Real wood is the Green choice

The problem with Carpet

Most carpet fibers are a form of plastic produced by the petrochemical industry. As these carpet fibers break down in landfills they release methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gasses along with a variety of chemicals unsafe for ground water. What are petrochemicals? In short, they are chemical compounds derived from petroleum and natural gas. Without getting off track, laminate and LVT are a bi-product turned profitable by companies like Dupont and Exxon.

How much carpet is being put into our landfills?

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). However, in 2028 laminate will over take carpet and that is not an improvement, unless you are a shareholder.

Real wood is green

LVT = PVC

Plastic by any other name is still PVC

PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride, a versatile and widely used synthetic thermoplastic polymer known for its durability, resistance to chemicals and corrosion, and ability to be made in both rigid and flexible forms.

Ask search is LVT and PVC are same thing?

“PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) is the base material used to make vinyl flooring, including LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile), but LVT is a specific type of vinyl flooring.” (June 2025). Well, that is some marketing double talk nonsense. Read it again if necessary but the point is LVT is PVC with pretty colors.

The real problem is not straws

In 2018, in response to a viral video of a plastic straw being removed from a sea turtle’s nose, plastic straws were banned in communities throughout the world. Experts estimate that 500 million single-use plastic straws are used every day, making up a sizable portion of the plastic products thrown away daily. By comparison, in 2024, 5.8 billion square feet of plastic flooring were sold. A little simple math reveals that equates to 15.9 million square feet per day. And since most plastic flooring has a warranty of only 5-10 years, and most cannot be recycled, that translates to a lot of plastic straws. A lot. In fact, just 1,000 square feet of luxury vinyl tile equates to about 570,000 plastic straws. At 15.9 million square feet daily, that equates to more than 9 billion plastic straws each and every day.

Antique or Antiqued?

‘Antiqued’ – The age a floor should reach before being called an antique has always been my first question, but this point is about the fact that Antiqued Heart Pine is not old at all, even by the marketing terms they use; if you know how to speak flooring. Antiqued is a finish style not an age description.So that little d really matters!

What is the difference between salvaged and reclaimed?

Reclaimed – Once more unless you do some research or have an honest flooring company, you might not understand the original definition. Repurposed, reclaimed means repurposed such as a beam being repurposed into flooring. It does not mean flooring turned into flooring, big difference scarcity, quality, and (should be) price.

Salvaged Flooring- Is simply old flooring taken up and sold in a variety of thickness and state of salvage. For example, along with the holes check for the nails too. Many times, the board looks 5’ but with the ends butchered much of the board will not sustain any new finish or install. 30% waste is safe in this market. Know your source, see the materials, and understand the provenance.

Antiqued floors- edges and face nailing

Caribbean Heart Pine easy to age

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. 

““I was extremely pleased with the product and service. We ordered 3,000 SQ of Caribbean heart pine, 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 and were amazingly effective communicators throughout the entire process — and followed up after shipment to make sure we were satisfied. I highly recommend this company and its product and have referred them to others. “(John S. 2017)
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— John Sheppard 2017

What is Knotty Pine

What is Knotty Pine

Rustic Southern Pine (Knotty) floors are not created equal, not even close. We produce Heart Pine flooring from Longleaf Pine timber, not building materials from farmed Loblolly pine. Our #2 Knotty Southern Pine floors can be compared to Character grade Heart Pine, with up to 50% heart content. What this means is our #2 knotty pine simply lacks the heart content to be deemed Bayou Rustic Heart Pine which requires a minimum of 50% visible heartwood. So, distance from the middle of the tree (heart) determines if our #2 becomes Heart Pine. This is quite different from mills producing building materials from younger timber. Our Knotty pine grade has always been our #1 seller by volume and remains the most versatile board we offer. In conclusion, #2 Rustic Southern Pine has knots as opposed to Clear grade but not enough heartwood to be called Heart Pine.

The color equals character.

What is New Heart Pine?

