White oak is an amazing material and yields beautiful results. It has been appreciated for its beauty, strength, and timelessness. In Canada, white oak has been used in furniture for centuries, but it has not been used for flooring for very long. As we continue to see, it’s a great material to install for flooring.
In more ways than one, White oak is very similar to red oak. If mild red tones are not what you are looking for, consider white oak. It is durable, strong and has a range of golden tones. Also, white oak has a less pronounced grain pattern when compared to red oak.
White oak can be stained many colours to fit a desired look. In particular, it takes well to brown tones, white washing, grey washing, white/grey washing, ebony, jacobean and other stains. White oak is a beautiful option in lower grades that are not perfectly clear. For example, knots of varying sizes add beauty and dimension to the wood. Medium sized knots add an organic feel to white oak, and pin knots add dimension. Depending on what appearance a client may want to obtain, it is the only option as it has a look that is unmatched in its timelessness, as well as its ability to do very well with mild and deep stains.
White oak flooring is tough! It ranks very high on the Janka scale making it one of the hardest domestic woods to use for flooring. This means it has high dent resistance. It’s a great option for dogs, children, active lifestyles, and for those who don’t want to needlessly worry about their floors. It’s suitable just about anywhere and can be installed in your place of business, home or condo.
White oak flooring does well with texture. We can mill it to have a flat top. We can also mill it to have sawn marks in the top. This gives a more rustic appearance. With a more rustic appearance, it becomes even more forgiving. Dents, scratches, scraps, wear and tear, and abuse are no match for white oak that has textured saw marks. There are even options with regards to the appearance of a textured top floor. The saw marks can be sanded so that they aren’t rough, yet they are still visible. Another option is to fill the saw marks. What this does is give the illusion of a textured floor but in reality, it’s nearly flat as the filler has filled in the saw marks. The filler can be stained to blend into the wood, or it can be tinted to give a contrasting appearance.
Would you like texture but you don’t want the saw marks? There are options! Initially, we install the flooring with a flat top. After installation and during the finishing phase, we can add more subtle texture. With this process, texture is added and makes the white oak flooring more forgiving to live with, and adds to the unique beauty.
