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About End Grain
End grain flooring is quickly becoming popular with some of the best architects and designers around the world. Its unique, yet classic look, and superior durability make it a perfect candidate for commercial applications like restaurants and hotels, or any other high-traffic situation where the floor must withstand a beating. It is an elegant look, and like all wood floors it can be stained to suit your own particular tastes. End grain flooring is very much a sustainable product because it can be made from smaller diameter timber. Often, end grain is the highest, best use for the lowest grade of timber that might otherwise be left in the woods.
Old Wood is one of the nation’s largest end grain flooring manufacturers. Our end grain products come in a variety of species, shapes, and sizes. Some species work better than others, and certain species that make wonderful plank flooring might not necessarily be a good end grain product. We have tried most species at some point, and have learned some lessons! If you don’t see what you want, please ask. Your idea might be the new ‘big thing’.
Douglas Fir
Douglas fir is one of our best selling end grains because of its durability and identifiable color. Similar to Pine in many respects, it dries a dark umber color. It is considered more ‘weatherly’ and is overall tougher when aged.
Ponderosa Pine
Our Ponderosa Pine is sourced from fire reclamation efforts or other sustainable forestry projects around the American West. Growing high in the Rocky Mountains, this richly textured, classic wood is slow growing and has a tight ring structure, which makes it quite durable. Some natural blue stain is usually present, but most find that attractive. Stains do very interesting things around knots and can interact with the natural blue as well. If the natural bluing is a problem for your design, any brown or darker stain covers it well so that it blends with the rest of the wood. We’ve tested Ponderosa Pine at the Los Alamos Labs and it ‘proves out’ very well compared to other species of Pine. (See technical data). Pine is generally used for residential and light commercial applications.
Sizes: 3×3, 3×4, 4×4, 3×5, 4×6, 4×8”. Thickness is usually ¾”, but we can manufacture a custom thickness upon request. Sizes for herringbone and pinwheel patterns such as 3×6, 4×8” exact, are special orders, but available.
Mesquite
Mesquite is one of our overall best sellers because of its superior durability, tight grain, and rich, red colorations. Prosopsis Glandulosa (and other subsets) is a large, high desert bush. At a Janka rating of 2345, it’s 80% harder than red oak! What makes it work so well as a floor is its stability. Mesquite does not expand and contract much when compared to other species, which makes it extremely suitable for most residential and commercial applications. Not so much a rare wood as it is a sparse, hard to harvest tree, it actually has been used around the world as a food source, arid land stabilizer, and fuel wood. USAID has helped countries such as Ethiopia plant it, and many indigenous communities rely on it for these reasons. As always, Old Wood believes that large, old trees are noble and as such we encourage our customers and suppliers to work with small or medium sized trees and to hold to a high standard of forestry and land management.
We carry mesquite blocks in 4×4, 3×4, 3×3, 2×4, 2×3, and 2×2” widths. Larger blocks are more expensive and harder to obtain large amounts with, however they can be mixed in with random lay patterns to very good effect and it keeps the price within reason. Hexagons are also available in 3.5” dimensions. All of our mesquite flooring is generally sold as ½” thick unless special ordered.
Piñon
Piñon pine is native only to the American Southwest, and we harvest it with the help of the Alamo Navajo Band in Southern New Mexico. Another desert shrub like mesquite, this dense, slow growing pine subset is harder that the common pine varieties and is wonderful for wood block flooring. It has served our clients well for years in commercial settings.
Cedar
End Grain is a wonderful use for this aromatic and colorful wood. It has deep red and purple colorations, with striking color streaks across the grain. We often make it in Hexagons and as a color accent for other patterns such as the center block in an Octagonal pattern.