Red Oak vs White Oak Hardwood Flooring
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When most of us think of wood flooring we think of Oak. Because Oak is known for it's durability and long life it has been the traditional floor covering used for centuries throughout the world, seen in such elegant homes as elegant European Castles to Rural Farmhouses. Because of its longevity lasting well over 100 years it was in high demand and common to see it used in most all homes being built since the turn of the century.
The Wood Flooring industry uses
a particular test where they take a wood species and press a steel ball bearing into the surface until half the steel ball is below the surface of the wood. The force it takes to do this is then measured in pounds to calculate the Hardness Rating of that specific wood species. This test is called the
Janka Hardness Scale. Because of it's long lived popularity Oak flooring is typically used as a
comparison point when rating other wood species in terms of hardness.
Big and Majestic
Oak Hardwood Flooring provide us with interesting natural graining, natural color and natural character.
Oak Hardwood is a renewable, environmentally
"Green" resource which is readily available in the United States.
There are many different species of Oaks available for hardwood flooring. The two that consumers are most familiar with are Red Oak and White Oak.
Red Oak flooring is the more traditional choice of the two Oaks. Red Oak is popular for its light golden to reddish pink tones and its more unique, "wilder" graining patterns. Red Oak has a Janka hardness rating of approx 1290.
White Oak flooring has been noted as being harder than Red Oak with a Janka hardness rating of approx 1360, White Oak flooring has less pronounced finer graining and a more warmer golden brown tones.
White Oak flooring is also more stable and because of it being harder it accepts stain colors more evenly than Red Oak flooring does. Because of its more stable properties White Oak has been known to have been used for hundreds of years in the building of boats, truck beds, wooden wagon wheels and wine barrels.
Red Oak and White Oak flooring have been used in a variety of board widths and thicknesses over the years --- from 17th century 12 to 20 inch wide planks to the more commonly used
2-1/4 inch strip Oak flooring we see today. The current consumer trend is using
3-1/4 inch wide boards. This allows for a more unique appearance than the traditional narrow 2-1/4 wide floor board but wouldn't go so far as giving the home an older country feel of wider
4-8 inch wide floor boards. Using 4-8 inch or wider boards gives the home a unique dramatic country or rustic feel.
Hosking Hardwood Flooring has many styles and sizes of both Red Oak and White Oak flooring available in either solid or engineered designs. You can click on the links below to check out our
low prices on the
very best Red and White Oak flooring selections!
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