New Heart Pine is not new at all, not compared to dimensional lumber or farmed pine. While it is true the longleaf pines of old were allowed to grow hundreds of years and develop dense hearts, trees grown today do still develop some heartwood. The term Heart Pine refers to the non-living “heart” of a pine tree, as opposed to the outer living layers, known as sapwood. A pine tree’s heartwood is highly valued and preferred by many woodworkers and builders, because it is strong, hard, and has a beautiful reddish-gold color. Heartpine is a grade given to flooring with more than 50% visible heart content on the face over every board.

Matching Heart Pine Treads

What about select grade?

Homeowners buying floors online see a grade or term, such as “Select” Knotty Pine and assume it means ‘the best’. No, not all. Select, by definition, indicates ‘hand selected’ during the sorting process. Only problem, it is all ‘hand sorted’ unless you are keeping defects in the grade. Machines do not sort boards for things such as Heart Content, holes, cracks all of which matter, to say the least. Best advice when buying floors online, read the specifications online and ask questions.

Acclimation and moisture

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. Not properly acclimating or conditioning wood flooring may cause excessive expansion, shrinkage, dimensional distortion, or even structural damage.

If the flooring material being installed does not have specific acclimation and conditioning instructions, keep reading to find some basic steps to follow:

Acclimation Prep

Step 1: Make sure that the heating and air conditioning units are in operation at least five days before delivery of the flooring, during installation and after the flooring is installed. If it is not possible for permanent HVAC to be operating before, during and after installation, a temporary system that mimics normal living conditions may enable installation to proceed.

Moisture Differential and Sub- Floors

Step 2: Once the facility has been confirmed to be at the expected living condition, proceed with delivery of flooring material. Check the moisture content of the wood flooring as soon as it is received at the jobsite.

Step 3: Check the moisture content of the subfloor. The moisture content of the subfloor should coincide with the temperature and relative humidity of the jobsite, based on the temperature, relative humidity and average moisture content chart shown below. This moisture content reading will give you a good idea of where the conditions in the facility are being maintained and allow you to compare to the expected “in-use” conditions.

The age of your floor and installation pro matter- experience with Heart Pine a key.

Acclimation tip

Remember that wood is extremely sensitive to climate and moisture, and should always be stored so that conditions between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit and 30 to 50 percent relative humidity can be maintained – in other words, normal living conditions in most homes. Extreme temperature and moisture levels can destroy your flooring before it’s even installed, so climate control during storage, transportation, and installation is vitally important.

Southern Pine is not a species

Southern Yellow Pine is not a species, but rather a description. Within this region grow ‘hard' pines (yellow) and soft pines (white); color is an attempt to distinguish the Yellow or “hard pines” from the Eastern White Pine or Red Pine. Inside of the Southern Yellow Pine geographic range are four major species: Shortleaf, Longleaf, Loblolly, and Slash, with another 8-9 sub species bringing the total to a baker’s dozen. And no, not all pine is created equal, not when you are talking about walking on it!

New Heart Pine before and after stain

Southern Pine uses

Southern Yellow Pine is a cornerstone in residential construction because of its strength, affordability, and adaptability. SYP is one of the strongest softwoods in North America, with a high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent bending and compression strength, and superior load-bearing performance. SYP’s natural beauty and durability make it ideal for rustic and traditional hardwood flooring. It’s also commonly used in subfloor systems due to its stiffness.

Sustainable and Eco-friendly

Fast growing, abundant and coniferous; anyone remember that term from science class? It means they do not have to be planted, the cones produce seeds when they fall. For this reason alone Southern Yellow Pine is among the most sustainable softwoods grown in the U.S.

What is New Heart Pine

What is New Heart Pine? 

New Heart Pine is not new at all, not compared to dimensional lumber or farmed pine. While it is true the longleaf pines of old were allowed to grow hundreds of years and develop dense hearts, trees grown today do still develop some heartwood. The term Heart Pine refers to the non-living “heart” of a pine tree, as opposed to the outer living layers, known as sapwood. A pine tree’s heartwood is highly valued and preferred by many woodworkers and builders, because it is strong, hard, and has a beautiful reddish-gold color. Heartpine is a grade given to flooring with more than 50% visible heart content on the face over every board.