Matching new Baltic Pine to old

[encino_]

Hi, I have 100yr old or so Baltic Pine flooring in my house, and have put an extension on. I don't really want to rip up the old stuff to replace, and I assume most of it will sand up well.
As for the new section, I plan to stagger in floorboards so it blends in as much as possible.
My question is though, for Baltic Pine, is the excruciatingly high price of buying recycled stuff worth it? Or can I just stagger in new, and then maybe stain the whole lot to blend it in? I plan on hiring someone to sand and polish, so I don't want whoever does it blaming me for a poor finish if I've done the wrong thing at the start.
A mate of mine that works at a timber yard advised me I should just buy new, and it will probably blend in fine once it's sanded. He also said I should get "red" because it's stronger, rather than "white". I'm not sure what colour the old stuff would be, but I assume it would be fairly light... didn't even realise it came it a couple of different types!

Any advice?
Cheers

[BigCal]

You could look around a couple of different demolition yards to see what they charge for recycled... i just got some recycled cypress the first place I called was over $6 per lm, but I ended up finding if for $1.20... it'd be worth a few phone calls at least...

[Dusty]

Go with the recycled stuff.

Take a sanded off-cut of your existing floor to the second hand yard so you can best match the colour.

If you do decide to go with new Baltic (which has a hardness rating of, say, baby poo) with the idea of staining the lot, in an attempt to hide the difference in colour, you will need to go with a real dark stain - like a chocolate brown - which will do the trick. But, the downside here, is that the cost to have someone who is capable of doing that sort of stain work, far outweighs the cost of purchasing the second hand Baltic in the first place.

Talk to the sanders (a few of them) who do the finishing work, as they will give you a more accurate description of what to expect. Particularly, if they have done a bit of this sort of work in the past.

Baltic Pine comes in what is called "Deals". We have white, which is that honey colour we see in old Baltic after a 100 years of oxidization. We have red, which shows up as a magnificent red through to honey colour in almost a sunburst pattern. Quite spectacular. And, as your mate said, a bit harder.

The thing is with these boards, is that it takes up to sixty years for the true colours to start to come out as they darken in the presence of sunlight. I'm not sure if you've got that sort of time to spare.

So, I suggest second hand.