The floors around the last turn of the century consisted mostly of planks of pine or spruce with offset joints. But what is the difference between the different materials and what width of the floor planks is typically correct?

Wedge-cut wooden floor

Before the middle of the 19th century, it was common with wedge-cut wooden floors. They rarely used subfloors, but laid the floor directly on the floor structure. The wedge shape arose because the whole tree trunk was used, which was wider at the bottom and narrower towards the top. The planks were laid alternately and usually in full length. The wood came from spruce or pine and was relatively wide.

Narrow floorboards

In the second half of the 19th century, they began to be able to cut planks mechanically, which provided smoother and parallel floorboards. From this time on, the wooden floors also became narrower, between 100 - 140 mm. Along the walls of the room, the floor was often framed with a border consisting of a simple, slightly wider floorboard. The floors are fastened with concealed nailing and in expensive buildings, long floorboards were often laid without end joints.

Subfloors

As the narrower floorboard was used, it could no longer be laid directly on the wooden floor, but required a subfloor. These floors were usually laid by a simpler type of wood with twig and marrow as they were never intended to be seen. For the subfloor, an even narrower floorboard (around 80 cm) was used, which was often lengthwise jointed. In addition to the type of wood, one can also recognize a subfloor on the wider gaps. A finer board floor, parquet floor or linoleum mat was then laid on top.

Solid wood flooring

A solid pine or spruce hardwood floor is made from whole wood tiles with natural vein unlike, for example, parquet which consists of several layers. The entire wooden planks provide a beautiful floor that can be sanded when needed and treated in different ways. Since wood is a living material, it is naturally affected by humidity differences, which means that the time-typical gaps occur between the boards as the material dries and shrinks. We offer floors in two different degrees of moisture content, about 16% and 8%. A floor with 16% moisture content will shrink slightly after a while indoors and the gaps, which characterize a floor from the turn of the century, will be visible. Floors with 8-10% moisture content are adapted for normal indoor climate and are less affected. The fact that the timber is late-grown means that it's durable and denser between the annual rings than a fast-growing timber.

What is the difference between pine and spruce floors?

Choosing pine or spruce flooring is a matter of taste; the different materials do not differ significantly in sustainability. Pine is characterized by a clear vein (a lighter wood with a darker core) while spruce has a less contrasting pattern and gets a slightly red tone in time.