There are many types of flooring available for the home today. Everything from natural stone to engineered wood flooring can be purchased from retail or wholesale outlets. But if you’re looking for a great looking and long lasting addition to your home that is a bit different to the norm, consider white oak flooring. Not only does it look great, but with the proper care it will last the lifetime of your home and provide great value.
White oak has been used for multiple purposes across the centuries. For instance, the USS Constitution is made of white oak planks, and replacement boards for that legendary ship are still milled from oak trees today. Also, white oak has been used in fine furniture for many years. Popular in particular with mission and arts and crafts type furniture, white oak gives a great look that cannot be duplicated with other woods.
When it comes to flooring, white oak can come in a variety of styles. First in the list of options is either plain sawn or quarter sawn lumber for the flooring planks. Those two options are basically referring to the way in which the original log of oak was cut into planks for further refinement into flooring. Quarter sawn flooring is generally going to be more expensive to buy than plain sawn flooring due to the fact that the sawmill will get less planks out of the same log if they quarter saw it versus the plain sawn method. Quarter sawn lumber technically is a bit more stable – that is, it will have a lower chance of warping – but plain sawn flooring is definitely stable enough for flooring in houses.
Quarter sawn flooring in general will have quite a different look to it as well. Once again, due to the sawing process, the medullary ray in the grain pattern is exposed in such a way as to look like flecks of a somewhat shinier material than the rest of the grain. This is the very quality that makes this type of cut so desired in fine furniture.
Next, there are a variety of plank flooring sizes and styles to choose from. White oak plank flooring can come in several different widths, ranging from the small end at roughly two inches wide to some versions being as wide as five inches. Obviously this choice can dramatically change the look of the overall flooring, and therefore the house as well.
As far as the styles go, the most popular is the smooth milled surface seen in traditional homes. Other variations such as hand scraping can be obtained as well. The hand scraped version of a flooring would have somewhat of a less refined look in that there would be more surface variations as compared to the smooth milled versions.
Finally, there are multiple colors and stains available in white oak floors. Combine the color options with the other options mentioned above, and there are literally dozens of variations that will satisfy any stylistic desires from the homeowner. Add in the fact that a properly maintained oak floor will last for generations, and it is easy to see why it has been used as a quality flooring product for so long.
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