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Natural Blue Stained Pine Wood Paneling
The Home Owners - Krystal and Chad of Upper State New York. When it was time to select the interior paneling Krystal said they wanted something that looked really old and Rustic. This is going to be their "forever" home so they wanted to make sure they got what they wanted.
They were interested in our knotty ponderosa pine paneling with stain + 2 coat UV finish and I sent them a set of samples with the standard set of colors.
Then I remembered the "Blue Stain" pine we had available from another mill. When I originally saw the blue pine I nicknamed it "Granddaddy Pine" because to me it looks 100 years old.
When I sent the samples of the knotty blue stain pine paneling to Krystal and Chad they loved the color so much they ordered the blue pine paneling finished with our 2 coat Clear Urethane "Peace of Mind" finish for protection and ease of cleanup.
The Wood Species - Ponderosa Pine with blue stain coloring
The Wood Grade - Select Tight Knot (STK) #2 KD - Graded to the smooth side
The Siding Pattern - 1x6" Tongue&Groove Pine Paneling 5" Exposure
The Paneling Finish - PEACE OF MIND PINE Factory Finish - two coats of Urethane, UV dried as it's applied, Urethane on the face to give it that smooth, protective finish.
The order was delivered late February and I went out to see them in early July to see how it all turned out. They are almost finished with the installation on exterior. Interior trim and flooring is still in process. They have done all the work themselves with heavy lifting help from friends, family and neighbors.
As I walked through their home, snapping pictures from finished basement to upstairs loft, I was amazed at how the hues varied with the light.
Depending on the angle and amount of light the overall hues ranged from pale rose to golden yellow with blue gray streaks running in varying intensity throughout.
It's amazingly distinct and beautiful!
The milled wood is just as sound as regular pine wood but with grey and blue streaks running through the amber pine sap wood creating a completely unique look and feel.
I've never seen anything like it.
The distinctive blue-gray swirling colors are the result of a stain fungus that travels into the tree when pine beetles bore into the bark. In the last 10 years a large pine beetle infestation has spread rampantly forcing the cutting and processing of many trees before the mills were ready in order to limit the spread and salvage the dead trees before it was too late.
As many areas of our continent experience warmer temperatures the main defense against this invasive beetle - winter cold - ceases to exist. And of course it is the larger diameter Ponderosa and Lodgepole pine trees that the beetles prefer.
As sad as it is to see these magnificent trees taken down it would be even sadder to lose this opportunity to utilize this uniquely beautiful wood that in favor of cutting down new trees.
Chad and Krystal achieved their rustic goal. The inside of their cabin looks like it was from the 1800's. The colors and effect of that GrandDaddy Blue Pine's blue gray tones creates an authentic antique feel to the place.
It is always fun when the homeowner is designing and installing because they really get into what they are doing and come up with some very creative ideas.
Somewhere along the line in the early design process Chad decided he wanted to install a large tree right inside their cabin.
He had already found the perfect tree and the paneling's natural blue stain matched the tree exactly. He said he could not have planned it better.
I asked "How did you get a tree in here?".
He told me they put up 2 walls and left an opening and brought out a crane to install the tree. It really looks cool.
I have never seen anyone do that before but he was right. It matches our Blue Stain pine to a tee and really adds character to the house.
Normally shingles are used outside but upstairs along the interior loft he installed cedar shingles - a very creative way to construct a specific feeling.
Chad told me he wanted an old barn effect but it reminds me of an old west town facade and the 2nd story walk ways in my favorite John Wayne Westerns.
And on the Outside - HEWN Pine Log Siding!
In the end they bought an entire home package of 2000 SQFT 1x6" Blue Stain Pine Wood Paneling with our "Peace of Mind" Clear UV Finish as well as 1500 SQFT 2x8" HEWN log siding with matching 8" Dove Tail hewn log corners plus 1950 SQFT of 1x6" Southern Yellow Pine Tongue & Groove Flooring.
When Chad first called me about the hewn log siding he said he and Krystal had to have the custom "Dove Tail" corners that make it look like the logs stick out. I tried to talk him out of them because of the cost compared to standard vertical board trim and how difficult they can be to install but they insisted and I must admit they look pretty awesome.
He did two coats Cabot's acrylic stain and it looks beautiful. I love the richness of that color. It just jumps out at you. The hewn texturing really does add authenticity to the log look. It is pretty remarkable in person.
I always come away from these customer shoots feeling good that we had something to do with helping people achieve their dreams. Chad and Krystal's place really came together to create something special.
Their happiness and the awestruck reactions of visitors really makes me appreciate how lucky I am to be doing this for a
living.
Chris Buffalo
Buffalo Lumber Company Inc.
