what chemicals, will leach from laminates once they hit the landfill versus the emissions if placed in an incinerator. To put it simply, this stuff doesn’t decompose, because of all the chemicals and glues, the material never breaks down organically.
What flooring is best for allergy sufferers?
Solid wood floors are the only true green, hypoallergenic flooring choice.
What type of floor is the worst for allergy sufferers?
Carpet is the toughest to clean while manufactures have been fined for having too much formaldehyde making a bunch of people very sick.
How can you tell if Formaldehyde was used in your own floor?
You can check if formaldehyde was used in your floor by looking for ULEF (ultra-low emitting formaldehyde) or NAUF (no added urea formaldehyde) labels. This is not hypoallergenic flooring!
What is Laminate?
Laminate is a thin layer of wood-color plastic, adhered to a composite. The processes use a variety of chemicals including formaldehyde. What is Laminate? How about what it is not, it is not green; in fact, it is the opposite of green. Laminate has a huge carbon footprint based on the manufacturing process, which can include dangerous chemicals in the manufacturing process. Laminate is not renewable or recyclable and every bit of it will end up in a landfill.
Prime grade is uniform in color, very few, if any knots. Colors in a range from golden brown to red brown heartwood. While both rustic and prime grades contain a minimum of 85% heartwood, rustic has knots. Some might call it character. Prime grade is virtually clear except occasional small pin knots. Color is more consistent and harmonious, with a high degree of red heartwood and limited sapwood.
Rustic and Prime Grade have 85% heartwood & this is why that matters.
Heart Pine floors are sold based on this number which should contain a range, such as 50-80% or in 85%, as with the rustic and prime Caribbean Heart Pine. In fact, these floors contain the highest percentage of heartwood found in any new heart pine except for actual old growth, which is extremely hard to find and awfully expensive. So, with that in mind can you choose which of these boards is new and which are reclaimed? Tell them it came from a two-hundred-year-old Kentucky Horse barn; they will never know if you finish it right!
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.
The best way to have a good shipping experience starts with no surprises. Gate codes, overhead powerlines, gravel road, bridges; no detail is too small. Why? Because commercial shipping companies charge for everything. If there is some type of last-minute change or “surprises” they can abort the delivery and take your pallet back to the terminal. Does not sound too bad until you get the re-delivery charge. Think of LTL carriers as ‘land-pirates,’ they can, if they so choose, hold your floors for ransom.
Long & Heavy
Crated with usable boards
“Waste factors are 10%, period. Over that amount is a tavern or ‘unusable grade’.
The good news
Only about 5% of deliveries have any type of issue because our team addresses them upfront. After 10 years we navigate all of it for you, until the delivery (residence). You become the boss, so we impower you to handle the role if necessary. And more importantly, our A+ BBB rating tells you what you need to know about SYP Direct. Homeowners, we are your advocate and can be trusted to make things right 100% of the time.
View of back grooves
wide plank Heart Pine back view
Current Lead Times Southern Pine
In GENERAL, we run 10- 14 days on our Clear, Heart and #2 or better flooring. We have dedicated logistics partner who will speak with you prior to shipping if there are any issues to resolve. We track your floor from pick up to destination insuring you have plenty of time to prepare for your delivery or arrange your pickup.
“The price per square foot means nothing if installation takes twice as long.”
Document damages
Shippers are not on our team. Note any damages, no matter how small, on that release they have you sign. This must be done at delivery – you cannot call the terminal later & say you found damage. Documenting damages on the release form allows you to take delivery, then access any damages. Once you open it up – if there is real damage, we can get a detailed inventory & file an official claim, if you document the damages on the release.
Shippers want to make money and they have your stuff
Be there when the floors arrive, they do not hang around. The driver is not going to wait and certainly will not off-load your floors. Herein lies the difficulty with residential delivery, the catch if you will. SYP Direct floors are long, and they are heavy, so lift-gates are hardly ever an option. In plain language, the floors must be off-loaded by (your) hand and or your equipment.
Well, dirt and most concrete are certainly in the category, but what about the things that sit on top of those two? No matter what else you hear while shopping, solid 3/4 floors should outlive the house, i.e., be salvaged one day. On the other hand, all ‘floor covers’ with very few exceptions, everything else ends up in a landfill. Seriously, the bathroom counter-top you see here was produced by a novice salvaged decking. So, before we go any further, real is better than engineered but far less popular.
What is a wear layer on an engineered floor?
Engineered hardwoods are created using multi-layers of wood; the top layer, or veneer will range from 6mm to 2mm and is commonly called the wear layer. Is this important? Yes, the wear layer is the thickness of the (veneer) real wood, not the backing materials. In fact, it determines price along with species and overall thickness. And if 1mm = 1/25 of an inch, each one of those millimeters really matters if you want to have a shot at refinishing them one day. A minimum of 4mm is required and that moves to 6mm with a floor over a decade old.
