"Go Green, Build 'Blue', Buy Local"

Installing Your Wood Flooring

Solid wood floors, like all wood products ‘breath’ by expanding and contracting with variations in humidity, and to a lesser degree, temperature.  Wide variations in humidity and temperatures throughout the seasons and in your home, or a significant difference between the moisture content of the sub-floor and floorboards at the time of your installation, can result in uneven expansion or shrinkage. This can cause buckling (lifting) of the floor, ‘cupping’ of the boards, or large gaps between the floorboards. There are several important steps to minimize this potential for such movement.

• Deliver the wood flooring to the home or job site for acclimation (Please refer to the instructions for acclimating your wood product) after all work, except baseboard installation is done, i.e., drywall, painting, tile, etc.
• VERY IMPORTANT: Allow your product to acclimate to the normal inside environment.  The heating and ventilation system should have been “on” for at least 1 week and operating in their normal range.
• Place the wood in the main area to be installed, With ‘stickers’ allowing for spaces between the bundles for air to pass through and 3-4” of air flow from floor to the bottom of the first bundle of wood. (Do not store in a garage, shed, or basement without allowing the product to acclimate to the home environment in which it will be installed.)
• We highly recommend having the flooring installed only by a professional flooring installation contractor. Some will even provide a guarantee of their installation.

• Wood sub-floors must be clean and dry, at least ¾” thick, and need to be well secured with screws and/or ring shank nails – be sure they are counter-sunk so they do not interfere with the floorboards.  Extra caution in securing the floor solidly to the joists at this stage will help eliminate squeaking.  Particleboard is not suitable for nailing or stapling the floorboards down but should be fine for glue down procedures.  Generally we do not recommend installing over existing wood flooring but is doing so, then install the new floorboards at right angles to the existing wood floor.  Your professional flooring installer may choose to use both an appropriate glue and nail/staple the floorboards down, and we encourage this method.

·        The sub-floor should be dry, and the moisture level between the floorboards and the sub-floor should be within 2% of each other.

• An underlay paper must be used between the floor and the sub-floor.
• An adequate gap 3/8” – 1/2” must be maintained between the perimeter of the floor and the walls to allow for acceptable natural expansion and contraction.  The baseboards will cover this gap when done properly, but be sure to check the thickness of the baseboards to ensure gap coverage.
• Humidity control systems and proper ventilation help a great deal at keeping the wood stable and are absolutely necessary if you are considering installing over a radiant heat floor.  The advice of a professional installer should be sought and heeded!
• Floors that are being installed over concrete, over radiant heat, or in parts of a home that are ‘below grade’ (i.e. lower than the ground level outside the house) require professional advice. Successful installations over concrete require special attention to details and generally a moisture barrier and a plywood sub-floor should be installed over the concrete if this type of installation is done at all.  Concrete must be fully ‘cured’ and should be a minimum of 60 days old before attempting any kind of wood floor installation.  Be sure to consult and heed the advice of your flooring installation professional.

‘Blue Pine’ Wood Flooring Info

Our ‘Blue Pine’ flooring is salvaged from the millions of Lodgepole Pine trees dying in the forests of the Rocky Mountains and recycled into beautiful wood products.  The Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic has ravaged our forests and it is predicted that about 90% of our Lodgepole Pine timber stands will be devastated.  In the process of dying, beautiful blue-grey colored streaks occur throughout the wood in totally random patterns – some trees have more ‘blue’ and some have less, or little at all.  Sometimes the wood will show additional colors like red and maroon, or even a little yellow on occasion. There is no loss to the structural properties of the wood, and those hungry little beetles are long gone; so there is absolutely no danger of introducing them to your home or environment. 

We urge you to “Be Green”, by building with our ‘Blue Pine’ wood products.

Many people today prefer ‘distressed’ and ‘antiqued’ products, and in fact are willing to pay more for this look.  All types of Pine are considered soft woods, and thus will naturally distress far more than a hard wood product under normal use.  The good news is that we don’t charge you extra for this!  All products can be stained or painted, but the natural coloring is so stunning and eye-catching that most people prefer a natural or clear finish.  Please experiment with stains and finishes should you want a something other than the natural coloring.  Be sure to apply at least one coat of your chosen final finish product (for example polyurethane), to ensure you get the true appearance that you want in your flooring.  Don’t forget to check out our baseboard and trim stock to compliment your floors.

There are two styles of ‘Blue Pine’ flooring and paneling, and four ‘face’ finishes currently offered:

*We can mill wider T+G boards or planks but the cost increases significantly.  (Most USA Rocky Mountain Lodgepole Pine does not commonly grow large in diameter, and thus we pay large premiums for big logs.)  We caution that wider boards have more of a tendency to 'cup' and/or crack/split due to temperature and humidity variations on the site, and the natural tendency for wood to expand and contract.  Once laid down and sealed this decreases greatly, but it is important to note this disclosure so that you will not be dissatisfied.  Wider boards need to be secured with surface nails (Our clients have been thrilled with the look of the ‘old-fashioned square head nails.) and/or glued as well as tongue stapled, to significantly reduce or eliminate this possibility.  Be sure that you use an experienced flooring installer and the proper methods to install.  Please also refer to our site for Acclimation and Installation Guidelines.

