About Us
Where does your wood come from?
Our reclaimed wood is salvaged from a variety of sources, primarily barns and industrial buildings being demolished. These structures were often built with materials harvested from Virgin forests, and the woods show beautiful tight growth rings, rich patina, and character from previous use. We also work on occasion with materials salvaged from other interesting sources; water tanks, wine vats, shipping crates, and rafts used in the logging industry.
How many board feet have you kept out of landfills?
At least 20,000,000 so far.
How is your facility eco conscious?
We "pioneered" in-house recycling in our industry, through the use of boilers which burn our waste wood to power our kilns, and heat our shop. There's virtually no smoke or ash generated because of the extremely high temperatures. Our sawdust is recycled into pellets for home heating, our electricity is generated through wind-power, and our office is heated with an incredibly efficient hydronic heating system. Did we mention that we recycled an entire bowling alley to make our shop?
Do you sell directly to consumers?
Yes, we do! In some areas, we have local dealers/contractors that we'll refer you to whenever possible.
What region(s) can you ship to?
Pioneer Millworks ships worldwide. We can ship anywhere, though to cut down on your costs and the environmental impacts of transportation we'll ship from one of our shops in Oregon or New York.
What wood species do you have available?
The better question might be what species aren't available? Of course we have our standards: like our famed 100% reclaimed Settlers' Plank oak, the colorful Fair Dinkum karri, and the ever rare chestnut, but just in case you want something else there's our fresh sawn selections in FSC certified cherry, hard maple, birch, and ash. Still, if you don't find exactly what you desire, call or email us. We have 9 acres of timbers and an insatiable passion to please you.
What is your widest available flooring?
In our reclaimed & FSC Certified flooring, we mill up to a 9 1/2" face width, though special orders can be taken for floors as wide as our available stock allows. Our Adirondack White Pine is available up to 20"!
How do we know old wood is safe, free of lead, DDT, creasote?
Pioneer Millworks uses various testing methods and outside laboritories to test materials for contaminants, and eliminate those which are problematic. Creosoted timber is never used in any of our products.
Wood is a renewable resource, plain and simple. It grows in forests around the world in a seemingly infinite variety of species. When managed properly, as in an Forest Steward Council Certified forest, wood can be harvested for generations. When compared to other structural methods like steel and concrete, the "embodied energy" in wood is significantly less, due to its relative ease of harvesting and milling. Reclaimed wood takes this life cycle one step further, by keeping waste from demolition projects out of landfills, and reducing the need for harvesting trees.
What are your terms and conditions?
Pioneer Millworks has created various grades and descriptions to quantify as best we can the board stock and finished product ordered. Due to the quirkiness and variability of our sources, these descriptions are very good, but not perfect guidelines. For this reason, we request that our customers review and agree to our terms and conditions. View them here.
Still have questions? Send us an email.
Finishes
What finishes do you have available?
Pioneer Millworks does not sell finishing products. We prefer to stick to what we do best, making beautiful materials from reclaimed wood. We're happy to recommend products based on species, intended use and eco-sensitivity.
Do you recommend different finishes for different floors?
The short answer is yes - the type of finish used will be dictated by the type of flooring, coupled with the use of the material, environmental considerations, and the desired final appearance of the wood. Call us, and we can help guide you through these questions!
Are your flooring products available pre-finished?
As an option we offer pre-finished flooring that uses UV-cured Aluminum Oxide coating. Some of the floors in our collection are too rugged or irregular for this process. For our Settlers' Plank, Attic Collection, Foundry Maple, and Boardroom Maple floors we typically recommend a hand-rubbed oil finish applied prior to shipment (or you can apply it after installation).
Tung oil is a component of finishes, and is made by pressing the oils from the nut of the Tung tree. When used as a finish, it provides a water-resistant finish which deepens with age developing a natural patina.
How do tung oils and poly finishes differ?
Tung oil penetrates the wood's surface and builds up a protective layer over several coats to form a natural looking barrier to water. Tung oil tends to deepen the wood's hue. Polyurethane is essentially a plastic layer that is applied in liquid form (we recommend water based), which sits on top of the floor, and forms a solid, clear barrier after 3 - 4 coats.
What finishes are used in your prefinished products?
The majority of our pre-finished floors use a UV-cured Aluminum Oxide, which is incredibly hard and durable, and available in a variety of sheen options. On those floors which are finished by hand, we use a high-quality Tung oil.
Volitale Organic Compounds (VOC's) are are organic chemical compounds which evaporate quickly from finishes, adhesives, solvents, etc. often emitting toxic smelling odors. This has become a "Buzz-term" recently, as buildings have become better insluated, increasing our exposure to these compounds. Low VOC finishes, such as citrus-based Tung oil and water-based polyurethanes, are the best options to reduce VOC's indoors.
Still have questions on finishes? Send us an email.
FSC, LEED and SFI
FSC is an acronym for the Forest Stewardship Council. This is an independant, not-for-profit organization which was established to promote responsible forest management.
Are your products FSC certified?
All of our reclaimed wood products (including our eco-engineered wood flooring) are FSC Certified. You might ask why we carry FSC certification for a wood which is recycled, and therefore already an environmentlaly sound choice? We think it is worth it for you to know without question that the wood you purchase from us is 100% recycled. Pioneer Millworks was one of the very first companies to become FSC Certified for Recycled Wood in 2007, and we are one a handful of companies in the industry that fully manufacture our flooring - in other words, no part of manufacturing goes out of the country or to any other manufacturing facility. Our FSC certification includes three categories: mixed, pure and reclaimed.
LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED was created by the United States Green Building Council. It is a program for establishing standards for environmentally sound construction. Meeting certain specific criteria, different levels of LEED certification are awarded.