So many choices
Engineered hardwoods are not all created equal, not even close. How can you be sure you are getting your money’s worth? You have the right to understand what you are buying and putting in your home. And if you are paying too much! The variations are endless. From species & grade to the materials used for the backing, but the wear layer determines longevity.
What is the difference between laminate and engineered flooring?
First of all, neither of them will ever be reclaimed and made into counter-top, or accent wall. Engineered floors have a real wood veneer on the top adhered two composite materials as a backing. Laminate is a photocopy of wood, 100% chemical/plastics using compounds neither of us can pronounce. Laminate, by definition contains a host of chemicals including petroleum based and other harmful VOCs.
What is a wear layer on an engineered floor?
Engineered hardwoods are created using multi-layers of wood; the top layer, or veneer will range from 6mm to 2mm and is commonly called the wear layer. Is this important? Yes, the wear layer is the thickness of the (veneer) real wood, not the backing materials. In fact, it determines price along with species and overall thickness. And if 1mm = 1/25 of an inch, each one of those millimeters really matters if you want to have a shot at refinishing them one day. A minimum of 4mm is required and that moves to 6mm with a floor over a decade old.
So many choices of ‘not’ green flooring
Engineered hardwoods are not all created equal, not even close. How can you be sure you are getting your money’s worth? You have the right to understand what you are buying and putting in your home. And if you are paying too much! The variations are endless. From species & grade to the materials used for the backing, but the wear layer determines longevity.
Reclaim for Green
The King of Green Finishes
Rubio Monocoat offers the first and the only oil that is truly a 0% VOC product. Rubio Monocoat uses a unique molecular bonding technology to adhere to the topmost fibers of the wood it is applied to. Within minutes this technology forms a durable finish that maintains the natural appearance and feel of the wood.
Monocoat Finished New Heart Pine
We offer our New Heart Pine finished using Monocoat! The manufacturing facility, located in North Carolina, offers us the unique options of wide plank and finishes such as Monocoat and BONA. Currently we have 7″ New Heart Pine in all 12′ boards with two options including a ‘French bleed’.
Any floor you buy that is not 100% real will end up in a landfill. A real floor will be salvaged one day when your house falls down- there is no comparison.
Make new look old
LVT- The new Carpet
People and companies do not want you to buy real wood
No matter what else you hear while shopping, solid 3/4 floors should outlive the house, i.e., be salvaged one day. On the other hand, all ‘floor covers’ with very few exceptions, everything else ends up in a landfill. Seriously, the bathroom counter-top you see here was produced by a novice salvaged decking. So, before we go any further, real is better than engineered but far less popular.
Prescott Construction, located in Roanoke, Virginia easily qualify as real wood experts and SYP Direct partners. Southern Yellow Pine Direct has no agreement with Prescott, nor do we profit other than informing other Virginia residents about our partners in the state. It is simple, we market ourselves as the homeowner resource and introducing VA to Prescott construction is part of our model. Sure we are bragging, but we are also validating your search for real wood and hopefully our Southern Pine floors.
Prescott Philosophy
It is not what we do, it is the way we do it. “Over the years we’ve managed to build, along with our many projects, a reputation for impeccable craftsmanship and attention to detail. We specialize in residential and commercial construction, new custom homes, and historic renovations and rehabilitation’s. It’s not just the work itself we take pride in, but the way we do it.”
Prescott Construction uses Real wood
Real wood kitchens are a perfect example Prescott Construction does business. Most customers are unaware, 90% of builders and professionals in Virginia would have pushed the customer towards an engineered floor, or tile in the kitchen. Why? Higher margins, easier installation and most customers believe that is the best choice for a kitchen. It simply is not true, not for real wood professionals who understand the process and how much value they add by giving you a real wood kitchen.
In Virginia a restoration or renovation can mean taking the property back in time, or in can be a blend of modern updates and the past. From what we have observed Prescott Construction is integral in the design and planning process, acting as consultants. Matt Prescott, told us during our first conversation that “each client gets 100% of our attention, no matter the size or scope of project”. Upon hearing this, we knew we wanted to work with this company, they get it.
Southern Yellow Pine Direct was founded in 2012 specializing in Alabama Pine. Today we have delivered Southern Pine in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. Our mission from day one was to target homeowners and not builders or re-sellers. However, professionals such as Prescott Construction make great partners. The relationships we build with homeowners and select builders, the key to our success, with 75% of business are referrals. This relationship was built one job at time and we make sure we take care of each customer no matter what the order size.
We urge you to listen to offers and then read our reviews…a pattern emerges; great materials, amazing prices and customer service over and above. It is not magic what we do it is just really old school. We approach with a ‘one house, one floor’ attitude where repeat business happens when customers add on or move. We are the homeowners source for building materials, including; Knotty Pine, New Heart Pine, Caribbean Heart Pineand Antique Reclaimed Heart Pine in small batches from select producers when available.
