White Pine Lumber

White Pine lumber is used for many reasons in many forms throughout the Americas and Europe. It has many advantages in addition to its beauty, affordability, workability, and minimal shrinkage that we will discuss on this site. We have White Pine lumber in all sizes and forms including:

White Pine Custom Lumber

We keep large cants of white pine lumber stacked and dried and can cut to order any size needed for your custom designs. If you want a 20 foot 8" x 8", a hewn ceiling beam package, 1" rough sawn white pine lumber for siding, paneling, sheeting and more or planed white pine lumber for flooring, interior paneling, or the project of your dreams, we have the custom white pine lumber pieces that no one else has!

White Pine Log Cabin Kits

We use White Pine lumber in our Appalachian style log cabin packages and our decorative wooden beam packages. With a weight of approximately 26 pounds per cubic foot and excellent stability, it makes an ideal product where large pieces are desired in any form. The heartwood is pale brown with red brown streaks and the sap wood which makes up a large portion of the tree is a pale white/yellow color. All White Pine ages to a golden yellow color at rate relative to exposure.

Pinus Strobus

White Pine, scientific name Pinus Strobus, is called by many names including Eastern White Pine, Northern White Pine, Northern Pine, Soft Pine, and Weymouth Pine. It is the provincial tree of Ontario and the state tree of both Main and Michigan. Our White Pine lumber comes predominately from the mid-west and upper state New York.

Mature trees can grow as high as 110' with ages exceeding 400 years and trunks with diameters in excess of 4'. Even though much of what is cut today is second growth and smaller, White pine has shown to be a sturdy and renewable resource. We have white pine in everything from log form down to tongue and groove interior paneling. The wood is generally light, straight-grained and easily worked. White pine lumber is not sought for it's strength but is used extensively for interior trim, window sashes, door frames, cabinetmaking, and furniture. It is probably the least resinous of all pines, does not shrink greatly with moisture content changes, and displays excellent durability as shown by the many houses built with Eastern White Pine in New England over 200 years ago.

White Pine Grade Descriptions

White Pine Lumber grade descriptions set forth the limiting characteristics that may occur in each grade. The rules describe the poorest pieces in each grade and the individual acceptable characteristics are never present in the maximum size or number in any one piece. Any piece with an unusual combination of characteristics that seriously affect normal utilization is excluded from the grade. Warp or other damage due to cut, drying, or storage is excluded from the grades of Premium or Better. The common grades will permit blurs and grain distortion without limit as long as the serviceability of the piece is not impaired.

White Pine Knots

All knots are measured by average diameter on the grade face and a knot must have at least 25 percent of its margin grown into the surrounding wood. The maximum knot sizes may be exceeded in the Common grades in the case of otherwise exceptional quality. Natural heart coloration and star checking of knots are not considered defects. Loose black knots are treated as knot holes. It is important to remember that the grading system rules are primarily used to set a comparable and common measure for the White Pine lumber industry but often to the end user, the defects as set forth by the grading system are exactly what the consumer desires in appearance for their given project.

Select Grades

There are two select grades and grades are determined based on the best face of any piece. C Select and D Select which are sometimes combined and referred to as D and Better Select White Pine Lumber.

C Select is the highest grade and while some of the pieces are clear, most pieces have minor characteristics that do not affect their quality. C select material is best used for natural or stained finish, fine woodworking or interior trim. The reverse face of C Select permits sound characteristics of D Select. C Select permits one sound, tight, pin knot with a maximum diameter of 1/2" per 4 feet of surface and in an occasional piece a red knot up to 3/4" is acceptable. Checks, knife marks, mismatch, pockets, raised grain, and shake should be slight. Blue or coffee colored stain should not exceed 1/3 of the surface in a clear board and there should be no torn grain.

D Select takes it's appearance from both select and common grades. It's characteristics are more pronounced than C Select but remain well spaced to expose more clear material. The reverse face of D Select permits sound characteristics of Standard.  D Select permits one sound, tight, pin knot with a maximum diameter of 1/2" per 1 foot of surface and in an occasional piece one sound, tight knot with a maximum diameter of 3/4" is acceptable. There can be slight checks, knife marks or mismatch. Pockets are to be very small and well scattered and raised grain and shake should be very light. Blue or coffee colored stain should not exceed 3/4 of the surface in a clear board and torn grain should not exceed 1/64" deep.

Common Grades

There are four Eastern White Pine Common grades. Finish, Premium, Standard and Industrial. The Finish and Premium grades are sometimes grouped together as Premium and better. Finish is a fine appearance knotty grade with sound, tight knots. This grade can be finished to take advantage of the natural highlights of the piece or to give a smooth painted surface. The reverse face of Finish permits sound characteristics of Standard grade. Premium is a good appearance knotty grade with similar appearance to Finish but where a slightly rougher natural appearance is desired. The reverse face of Premium permits sound characteristics of Standard grade.

Standard grade White Pine lumber is a highly serviceable grade used chiefly for construction or where a coarser rustic decorative appearance is desired. Industrial is the lowest common board grade and admits large characteristics is any combination as long as the piece is usable full length. Industrial grade White Pine lumber is generally used in rough construction where strength and appearance are not of primary importance.

White Pine For Sale

If you know exactly what lumber you are looking for or if you need help finding the perfect wooden masterpiece, we probably have what you need. We don't mind answering questions so please email us or call (765)969-2834 and you will be enjoying your latest project soon.