There is a reason everyone loves oak flooring
Oak is just one of those things in life that has almost universal acceptance and love. The reason is simple, it is just that good looking and makes everything around it look better. Whether new or reclaimed, red or white oak is the go to flooring for most of our customers. Let's take a look at some of the options.
We are going to start with this stunning floor. New white oak in a select grade. Select grade means minimal knot and a very clean, elegant look. This floor was finished with organic oil in a light tint and is without question the commanding presence in this room. This floor is also on the wider side revealing more of the grain patterns. Now let's leap back in time in a totally different direction but still in the oak family.
The most rustic flooring out there is our antique oak old original. This oak beauty is a mix of red and white oaks but you would have to be an expert in wood identification to pick out the reds from the whites. Years of exposure to light has made the difference between the two species almost nil but left us with a true rustic. Let's keep working our way through the oaks with a very unique job we hade several years ago.
Nice right? Here is another shot.
We called this material Cider press oak due to its origins at a cider processing plant not far from our headquarters here in south central pennsylvania. The planks ranged from an impressive 14" wide to a staggering 18" wide. The only place you can find planks of this scale would be in existing flooring. Trees are harvested well before they reach a level of maturity that would allow for these sizes. The streaking is from the nails oxidizing over time and now creates a strong visual throughout.
And now we arrive at the home run king, new white oak in a character grade. This floor was finished with a golden oak stain that brings out the warm tones even more. The home setting is very formal and so having a bit of rustic character is a comfortable contrast. The other major factor in choosing oak, especially white oak is how wonderfully it takes stains. Not all wood takes stain the same and some seem to actively resist taking on color such as hickory. That is not the case here.
Above we have white oak with an applied skip sawn texture and a wonderful, warm organic oil stain. Rubio Monocoat makes a great line of finishes and stains combined for a single coat application. The color used in the flooring image is called chocolate and it is amazing. Going with a skip sawn look is a great alternative when reclaimed is out of the budget.
I like to think of this reclaimed floor as the quiet cousin of the antique oak old original. This is remilled oak and is also a mix of red and white oak. It is much easier to identify the red from the white oak due to the lightness of the coloring. This floor is cut from the outer edges of the beams and boards and ends up naturally a much lighter color.
Ok let's get in touch and figure out what oak is going to be right for your project!
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