Why We Use Michigan Pine for Our Wood Products

Did you know that white pine is the state tree of Michigan? Our state has a long history of supplying the entire nation’s lumber industry with our special pine forests. From the 1870s to the early 1900s, Michigan led the country in lumber production. Today, WoodHaven continues this tradition of utilizing white pine to sustain our economy.

Some Facts about Michigan White Pine

• It’s actually named Pinus Strobus, but referred to as white pine, eastern white pine, or northern white pine
• Is widely used for Christmas trees during the holiday season
• Seeds and bark help sustain native bears, deer, squirrels, birds, beavers, rabbits, and porcupines!
• Also the state tree of Maine

Where We Source Our White Pine

At WoodHaven, we source from a local Amish sawmill right outside of Mio. They have been working with us for over 20 years, and they even cut our wood exactly how we like it. We appreciate their attention to detail and their commitment to quality. They even maintain their own forests to keep a steady supply. Working with our neighbors helps to keep them employed while also employing people from our community at our mill.

White Pine Is Great for Lasting Quality

One aspect of wood that we take into consideration when creating our siding products is its stability, or how the wood shrinks and swells in response to changing moisture in the air. When properly dried in a kiln, white pine is extremely stable and is great at remaining straight over a lifetime. With some wood species, changing moisture during the seasons can shrink, swell, crack and cause gaps or unsightly spots.

Another consideration is sap bleeding. Sap can discolor your wood’s stain and is also sticky and messy! The last thing you want after an installation is for your wood siding to start bleeding and ruin your stain! All wood has some level of sap inside, but some species are more prone to bleeding than others. WoodHaven chooses white pine because it is much less prone to knot bleeding.

WoodHaven Isn’t the Only Shop Using White Pine

White pine is an incredibly popular wood for woodworkers. It’s affordable, lightweight, transportable, soft enough to cut and carve, and easily accepts stains. Because of all these factors, we aren’t the only mill that uses white pine for our wood siding. However, we kiln-dry our wood to an extra degree of dryness to make it even more stable and easy to work with. We create all of our siding products with tongue and groove joints that are end-matched on all sides. This greatly helps during installation as our siding fits easily together and boards don’t need to be split on studs. Learn more about how our log siding is superior here.

What About Red Pine?

We do also create products using red pine, but we stray away from using this for exterior wood products. Red pine is perfectly fine for use in interior wood products like paneling, ceilings and flooring, but is prone to sap bleeding when in direct sunlight. It’s also cheaper than white pine, which is another reason why we offer it for interior products to keep prices reasonable.