Description

Heart Pine Flooring

Heart pine is the actual heartwood of the tree. Since pine used to be quite large when it was logged some hundred years ago, the pine trees were able to grow large enough to develop heartwood.

American settlers discovered a vast forest over 95 million acres. This forest grew trees four feet in diameter and up to 150 feet tall. These slow-growth heartwood pine trees matured in 400 to 500 years. Before the 18th century, in the United States, longleaf pine forests, covered approximately 30-60 million acres along the coastal plain from Virginia’s southern tip to eastern Texas. These pine trees, 80 to 120 feet tall, require 100 to 150 years to become full size and can live up to 500 years.

An inch of heart pine requires 30 years growth.This heart portion is dense, heavy, insect-and rot-resistant, incredibly hard, and unequaled in beauty, strength and durability.The keel of the USS Constitution is made from a heartwood pine timber.