Cider press oak in super wide widths
Super wide oak is just not something you can find easily or at all these days. Trees are not allowed to mature to big dimensions and no one, despite what some in our industry may tell you, is allowed to harvest old growth trees. The only place you can find planks at 14" or 18" is in an old factory. Oak is the logical choice for a factory floor as it is super hard and can resist the daily beating of a busy industrial setting. We have dubbed this material " Cider press oak" as it came from a local grower specializing in apples. The Knouse Food Company is still very much in business but as with many industrial spaces needed to modernize its flooring. This oak was pulled from a cold storage facility not far from our home base here in South Central Pennsylvania and is just stunning.
The first thing you notice after the plank widths are the streaks in the wood. The streaking is oxidation caused by the nails used to secure the flooring in place. For this material you have to be in love with this streaking because it is everywhere on this wood.
The finish on this floor is a really astounding new product called Loba Invisible Protect that adds zero color or sheen to the flooring. Clearly the home owner wanted nothing more than the natural color of the wood. Oil finishes darken oak or any specie of wood transforming the color usually to a deeper, warmer overall tone.
The Eames chair is a beautiful and sophisticated counter point to the rustic floor. I always tell people that the rustic element of reclaimed wood works perfectly with modern interiors. The flooring demands a strong aesthetic around it to balance out a room and this picture could not show it better.
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Not an area rug to be found! Why would you cover up this gorgeous flooring anyway. The above photo shows how tricky it can be to photograph flooring. The wood looks like it has an oil finish and is darkened when in fact it does not. The planks above look to be the wide ones in the lot at 18".
Color looks right on this one. This flooring was installed by a gentleman we know very well and happily refer to him not so much as a wood flooring installer but more of an artist who installs wood floors. If you are in the DC metro area and looking for someone get in touch.
Ancient white oak. We can only hazard a guess at how old the trees were.
The home owner did all three floors of his home with this material including the stairs. What a view.
The naked looking finish honestly makes me nervous but Loba is a great company so I am sure it works as advertised. Brave home owner.
This material sat in a our warehouse for a long time before the right buyer came along. Pricing on the cider press oak was steep which was a big part of it but you also needed to be ready to come to grips with the installation of super wide materials. Planks at 18" are very unstable and require a true seasoned professional to install.
This photo nails the color! White oak is literally this white when no oil or stain treatments are added to it. If you are really searching for that super unqiue floor the best advice I can give you is to keep checking our site for unique materials or you can email us and let us know to ping you when a real once in a lifetime flooring becomes available.
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