By Claudia Johnson, Honest Abe Living, July-Aug. 2014
Honest Abe Log Homes’ new model home in Crossville, Tenn., features wide-plank, heart pine floors from Vintage Pine Flooring’s Mill House Select series. Vintage Pine Flooring owner Art Copeland said that the 26-year-old company takes pride in the intricate process used to produce its Mill House Select flooring that recreates the look of reclaimed heart pine at a fraction of the cost.
“We use a special process that eats out the softer grain in the wood, leaving a worn weathered distressed look,” Copeland explained. “By eating away the softer grain in the wood it makes this flooring harder and more scratch resistant. After we give the wood its weathered look, we then distress it by hand using various methods to create worm holes, saw marks and plugs.”
Copeland said that the distressing is random to maintain an authentic appearance.
“After the floor is distressed, it is sanded smooth with our state-of-the art sanding equipment, leaving the distressed look without rough edges,” he said. “The floor is still smooth to the touch and feels great on bare feet.”
The final step is hand rubbing the planks with a certified green hard oil finish. The Mill House Select series floor is available prefinished in clear, antique brown, tavern color and dark bourbon, which was chosen for the Crossville show house. Custom finish colors are available by special arrangement. The 6’, 7’ and 8’ planks are solid, kiln-dried, 3/4″ thick tongue and groove.
“This is a select grade flooring not the # 2 utility grade that some companies try to pass off as flooring,” Copeland said. “It is mostly longleaf southern yellow new growth heart pine flooring. It was recently harvested from old growth pine plantations. The mature longleaf yellow pine is the hardest of all the American pine species.”
In addition to producing flooring, Copeland is an independent dealer of Honest Abe Log Homes in Buford, Ga. For information call Copeland at 866-203 6924 or visit www.vintagepineflooring.com.
“Our flooring is produced right here in America by hard working Americans. This is not some cheap imported toxic floor from China.”
– Art Copeland, Vintage Pine Floors
