White Oak Flooring - Information & Advice – Gaylord Flooring

White Oak Flooring - Information & Advice

Wide Plank White Oak Flooring 


White Oak Wood FlooringLive sawn is a method of sawing lumber we have borrowed from European craftsman of past centuries. Plain sawn is the modern way of sawing lumber, in which the log is turned until the sawyer is able to cut off the clearest board. In live sawn, the logs are sliced directly through without turning the log. Live sawn is the most efficient method of sawing lumber because it uses the entire log. Since we are not trying to avoid the knots when sawing the lumber, an extremely rustic look is achieved. Unlike the typical grain you see in traditional plain sawn oak, the live sawn provides a very unique grain that incorporates all aspects of the log. The grain ranges from the quarter sawn on the outside to plain sawn in the center.

The large amount of quarter sawn grain displays very unique features in the wood like the medullary rays which are further accentuated by a distressed finish. The quarter sawn grain also makes the boards extremely stable with changes in humidity. To learn more about quarter sawn and other cuts of wood watch our YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHw9ps13ii 4

A 7” live sawn board will shrink and expand as much as a 4” plain sawn board. This gives us the ability to make it into planks up to 11.5” wide without much worry of cupping. The wide plank boards do require a special installation method that uses nails which are supplemented by adhesives.

For more information on wide plank flooring installation check out our YouTube video: Click Here

Check out our YouTube Video on Live Sawn Oak: Click Here

A Rustic Wide Plank Floor 

Rustic White Oak Flooring The rustic look combined with the incredible stability makes live sawn oak the perfect option for a cottage or rustic home. Live sawn oak has taken over from pine as the best and most popular option for a cottage because of its durability. It can take the abuse of a busy family. Dents and scratches only add to the character of the floor. We don’t strictly install live sawn oak in rustic homes. We have done plenty of modern homes with it. It seems, even in modern homes, clients enjoy having some rustic elements. If the plan it to have a rustic element in your home, it might as well be the hardwood floor. The traditional modern floor is very uniform and smooth making it very high maintenance. This is especially the case with a dark shiny floor. We offer some very interesting stain colours in our live sawn oak that work very well in a modern environment. Some of our twopass and distressed finishes can provide a very modern look, while being extremely low maintenance.

White Oak Flooring Pros & Cons

White Oak is desirable, as it can have beautiful grain patterns. It's also slightly harder on the Janka scale than Red Oak. When shopping for White Oak Flooring, I'd recommend understanding the cut of wood you are buying. Quarter Sawn and Live Sawn will be the most stable options in the white oak.

White Oak Flooring Durability

Janka Hardness: 1360 White Oak Flooring