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28 Apr

What is Caribbean Heart Pine

Heart Pine

April 29 2024 update and answer to What is Caribbean Heart Pine? For a sample and or to hear more about (what) is Caribbean Heart Pine- call us now 888 286 2057 or hit the contact form and start the process to getting your dream floor.

Rustic Grade CHP

Rustic wide plank new heart pine
Rustic wide plank Caribbean Heart Pine

What is Caribbean Heart Pine? In a few words, the type of floor that creates envy, intended or otherwise. Every single person that comes into your home will complement the floor while having no idea what type of pine they are admiring. This leaves room for our customers to engage in some exaggeration intended to “impress” that one person in the family who always brags, you know the one. “We tell customers to say that it came from 200 year Whiskey Barn, and then finish it as such.” 

Caribbean Heart Pine is…

Caribbean Heart Pine is one “luxury” purchase (investment) that will pay off in the future. Perhaps one of the most desirable traits of Caribbean Heart Pine is that its natural beauty becomes more evident with time. What about Caribbean Heart Pine makes aging it, so easy? To find out more contact us now. 

What is Caribbean Heart Pine- % of heartwood

​Caribbean Heart Pine contains 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! Caribbean Heart Pine is a 25-million-dollar home right now- but the neighbors have no clue. We tell customers to call the floor whatever they want, antique for example. Fool your friends or make them jealous, that is up to you. SYP Direct takes care of our customers by telling 100% truth about the grade, you are free to tell your own story.

Prime Grade

Prime grade caribbean heart pine

What is Caribbean Heart Pine- The grades

The grades are not sorted based on heart content but rather knot frequency and the rustic grade will more color variation and character. The rustic grade will have more frequent knots and the sapwood will generally be within this grade. The select or prime grade will have in frequent knots, a darker color, and a more consistent color range. Tongue and Groove and End Matched One-to-twelve-foot lengths with average 6-8’.

Rustic Grade Caribbean Heart Pine Floors

Rustic grade of Caribbean Heart Pine has more of its heartwood derived from sap. Of course, the sap gives the color variations and those gorgeous knots. 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.

What are the grades of Caribbean?

The grades are not sorted based on heart content but rather knot frequency and the rustic grade will more color variation and character. The rustic grade will have more frequent knots and the sapwood will generally be within this grade. The select or prime grade will have in frequent knots, a darker color, and a more consistent color range. Tongue and Groove and End Matched One-to-twelve-foot lengths with average 6-8’.

Rustic grade of Caribbean Heart Pine has more of its heartwood derived from sap. Of course, the sap gives the color variations and those gorgeous knots. 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.

See more Caribbean Heart Pine

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Southern Yellow Pine Direct offer homeowners the reliability of an A+ rated BBB company; the best quality, pricing and service bar none. We operate under an "old school" philosophy that the customer is always right. We make sure you are just that by educating and dispelling myths about Southern Pine and Heart Pine flooring.
Remember we are a mill to order manufacturer of unfinished and prefinished Southern Pine, including our speciality Heart Pine. Our lead times are normally about two weeks, with Hardwoods and Imports the lead times vary and that is an understatement. 2 days -2 months has bee the answer since COVID. But things are imporving, as White Oak prices continue to fall. (Jason Howard 9/9/2022)
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29 Apr

5″ Caribbean Heart Pine

Heart Pine

5″ Caribbean Heart Pine is available in both rustic and prime grades.

Prime grade might be what you imagine when thinking about Heart Pine flooring. The colors are more uniform compared to our rustic grade, of course but there does exist enough variance to make it “interesting.”  Prime Grade 5″ Caribbean Heart Pine may have a few small knots compared to the larger knots and sapwood in the Rustic grade. Prime Grade wide plank 7″ 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. 

Unfinished 5″ Caribbean Heart Pine

First of all, this is the 85% version. Second, we answer the FAQ “what is Caribbean Heart Pine“? Visit that link for full information on the species. And if you are trying to match an existing pine floor visit this page or give us a call.

Better Looking with age

Perhaps one of the most desirable traits of Caribbean Heart Pine is that natural beauty becomes more evident with time. As the wood ages, its patina emerges providing a palette of rich, vibrant colors ranging from yellows to vibrant reds and coppers that deepen and intensify with age.

85% Heartwood with both grades of 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 rustic from the prime grade, it is not about quality just your style. 

Wide plank Caribbean substitutes for Antique 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. 

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#2 Knotty Pine Southern Yellow Pinewith gloss clear coat
22 Apr

#2 SYP pictures

Knotty Pine

Is Knotty Pine a grade?

What is #2 Southern Yellow Pine aka Knotty pine? Simple, it is a generic term for pine with knots, not  a big surprise. What may surprise you, Knotty Pine is not a grade. #2 SYP is not a true grade and differs from mill to mill, i.e. floors or lumber. Lumber mills sort based on defects, knots included. But when a mill produces flooring, Heart Pine flooring, it is sorted based on the amount of visible heartwood, not defects. An astounding 95% of pine floors are produced by dimensional lumber mills using Loblolly or similar farmed species. Age creates not only gorgeous colors and character, it creates stability. When comparing your local #2 SYP with our floors, get samples and ask for local customers. Comparisons reveal the facts, one is plain and void of character, while the other defines character.

#2 Southern Yellow “Knotty” Pine

Our #2 Southern Yellow Pine pictures help everyone comparing our grades, heart content or deciding on a style. Pictures, however are just the jumping off point. Pictures taken from studios for marketing do not give a realistic view of anything, not even color. On the other hand, customer iPhone pictures are not always the best quality. So our #2 Southern Yellow Pine pictures offer a great overview of our floors, we suggest samples to answer an final questions.

