Fir & Pine Bleachers: A Remnant of High School Basketball Games

With three seconds left in the fourth quarter the Pirates need a three-pointer to win and move on to the State Championship. A sudden hush falls over the crowd, the cheerleaders take a knee, Greg and Susie grip sweaty first-date hands, Coach waves and points vigorously to his young players, and the ball, watched by every eye in the gym, is inbounded...

Most of us have shared memories of filing into our gymnasiums for school rallies, basketball games and dreaded gym class. Nowadays most bleachers are made of aluminum or concrete, but perhaps you remember sneaking a piece of elastic chewing gum underneath wooden bleachers when the teacher wasn’t looking. At the time, you probably wouldn’t have been impressed that these bleachers were high quality wide plank, long length clear pine and fir that make incredible flooring and paneling. But now, you might!

Our Grandstand Fir & Pine is sourced from high school and college gymnasiums across the United States. Milled from clear, long length wooden bleachers of southern yellow pine or Douglas fir, our reclaimed paneling and flooring comes in mixed or vertical grain, solid or joined lengths.

A study by the U.S. Forest Service (from 1958!) explains how vertical grain wood was preferred for stadium seating due to the fact that it “shrinks and swells less with moisture changes” and is less prone to cupping, warping and checking. With planks that are up to 12 inches wide and over 12 feet long, it is structurally beneficial if the wood is Select Grade and vertical grain. This is also wonderful, as it makes for some spectacular paneling and flooring!

Transforming reclaimed bleachers into wall paneling and flooring

It’s a laborious process, but we love seeing the transformation of the wood, studded with years of gum, etchings saying “Margo loves Brad” and bolt holes a’plenty, into resurfaced and profiled tongue and groove wall paneling and solid flooring.

First, we must remove all of the gum, a colorful rainbow of fossilized resin peppering the underside of these boards for who knows how long. It’s is an impressive site. After we de-gum the boards, we work on the bolt holes. We drill out the holes so they are all uniform and then drill plugs from one of the boards to fill each hole. After plugging the holes it’s time for milling and profiling.

The boards are milled, surfaced and molded to have a tongue and groove profile. Some of the wood is milled into our ThinClad paneling, which is 3/8” thick solid interior tongue and groove cladding which comes standard with a micro-bevel. Grandstand Fir and Pine is also available as hardwood flooring and for some exterior applications as well. We use a low VOC poly finish or natural oil to finish our pine and fir, and we also offer customized finishes as well.

As more and more gym bleachers are updated to concrete and metal versions, the high-quality wooden bleachers are starting to become a rare find. The prized pine and fir from these bleachers makes for a timeless and functional addition to interior and exterior spaces. Contact us for more information or fill out our sample form to get design samples sent your way!