There are four finishes: 1.) Surface planed 4 sides (S4S), 2.) Band Saw Rough-Cut (BSRC) on 1 ‘face’ and planed on the other, or 3.) Circular Saw Rough-Cut (CSRC) on 1 ‘face’ and planed on the other, and 4. Hand-hewn face surfaced.

*We recommend a wood flooring stapler for T+G flooring installation and 2” finish nails for the paneling and wainscot.

*We recommend the old-fashioned ‘square-cut, square-head nail’, for a rustic but elegant look with our plank styles or wide T&G.

*Checks/cracks/splits and knot holes on the planed products may be filled after installation with wood fillers or you can use wood glue and sawdust.  Or you may simply leave the gaps and ‘imperfections’, which most feel adds to the natural beauty.  These gaps, cracks and ‘imperfections’ can be filled in after sanding the entire floor and by applying heavy coats of polyurethane. The rough-cut products are usually polyurethane’d - with 6 to 9 coats to completely cover the roughness and provide depth in the character of the wood.  This provides a beautiful ‘rustic elegance’ appearance of wood graining, but allows for a smoothly surfaced product.

Please allow 2 to 4 weeks and 5-15% overage on your order.  We do not grade or sort for ‘Rustic’ vs. ‘Premium’ flooring!  We leave the finished look of the product up to your own desires on appearance.  If you want a ‘premium’ look with few ‘imperfections’, (knots and/or checks/cracks/splits), then please allow for more overage so that these natural ‘imperfections’ can be cut out of your finished flooring.  Like all wood flooring, our products should be acclimated at normal home temperatures for about two weeks to allow for any changes in dimensions that may occur prior to installation. We offer no warranties, expressed or implied, and do not accept returns.  Please contact us for price quotes and lead times.

Please refer to our website for our other complimentary and unique products.  Examples are trim, siding, log home shells, rough cut and planed lumber, posts and rails, mantles, furniture, and more.

‘Blue Pine’ was voted the # 1most delicious wood by the Mountain Pine Beetle!  We think you will agree, this is good wood!

GreenWay LLC’s Salvaged and Recycled ‘Blue Pine’ Timber Products

Rocky Mountain and Native Colorado

‘Blue Pine’ brand of flooring information.

Thank you for your inquiry and interest. We would love to provide you with one of our beautiful and unique, eco-friendly wood flooring products.  Please refer to our website, there is a lot of information and pictures available to you – check back often as it is constantly being added to and upgraded.

There are very few sources for these products, but there may be somebody cheaper out there…. however, there are some big differences... Two of our three wood products (we offer both Kiln-dried and Air-dried products) are professionally beveled and kerfed on the backside of the plankto keep the boards more stable and allow for gluing applications.  Additionally, the planks are bundled in 5-8 pieces per bundle to help keep the wood in good condition at the site while acclimating, and for ease of carrying to the site for storage.  We found that when we do not do this, then you will likely suffer significant losses of material on site.  To encourage use of the Colorado Native products right from our own backyard, we also provide 3-5% overage of stock at no cost to you.  This is also to help ensure your satisfaction; in the event that you find a few boards that you do not like or that have bowed, cupped or twisted - despite all the extra care we take to prevent this, it is a natural wood product and sometimes it just happens!

Generally we run 2-3 weeks for lead times, and like all wood products you need to let the wood acclimate (Industry guidelines call for a minimum of two weeks, in the room and at the temperature and humidity that the floor will ‘live’ in, but often we find that 7 to 10 days usually brings the wood to proper adjustment in your home/business climate (at 70 +/- degrees) This allows the wood to stabilize, so that it does not shrink or swell after installation beyond that of any other wood product. Your professional flooring installer will have moisture meters to check the wood and will know when it is ready to install.  The sub-floor and the flooring product should be within 2% moisture of each other when installed, as recommended by flooring industry standards.

The most commonly used product is the 1x6 Tongue and Groove (T&G), but we also have 1x4’s, 1x8’s, 1x10’s, and 1x12’s with a variety of surface finishes:  Planed, Band-sawn Rough Cut, Circular-sawn Rough Cut, and our Hand-hewn finish.  Our pricing runs from $2.19 s/f to over $5.00 s/f*, depending upon the product you chose and the amount that you want.

We think you will find this quite affordable compared with many other flooring products on the market, but we certainly want your feedback.  We also have plank style flooring that can be Hand-hewn to appear as an old-fashioned hand-scraped surface.  Please refer to the specific product information for more details.

We ask for 65% down at the placement of the order and the balance due prior to delivery or pick up. 

We also have over 700 other unique products that will fit in beautifully with your remodel or new build project ....baseboards, trim, mouldings, accent log work, unique door headers, siding of all types, and many other things you will not find at your local lumberyard or home center.

Please let us know how we can be of further service!

*We provide a 10% for Colorado residents when you tell us whom referred you to us.  There is a 5% discount for orders of 500 s/f, and an additional 5% discount for orders of 1000+ s/f.  Ask us about orders of greater volume and there may be greater discounting available - we will do our best to earn your business!  Contractors and dealers are eligible for discounts and distribution pricing as well.

info@beetlekillwood.com                            www.begreenbuildblue.com