Are your products LEED point elgible?
Yes! The points/credits available for materials vary based on a variety of criteria. Call us - we can point you in the right direction.
Why don't you list your LEED points?
Because geography, material types and percent used can affect the eligible LEED points, it's best to talk with a local LEED AP to find out what our products will qualify for in your area. Pioneer Millworks also has LEED AP's on staff and can help answer basic questions.
SFI is an acronym for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. This is a forest industry-sponsored (non-independent) organization which is more directly related to the harvesting of fresh-sawn woods. Their goal is to promote continued sustainable forestry practices, and to help market fresh-cut lumber as a green "certified" option.
Still have questions on FSC, LEED or SFI? Send us an email.
Engineered vs. Solid Flooring
When should I use engineered flooring?
Engineered flooring is perfect for any dry below-grade (basement) application, or for areas where the floor needs to be floated, glued down to concrete, or placed over radiant heating systems. While solid woods can often be used in the same applications above grade, our engineered flooring is a more stable option, and it helps to increase the available yeilds from limited species.
How are solid and engineered flooring different?
Solid floors are a full 3/4" thick, and milled to the width you specify, at the longest lengths possible. Solid floors are best suited to installations where the floor is blind or face nailed into the subfloor, above grade. Engineered floors are 5/8" thick overall, with a 3/16" "wear layer" of wood, and are 1' to 8' in length. Engineered floors are perfect for installation over virtually any subfloor, whether concrete or conventional construction, and can also be installed below grade.
Can solid or engineered flooring be installed over radiant heat?
Both our solid and engineered flooring can be installed over radiant heat. The specifics of the installation are dictated by the type of radiant heating system you're using. Give us a call to talk more about the best option for your project.
What is your substrate made of?
The platform, or backer, of our eco-engineered wood flooring is an FSC Certified plywood, made in the United States from a mix of domestic species which are inherently stable.
What is the difference between floating, gluing, nailing or stapling a floor?
Engineered floors are typically installed by floating (gluing the tongue & groove together), or by gluing the floor down to the subfloor using a polyurethane adhesive, which will allow the floor to move naturally. Solid flooring is typically nailed or stapled through the tongue, or nailed through the face on wider planks, into the subfloor below. Call us, and we can work with you to determine the best installation method for your project.
Still have questions engineered and solid flooring? Send us an email.
Measurements
What are the square foot measurements (and how do I calculate them)?
Square footage is calculated by multiplying the length in feet by the width in feet. You'll usually want to add another 7% to 12% for cutting and installation waste. Check out our calculator tool available on any of the product pages.
How are nominal and actual measurments different?
Just like a 2 x 4 is not really a 2 inch by 4 inch piece of wood, our flooring is specified in whole inch increments. The actual face width after milling is 1/2" less, so for example, a 6" plank will have a face width of 5 1/2". Not to worry, we ship you the proper square footage of your order measured off the actual face width after milling, so you don't have to perform any complex calculations.
Still have questions on measurement? Send us an email.
Specifics
Heart Pine is the heartwood of the Longleaf Southern Yellow Pine tree (Pinus Palustris). The Virgin old-growth forests covered the southern US from Virginia over to Texas, and the wood was harvested extensively through the 1800's because of its sheer size and stength. While only a small percentage of these original forests remain today, our Heart Pine is sawn from timbers that were cut from the original logs long ago. Companies will label a floor as "old growth" but it doesn't necessarily mean it was cut 100 years ago - it could be the recent cutting of an old, old tree today. Despite being a species of Pine, it has remarkable hardness, 1200 on the Janka scale, making it nearly as hard as Red Oak.
Since the reclaimed wood industry doesn't have a specific governing grading agency, each company is left to develop their own grades. American Gothic is one of our grades, created by sawing blanks from large timbers reclaimed primarily from barns & agricultural buildings, leaving each plank with a clean, smooth surface.
Fresh-sawn woods are those which have been cut from newly harvested trees, and not from reclaimed wood. Some companies tout their fresh-sawn woods as "Old Growth", which is a confusing claim, and it does not mean that the wood is any older than a typical fresh-sawn wood.
What is the difference between sapwood and heart wood?
Heart wood is the centermost portion of the tree, and is the part that "died off" as the tree grew. It is harder than the sapwood, and because it is not actively carrying nutrients it is more dimensionally stable when the wood is cut into flooring planks. Sapwood is the living outer portion of the tree just under the bark. It is generally lighter in color and softer than the heart wood due to the continued work of the sapwood in carrying water from the roots to the leaves. In our flooring, the percentage of heart wood & sapwood can vary - be sure to check out our grade specifications to see how much of each you will see in your floor.
How do you get the character marks on your Settlers' Plank line?
We are careful not to remove what history and original wear these boards have - we leave the character, saw marks and original patina in place. We don't add fake marks - Mother Nature, time, and the countless years of hard use on a farm are to thank for the rich character in our floors.
What is the Janka hardness rating scale?
The Janka scale provides a consistent numerical reference of hardness for various species of wood. The higher the number, the harder the wood.
One could fill several pages with information as to why Bamboo is a poor choice for flooring. (We filled one, see our bamboo specific page.) Lack of durability, elimination of natural species in favor of bamboo farming, unsafe/unethical labor practices, harsh chemical adhesives, embodied energy in bringing the product to market....the list goes on. A unique reclaimed wood floor from Pioneer Millworks will add far greater value to your project, and the materials will far outlast Bamboo, saving you money on a new floor down the road. Plus, you'll feel a much better using our flooring, knowing that your wood came from our very own shops, right here in one of our two manufacturing locations in upstate NY or ourside Portland OR - staffed by some of the best craftsmen in the industry.
Still have specific questions? Send us an email.
