Thread: Red Baltic Floorboards

Red and white 'Baltic' both smell strongly of pine!

Cheers Woodwould. I thought it sounded like bollocks, thanks for confirming. Never clear to me if Red Baltic (Pinus sylvestris??) is even the same species as white?

I append a rather less than brilliant image of said floor if anyone could provide a confirmatory ID. The board on the far left is probably most representative - clear heart/sap delineation.

Makes me a little suspicious about buying replacement boards from the bloke who I heard it from though! Bloody hard stuff to find.....

That's 'Red Baltic" all right. Some of the paler stuff I've seen sold here as 'Baltic' is actually Spruce. It's not as dense or hard as pine, but hardens fairly well when it's dry. It's perfectly suitable for flooring, but if you're trying to match existing pine flooring, then it will stand out like the mutt's nuts when it's all sanded.

Thanks again. It's a fraught business this, matching existing boards. It seems (to me at least) that there's a bunch of sharks out there flogging what they are happy to call red baltic which probably isn't (at a steep price to boot). I've been told the best approach is to check fresh end cuts of the boards and look for the red/cream shift in colour at the edges. Any other tips?

I am exceedingly keen to avoid the aforementioned canine bollocks look given that some of the most borer affected boards which need replacing are in the middle of the room!

Have you tried any of the architectural salvage yards in town for reclaimed red pine boards?

I think I'm up to my 14th yard/salvage/dealer to date. A couple of promising leads though so I should be right assuming they're legit. Not a great time of year to get hold of folk.