When I originally discussed using knotty pine in kitchens, there were comments expressing concern about the wood’s appropriateness in the relatively humid kitchen environment. When I was at the Southern Spring Home & Garden Show last week, I ran into this company, Union Church Millworks of Covington, Virginia. They had some really gorgeous woods on display including “vintage knotty pine,” so I asked Kim Bennett Powers, the sales and consulting manager on hand, the knotty knotty pine question.
His response, which was very illuminating: In the 1950s, we grew our pine trees bigger… the centers got very hard as the tree aged, and we were able to use this center — it was called “heart pine” – for cabinets and other applications where we wanted hard, dense wood. It still looked knotty. Today, we do not grow our pine trees as big, so the wood never never gets as hard. So, much of the 1950s knotty pine really is a particular sub-category called heart pine. Kim says that Union Church Millworks can still get you vintage heart pine for cabinets or panelling or even floors — it’s reclaimed from demolitions and the like. But it costs something like $12 a s.f. vs. $3/s.f. for plain old knotty pine. While we didn’t have a belaboured discussion about it, Kim thought that even considering the differences then vs. now, today’s knotty pine should do fine in a kitchen. That said, there are other wood species that have a knotty look but which are naturally harder.
One more thing: Woah, the woods they had on display for floors, paneling and cabinetry: Gorgeous!
The knotty pine in my grandmother’s home is 62 years old and has never warped. It has never been replaced and she always, even to this day, has all four burners going twice a day. Now I know why :>
This is actually something to think about when you buy ANY kind of wood furniture or flooring. Pine dents VERY, very easily. Its not just soft, its press-your-thumb-nail-against-it-a tiny-bit soft. A lot of “hardwood” furniture you buy today, that is still mass produced, is of this SUPER soft pine and it means hinges come loose easier from use, anything hitting or falling marks it. You can also buy it as real hardwood flooring, but again its a bit of a joke. You can’t put the chair down too hard or even wear stillettos on your floor without marking it. Its far cheaper and LOOKS nice to start, but you really do get what you pay for.
Aha! I had no idea! Very interesting information…
We have knotty pine all over our 1952 home, including the kitchen, and the only place we’ve had a problem is over and around our fireplace. The heat from the chimney cases the wood to shrink and crack. Caulk will temporarily make it look better, but I’m afraid we will need to take the advice of our chimney sweep and put some drywall or concrete board in that area. Someone had painted over the knotty pine on the fireplace wall years ago anyway, so we wouldn’t be loosing any “woody-ness”.
I’ve noticed in real estate ads for older homes they often specify when “heart pine” is used, especially for flooring.
My house is 62 years also. The attic was converted into a room and is knotty pine. My sisters houses were both knotty pin in the living and dining rooms. My walls are plaster–not sheetrock, but plaster. It is much like concrete, and my walls are very pretty, but they crack easily. I think(just an opinion) knotty pine was used so much was two-fold–people liked the look, and it was probably cheaper to install than plaster. Mine looks as good today as it did when it was installed. The knotty pine in my sisters houses looks as good as it always has, too.
Our knotty pine kitchen is 51 years old. Recently I noticed the cabinet doors are splitting. We have a handyman who is going to repair them. I’m hoping it doesn’t continue.
Glad to hear more fans of knotty pine kitchens. Many of the ‘retro’ folks online disparage pine and feel they are better with exotic woods. NOT period at all.
I’m on my second knotty pine kitchen and love them. Our house was built in 1960, and there are no issues with dents, splitting, sticky drawers, etc. I grew to like the “Mr. Ed” look with the black or copper hammered hinges and hardware.
The best part of the knotty pine is the easy upkeep! In my last house, I would just scrub and add a new layer of Amber shellac every couple of years or so. Here, we scorched the counter using a table top electric griddle for several hours ( lefse marathon), but only had to sand, re-shellac, and presto, no color matching required. Within weeks, shellac will reach the original patina, and no one need be the wiser.
Glad to know the difference between knotty pine/heart pine and what is commonly out there. Have to think about what this means for re-doing our old trailer kitchen.
Hi Gabby, that’s great to hear!
We have a 1956 ranch and used re-milled 125 year old heart pine flooring when we remodeled our kitchen and family room two years ago. Vintage pine is not soft at all. Our has a polyurethane finish, is easy to maintain and looks beautiful with our original real wood paneling in the family room.
By the way, I also have a pink bathroom!
Thanks for this feedback, Connie — good to hear!
i have a house built in 1949 i also have knotty pine in kitchen and one wall in the livingroom where the fireplace is with a bookcase also all the storage closets in whole house are knotty pine only thing i dont like is not very much space from cabinet to counters other than that i really like it i just cant figure out what color to paint 3 remaining walls in livingroom i dont like white also have hardwood flooring
I think that a great color to go with knotty pine is: green. Kind of a 1940s green.
i was thinking more of a very light tan
In defense of the soft green, my kitchen has exactly that. And the only thing Im going to do at this time is clean it, and brighten the upper (white) portion above the (decorative) plate rail. Benjamin Moore has a wonderful shade of green called wasabi. Of course they also have a winning “flax” shade I have also used. I’m just wondering if the tan would compete with the wood color?
