Goodwin Heart Pine

1) Some people think that antique wood does not shrink and swell anymore so it does not need to be brought to the proper moisture content on the jobsite.  On the contrary wood science and field experience both indicate antique wood shrinks or swells when the moisture content changes.  You need to install the wood at a moisture content that is close to the value that will be maintained while the building is in use.

2) We often hear the remark that old wood does not need to be kiln dried.  There are two issues here.  First, most air dried wood has a moisture content too high for interior use.  The second is the possible presence of living organisms such as powder post beetles, termites, or mold.  Kiln drying to 140 F for several hours eliminates live insect pests in the wood.  Proper kiln drying also eliminates living mold and brings the moisture content down to a level that wood will not support mold growth.  Click on the link to read more information about kiln drying in our article in WoodSource KilnDrying101 or click the thumbnail above.

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Reclaimed Wood Flooring Continuing Education was presented to 21 architects, designers and flooring professionals at Spectra Contract Flooring in Tampa, Fl, 7/14/2010 by Carol Goodwin. Call if we can assist with continuing education events at your business. Participants will learn to: evaluate variations in types and grades and know what to anticipate when specifying reclaimed wood, compare characteristics of reclaimed wood with more available standing timber, analyze manufacturing variations to insure that specs achieve project goals; e.g., know when engineered wood products are well-made to avoid problems, and understand installation and finish specifics for various building types to ensure long term success of the wood products

Goodwin offers Premium Mesquite… like reclaimed wood flooring it avoids cutting down the rain forest. Known for its warmth and natural beauty, Mesquite is a drought tolerant wood from regions not generally suitable for other trees.  It has very good dimensional stability and is very hard wood. The wood flooring is sawn and manufactured entirely in the USA using green backers and glues with ‘no added formaldehyde’ for healthy indoor air quality. Mesquite has considerable character markings that add natural beauty. It comes in 3-1/2” or 5-1/2” widths in engineered and some wider in solid wood.

The most recent issue of WoodSource magazine includes “The Long Term Benefits of Building with Cypress”  featuring cabins on the shores of Lake Michigan built for the 1933 World’s Fair.  In the article on page 14 Todd Zeiger, director of the Northern Region Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, describes the good performance of cypress compared to other woods which “had rotted away”.

We are often asked How long it takes to acclimate wood flooring?  Many people have heard of bringing wood flooring to a jobsite in advance to let it acclimate, but still do not really understand the process in detail.  The goal should be to get the moisture content of the flooring close to what it will be when the space is occupied in the long term.  Additionally the moisture content of the subfloor and the rest of the jobsite should be near to the long term value before the flooring is delivered.  The HVAC should be operating.  Installing wood flooring in a wet building is an invitation to future problems.  Moisture meters are used to measure the moisture content of wood.

The next question that commonly comes up is How do I know what the moisture content should be when the floor is installed?  The answer depends on your location and possibly some of the details of the building.  One way to learn the desired moisture content is to consult an established wood flooring professional as they should know the long term moisture content values for their geographic area.  In existing buildings you can often measure other wood that has been in place for more than a year to get a number for the appropriate moisture content.

Getting back to the original question the correct answer is not given in terms of how long but in terms of achieving the correct moisture content.

Students competing in the Solar Decathlon Europe event used materials donated by Goodwin Heart Pine to help complete their solar powered house. Once finished the modular design will be disassembled, shipped to Spain, and then put back together. In Madrid the entry will compete with designs for universities from around the world. More information is available on the Solar Decathlon web page http://www.sdeurope.org/index.htm

Goodwin Heart Pine cosponsored a Master Installation Class held at the Bona training facility in Monroe, NC on February 10 to 13, 2010. The advanced school, which was organized by Howard Brickman http://brickmanconsulting.com, included hands on experience for the students in radiated field installation, wood bending, medallion fabrication, vacuum press gluing, scroll saw, and border techniques. Each student could construct their own medallion to take home. Chuck Garvey demonstrated Bona’s new flooring adhesive http://www.bona.com , and Daniel Boone presented Powernail’s recent products http://www.powernail.com .
See a video of Layton Endres http://hardwoodmedallions.com instructing on medallion construction.
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Goodwin Heart Pine was recently featured in a Triple Pundit article on sustainable business:

The great news is that this feature is growing as Gainesville’s business people and citizens start new green businesses, transform existing businesses to be more sustainable and embrace the advantages for our community created by buying local. One of my favorite examples is George and Carol Goodwin of Goodwin Heart Pine Company .”

Goodwin Heart Pine Company sells reclaimed wood flooring. Their pioneering innovation is to harvest old timbers out of their local river rather than cutting down perfectly good trees that are recycling CO2 into oxygen. Their company and antique pine/cypress-sourced products have been featured on The History Channel, PBS and HGTV. Their clients are located from coast to coast, north to south. They epitomize the potential for growing green revenues, green local jobs and an enhanced local environment.