I’m just about ready for flooring for the house in NH and we want pine floors. Is there an advantage to red over white pine or is it basically a wash. I know the floor wil get pretty beat up either way, so that’s not really a concern. We want a fairly rustic look anyway.
Will white pine hold up well enough to uild a set of stairs from it? I plan to build a housed stringer stair and will likely mill all the parts myself. Any recommendations for stair and stringer thickness. Stairs will be abour 36 wide, longest stringer is about 71/2 ft long. This is a u shaped stair with a landing in the middle.
Replies
TomW
Red pine has a lot of pitch in it compared to white pine. In addition I'm pretty sure that white pine is slightly harder (both are still way too soft for flooring in my humble opinion) .. as for coloring well both will darken quickly with age and red will maybe become too dark... Maybe that's your intent, by the time it darkens you'll be ready from some hardwod?
Keep in mind with stairs, people will be stepping in about the same place, so any wear will be exxagerated. I don't know much about red pine, we generally use yellow pine treads here - 6/4 iirc. I buy them at the lumber yard with the nose already milled - they're not expensive.
3 stringers will do for a 36" stair.
This will be a housed stair so will have only two stringers. I am looking foa rule of thumb for the stringer thickness and how deep to cut the mortices.
This will be a housed stair so will have only two stringers
Never seen one w/2 - all my housed stairs have a hidden stringer down the middle
So I am guessing you'll need thicker than standard treads @ 36"...
If I were building this way, I'd get 6/4 stringer stock and mortise it 3/4 - will you be routing for hidden wedges? You can cut these from 1x stock.
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Up here in Ontario red pine is used more for floors because it is tougher [harder] Typically it's sold as tongue and groove, 5x4 thickness and in various widths. 6 inch is probably the most common
I can get either in just about any width I want. Of course the guy selling red pine says it's better and the guy selling white pine says it's better but neither really gives any specifics as to what real world differences might be.
google up thje Woodweb websites. They will have objective charts for hardness etc to analyse the two types of wood. The white pine might be slightly better with certain kinds of stain. All my red was finished naturally tho, so I can't say for sure.
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Red pine is harder, heavier, denser, and has a more interesting grain. It can be slightly more difficult to sand and finish.
There is no question in my mind I would prefer red pine for flooring in my own home.
i've done a lot of pine floors and stairs.
on the stairs, you can count on the edges becoming scruffed in ten or twelve years. The way I look at it, anyone who wants pine wants a lived in look anyway.
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Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
There are 2 aspects to flooring: the wood installation and the finish. The material & labor you spend to install and sand the floor is significant while the finish (and perhaps re-sanding) can be redone.
We went with beech on the 1st floor and birch on the second with red oak stairs between. Our floors were finished with Waterlox and still look rustic.
Good luck
daveinnh