What woods do we sell ?

Our preferred wood is first and second growth Long Leaf Heart Pine and reclaimed Long Leaf Heart Pine but we can work with almost any wood you choose.

We keep in stock the following woods: long leaf heart pine, black walnut, cherry (Brazilian and domestic), mahogany, teak, red oak, white oak, maple, ash, and hickory and we can get other woods to fit your needs.

Choosing the right wood

When choosing wood, flooring customers should look for durability, Rich natural colors that are varied and sophisticated give the wood warmth and personality and eliminate the need for  stains and varnishes (see wood care hints).  The heart content gives wood its hardness and durability (the heart wood is the area close to the center of a tree).  Our Long Leaf Heart Pine floors (and other wood), will outlast the original owner if maintained properly.

The durability of  wood comes from its hardness (see chart). The  woods we use range from  Brazilian cherry  (the second  hardest wood), down to douglas fir (the softest wood). However, wood type isn’t always a  true barometer of a wood’s hardness because the species and heart content may dramatically change the relative harness of the wood. For example, our long leaf heart pine is nearly twice the hardness of short leafed pine, and 50% harder than the mixture of woods that are typically sold as heart pine.

Wood quality is also determined by grade, starting with ribbon (no longer available in the US), FAS grade (first and second growth), select, and the common grades #1, #2, and #3. Generally, the lower the grade, the more defects the wood will have.  Some of the lower grades are used in the salt treated or chemical treated process making them unsuitable for flooring.

Harvey Millwork uses only FAS grade or better lumber in all of its wood products. We apply the same rating process to our pine even though pine has no true grading scale.

 How long will it last ?

Our wood products will outlive several generations if properly cared for (see care intructions ). Our floors are far thicker than most of our competition and because our lumber is of a higher grade it can be treated using only a light Danish oil rather than a destructive polyurethane further extending the woods life.