Everyone asks us about pine bark beetle kill flooring. In Colorado, interest is at an all-time high. The ponderosa pines and lodgepole pines that cover the Rockies have been decimated by this little pest. By turning this sad eco-event into a gorgeous by-product, we can salvage a little peace and beautify our homes!
The blue-gray stain is the result of a fungus, which is caused by the beetle's penetration into the wood. The beetle doesn't kill the tree, the fungus does. Now, after sufficient kiln drying, there is no active fungus nor active beetles in the resulting wood product - just the gorgeous stain and a really unique look!
While lots of mills are making pine bark beetle kill flooring, quality remains a problem. To make a good quality floor product, you need to reduce the moisture content to a range of 6 to 8 percent. That means kiln drying the wood - which takes time - often up to a week. However, in a rush to produce product, many mills do not sufficiently dry the wood prior to milling. The resulting hardwood will not be stable and will shrink and gap over time.
As always, cheap isn't always good. You can test a floors moisture level with a moisture meeter (any good hardwood floor store will have these on hand). Make sure you're getting a quality product!
How do you find this pine beetle flooring?
ReplyDeleteWhat did you use to stain it?
ReplyDeleteWe used our normal Dryfast stains from Bona with a prestain conditioner applied first. Pine is a bit tricky to stain, and a prestain conditioner really helps to get an even result.
ReplyDelete