Alabama Longleaf Pine

According to a report from the Louisiana State University  Agricultural department; there are over 214 million acres of timberland in the United States, with 30% being Southern Pine.  Remeber, Southern pine is not species rather several species. Longleaf pine is found on private land in small batches, it is not farmed. The average age of a farmed tree will be under 20 years compared to 80 and up for Longleaf pine taken for floors. Want more information? Visit front page and find out more! 

Alabama Pine Lumber

SYP Direct mills Alabama Longleaf Pine lumber into unfinished Knotty and Heart Pine flooring. We mill to order, for homeowners and builders, with no minimum order. We can customize your order in ways that save you time and money. Grades, widths, length (s) are just three of the ways our mill to order model benefits our customers. There is no other SYP Direct, we say yes to real wood, every single time.

Arizona 2021

Arizona wide plank heart pine finished with undercoat for age
Bravo Arizona

Is a picture worth any words?

As with any floor, #2 Southern Yellow Pine, aka Knotty Pine pictures can be staged or done professionally, even in studio. That is not what we do, many of our pictures come from customer phones, but they are real. Our customers are not professional photographers and we love the ‘honest’ look, before and after the finish. Furthermore, each picture we show you, we have access to either the ‘recipe’ or the customer.Almost every customer of SYP Direct made their decision on grade by studying our #2 Southern Yellow Pine pictures versus those of New Heart Pine. 

Heart versus Knotty Pine

Our Heart Pine pictures compared to those of our #2 Knotty pine gives you a feel for the whole floor, not just one sample or board. First time callers often begin by saying ” we saw this picture online and love the look, what is it”? While pictures are not perfect when have multiples and a variety of finish types they do the job.

 

Customer created stair treads using t/g heart pine from syp direct
Love the face nail
Please send us an email. If you need a call back, ask us and guess what? We actually call you back and handle your questions, one by one.
IN A HURRY- TEXT much faster 601 826 1296
Text us now 601 826 1296
Southern Yellow Pine Direct offer homeowners the reliability of an A+ rated BBB company; the best quality, pricing and service bar none. We operate under an "old school" philosophy that the customer is always right. We make sure you are just that by educating and dispelling myths about Southern Pine and Heart Pine flooring.
Remember we are a mill to order manufacturer of unfinished and prefinished Southern Pine, including our speciality Heart Pine. Our lead times are normally about two weeks, with Hardwoods and Imports the lead times vary and that is an understatement. 2 days -2 months has bee the answer since COVID. But things are imporving, as White Oak prices continue to fall. (Jason Howard 9/9/2022)
Read More
Local installers found for DIY customers
02 Jan

Rustic Floors

Knotty Pine

The best rustic floors are all about character and color, derived from knots

The word rustic, is subjective.  It is Southern Pine with sap and heartwood, a 7″ wide plank mill run heart pine. We shipped our unfinished 12′ boards to our finish partner who created for us an amazing floor, just perfect really. Fawn, the finish name sits on top of our 3/4 x 7″ tongue and groove, ends matched including a micro bevel along all four sides. This floor offers, what I consider to be the common characteristic of gorgeous rustic flooring, color variations. Rustic floors are how we define character

Do all rustic floors have knots?

Rustic floors, or rustic by definition refers to simplicity, rural or country style. Rustic handwriting and lumber, but what about flooring? Do knots automatically indicated a “rustic” style or simplicity? The word comes from Latin Rusticus or Rus, “to be country”, or Shabby Chic as we call it today. All well and good but some may believe rustic indicates a lack of sophistication and style. We will argue that those two characteristics are not always one the same, simple is good. Want great recent example what rustic means in Colorado?

Caribbean Heart Pine Rustic Grade

Caribbean Heart Pine gives you the type of floor that  creates envy, intended or otherwise. Every single person that comes into your home will complement the floor while having no idea what type of pine they are admiring. Perhaps one of the most desirable traits of Caribbean Heart Pine is that its natural beauty becomes more evident with time. As the wood ages, its patina emerges providing a palette of rich, vibrant colors ranging from yellows to vibrant reds and coppers that deepen and intensify with age. Want to see more pictures, Pinterest site.

“Sometimes you feel like a knot, sometimes you don’t”

NO, I will ‘knot’ apologize for that and if you do not get it, you are too young to remember! How about Not all Knots are created equal? No, the perfect example our #2 grade, aka Knotty Pine. Our #2 SYP does not indicate defect but rather a lack of heart pine. Remember not all Southern Pine is created equal, age and species matter.

 

Rustic with Knots

“Knots are not holes

“A few knots are ok, but”; the number of times we hear this or some version probably exceeds 50% of all callers. Rustic yes, but that does not mean huge knots all over every board, no. Of course, we get those of us that believe it is not the frequency but the stability of the knots that matter most. A knot is solid, not falling out or on the edge of board and never holes. However, notches or small holes a very different story. (see waste factor)

Repairing Scars

Repairing scars pays off 

Repairing a knot with a notch missing, what we call a scar, is easy and looks amazing. Ok, with dozens of wood fillers on the market which one works best? Well, just like our customer service we prefer to go old school with sawdust. For information on the process check YouTube, but essentially you mix some adhesive with sawdust, fill and sand. If your floors have a color/stain, drop some of that into the mix but don’t give up unless you can see all the way through.

 

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