White oak flooring is affordable and has longevity. This, combined with its timeless elegance will translate to comfort and high resale values for your home.
Whenever genuine, honest-to-God solid hardwood flooring is mentioned, the most common species that often comes to mind is oak. This gigantic, noble hardwood has been in use for centuries. It was used as flooring by nobles but was quite at home too in the more rustic rural farmhouses of old.
If you are planning to get your floors some good old hardwood flooring and have settled on oak, you need to decide on either red or white oak flooring, more information here.
Characteristics of white oak flooring
White oak has a faint, smooth and clean grain pattern while that of the red oak is more pronounced. And while red oak has a pinkish undertone to it, white oak is surprisingly darker, with nutty yellow and brown undertones to it.
White oak flooring is dense, it’s looks smooth and is accentuated by burls, swirls, crotches and long rays. It has a contemporary modern look to it, due to its smooth grain and uniform flow.
What are its characteristics?
- White oak is inherently resistant to water damage and has been in use for centuries for boat building and for door jambs. Its closed grain and plugged pores make it less susceptible to decay, perfect for those kitchen floors or powder rooms; areas more exposed to moisture.
Make no mistake about it though, as resilient as white oak is to water damage it requires a strong finish. Wipe off those spills fast to keep it rot free.
- The wood flooring industry standard for hardness is the Janka Hardness Rating. White oak scores a clean 1360 as opposed to its red oak cousin’s 1290. Both kinds of wood are sufficiently hard, but white oak flooring is a bit more resilient to dents.
- Due to its hardness, fine graining combined with its golden brown warm tones, white oak accepts staining with a lot of grace. It displays neutral tones better because it has no reddish tinge to it and its grain is subtle perfect for neutral stains.
- The darker tones of white oak have given it an edge in the interior design industry. And as reddish tones become dated, whitewash stains, greys and blacks have become the in-thing. Since white oak starts out as a dark, once stained it will get even darker! The wide ranges of shades you can get with it are endless.
Useful tips
- Chestnut and Ash hardwood flooring closely mimic the light brown hues and wavy grains of white oak wood. To the undiscerning eye, it is easy to mistake one for the other. Their premium grades cost 15-25% less than white oak, so you have to pay careful attention to features when purchasing it.
- Most lovers of white oak flooring love to stain it in neutral shades, which look great, but when exposed to sunlight for long periods of time they will turn lighter, fast.
White oak’s silver bullet is its high tannin levels that make it resistant to fungal and insect attacks. Looking for a high return investment for your floors? Look no further.