Gerry salvages a house full of gorgeous vintage knotty pine — pickwick pine even!

Don’t want your knotty pine, America? Our readers do! Gerry writes:

Hello. I just finished salvaging a truckload of beautiful Pickwick style Knotty Pine paneling from a 1950s beach cottage that was being torn down. I was really excited to find the information contained on your site regarding the history of this product. I am going to re-purpose it in the sun porch of my own beach bungalow . It has a beautiful original amber finish on it, and I hope to cherry pick the nicest boards so I can install it just as found without any refinishing.

Nom nom, Knotty is Nice! I write back to Gerry tout suit. He quickly responds:

Hi Pam. I am a big fan of your site, I have referenced it many times over the years, so I should not have been surprised you had all the info on knotty pine paneling. It certainly was a popular choice for the homes built along the Jersey coast as far back as the 1930s and well into the 1960’s.

Above: Here are some of the photos of the paneling still in the original house before it was torn down. Notice the random board widths ranging from 4″ to 10″…

Above: Loaded up in the bed of my truck…

Above: Potlatch Lumber (Washington State) was founded in 1903 and is still in business, although I think the company has been sold a couple times. Might still be a good source for knotty pine.

These photos shows a nice view of the Pickwick profile milled into the tongue and groove boards:

Laying out the boards in my garage to “cherry pick” the nicest ones for my project:

Has a nice vintage “amber glow” to it that is just right. Not too dark or light. Great character in the “knots” too and lots of them! It’s also almost twice as thick as the 5/16″ thick panels commonly found in the big box stores now. I think it would be hard to duplicate this paneling using today’s materials. Plan is to use it “as-is, as found” without any sanding or re-finishing.

Can’t wait to install it and rub it down with it’s first coat of Liquid Gold polish. I love the smell of that stuff !

Hope you like the pictures.

Regards, 
Gerry C. from the Jersey Shore

I don’t like the pictures, Gerry — I love them! Thanks for sharing! And of course, we’d love to see photos of the paneling reinstalled when you are ready for prime time. Thanks so much for sharing!

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