We moved into our 1950′s cape this past summer. The kitchen is awfully small and has knotty pine cabinets…believe it or not I was going to tear them down and put up steel cabinets just havent found a set in my price range. However, reading through the blogs I realized that “knotty pine” could be retro as well so we are keeping the cabinets! I am tossed about color (walls no cabinets)…it is a small kitchen so the color cant be one that makes the kitchen look smaller. I scored a 1950′s refrigerator and stove that I will be incorporating in the space but REALLY need help on chosing the right 50′s color. PLEASE HELP!!
Thanks!
Good explanation, I wasn’t sure why it was so different from the new stuff. We have some of the vintage knotty pine my husband’s grandfather had salvaged from a remodel many years ago, it was sitting stacked in his back room till we brought it home to use in our house. It’s perfectly flat and great to work with, no warping or anything. DH is milling it and using it for all the trim around the windows and doors in an addition we are putting on our craftsman style 1915 home.
We are remodeling our 1963 ranch and have used reclaimed heart pine for our hardwood flooring. Sadly, the previous owners put in horrid beige tile throughout the entire house, so it is a lot of work to bust it out, but the pine flooring and grey-blue shag carpet that is going it should bring some more dignity to this great home!
Our pine flooring was originally installed in a 1890′s era brewery in Ft. Worth, Texas. It was salvaged when the structure was torn down and re-milled into 5/8 inch tongue and groove flooring. It has the original nail holes, saw marks, and markings from the brewing equipment. The cost wasn’t too much more than the standard red oak that is installed in Texas today (we paid $2.75 a square foot vs. $2.00 for new oak).
As far as hardness, in the samples we tested it didn’t seem to dent or scratch any more than the new oak samples. Wood isn’t bulletproof, but the old heart pine is nothing like the new stuff on the shelves today.
Sounds AWESOME!!! Send me pics when you are ready for prime time, Meridith!
Sounds awesome, Meridith — send pics when the project is done!
We installed reclaimed heart pine 26 years ago in our family room and breakfast room. We bought the wood from a place in Charlottesville, VA. The floors have been refinished once. We do not have any dents in the floor. It is a very hard pine. We didn’t have pets, but we had 3 busy children and their friends use the space!
Lynda…Thanks for sharing your experience. We are really hoping that this holds up as well as we expect it too! We have one 2 year old (with plans for more kiddos) and a large Labrador Retriever. Kids and pets sure can do a number on any floor, but with the weathering and character we hope it will blend right in!
Very interesting. My 1950′s ranch house has knotty pine cabinets covering most of the kitchen walls. Not sure whether they are this “heart wood” or not . . . they are very hard and the only dents they have acquired down through the years are two very slight ones where cabinet door knobs (pulls might be the proper word?) apparently banged constantly against the face of the adjoining cabinet doors. So . . . I don’t think they are soft at all.
However, several of the cabinet doors have in fact warped, so that when they are completely closed, the lower corners stand out away from the cabinet face somewhat. I think this have been caused as much by stress from constantly pulling on the lower half of the doors to open them (since that is where the “pulls” are located) rather than from humidity. In fact, we are in semi-desert and don’t really have much humidity, even in the kitchens.
We have a beach house that was built in late 1960′s or so that has pickled heart of pine paneling. Just wondering what it is worth? The paneling is in great shape. Please let me know if you have an idea of their worth.
If you like it, its worth alot. If you hate it, its of no value. You might find someone who could re-use it, but its not like a rate coin with a specific value!
Reclaimed heart pine from a distillery in the south. Installed Jan. 2012.
Kids’ room:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Un9VvocSCA8/Tw-L1R3OadI/AAAAAAAARwA/yKbw8agRc9A/s1600/IMG_9560.JPG
and master bedroom:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RW_lZlyhybc/Tw-OHpntYCI/AAAAAAAARwc/PXwoevmUYLM/s1600/IMG_9566.JPG
Beautiful! Is this your house, Lynda?
Pam,
It is my daughter’s house. I helped them remodel with the internet. I do have heart pine floors in my house that I have had for 26 years. Their new/old house was built in 1940 and it was probably remodeled in the 60s. It is a modest cape in Burlingame, CA. I stumbled on your site when we were trying to figure out a direction for the remodel. We wanted it to look timesless, with a nod to the history of the house, and all the remodeling had to be budget friendly. The pine was bought from Craigslist as were many other items in the house. Your site truly has been very helpful for discovering just the right products–the NuTone fan for the kitchen, the tub in the bathroom and the American Universal tiles. Thanks!
GORGEOUS!
SO glad to discover this blog today! I have recently become such a fan of the style I was born into in the 50′s! Had a painter come to give his opinion of my 1950′s ranch for potential resale – although I really want to keep it for now, It’s the house I grew up in and is now mine since my parents passed away. He totally dissed my pine cabinets in the kitchen-said i had to paint them – no one wants that but I wasn’t really feeling good about what he said. Reading this has given me renewed hope about keeping them now (they do need some fixing up due to scratches from the dog we used to have). I love reading all the ideas to fuel my creative imagination…
Hello – Does anyone have suggestions for treating heart pine floors to make them more durable. Is there are product that will serve to ‘harden’ or protect better than others?
We are refinishing our heart pine cabinets, but don’t have the original doors. Owner had refaced with a nasty laminate and design. Now we are stuck trying to get new doors made to match. But of course, you can’t easily buy heart of pine for cabinet doors. Any suggestions on complimentary wood for doors? Anyone else had this problem?
Lynn WH,
you might look for a woodworking shop locally to make doors and drawer fronts. The local place may be able to find and use the same type of wood as the rest of your cabinets, and still compete for god price. Have them measure to be safe.
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