What’s Great About Live Sawn White Oak Floors (And Wood Flooring In General)
By Mary Hull
Our best-selling wood floor, live sawn White Oak celebrates the character and personality of the trees used to make it. “Live sawing” is a method of sawing that slices all the way through the log without turning it, resulting in boards with a lively variety of grain types. Sometimes the live sawn cut of White Oak flooring is referred to as “European cut” or “French” Oak, because this method is an old-world style of sawing that maximizes the use of the log. We use all of the boards from a given log, showing you exactly how the tree was formed by nature. No repeating patterns here! Just unique, one-of-a-kind individual character and grain on each plank of hardwood flooring. Live sawn Oak is strong and durable and its character markings and grain variations work to camouflage any wear that may develop over time, making it especially popular with pet owners.
matte finish lends a vintage feel to this Vermont farmhouse.
The live sawn cut of wood flooring is very stable–even at wider plank widths–because it includes both radial grain (grain that runs perpendicular to the growth rings) and tangential grain (grain that runs parallel to the growth rings). Live sawn wood floors are also an excellent value compared to clearer grades of White Oak flooring.
Since open knots and character are allowed in live sawn White Oak plank flooring, these get filled on the jobsite (or during prefinish) with wood putty. We recommend darker putty because it matches the color of the knots and showcases the beautiful character of the floor planks, much as a black picture frame is the perfect complement to a work of art.
Live sawn character White Oak is our best-selling floor because it works with many different interior design schemes, from vintage farmhouse all the way to modern. The lively grain injects an organic warmth into any interior, which also makes it the perfect foil for the sleeker materials often found in kitchens, such as stainless steel, aluminum, stone, and glass. If you are worried your white kitchen will read too “cold,” then this is a floor that will counteract that.
that complements the minimalist aesthetic in this modern kitchen.
The natural color of White Oak is beautiful, but for those seeking a specific tone, Oak takes stain beautifully, so a wide variety of finish tones can be achieved, from light to dark.
Available in a variety of widths and price points, our live sawn floor planks come in very long plank lengths, which help create a clean visual line and enhance the sense of flow in your home.
to a brand new net-zero lakeside home in Connecticut.
In case you are looking for other reasons to choose a wood floor, you should know that wood is the original biomaterial. Wood floors are made from trees–a renewable resource created with solar energy–as a result, wood floors contain less embodied energy than any other floor covering. They also store carbon throughout their exceptionally long service life. When wood flooring from well-managed forests is chosen instead of fossil-intensive floor coverings like LVT, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.
A solid ¾” wood floor can be refinished many times throughout its 100+ year service life, returning it to like-new condition. This is one reason why the return on investment for solid wood flooring is 118%, according to the National Association of Realtors. Wood flooring adds long-term value to your home.
and finished with Bona Intenseal extra matte, creates character in a new home.
Our wood floors are made with wood from private working forests in the United States that are providing ecological services and natural climate solutions–your purchase helps keep forests as forests so they can continue to provide clean air and water, wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and a renewable source of biomaterials. This is the bioeconomy in action- when you choose real wood floors, YOU are part of the climate solution.
Our family-run sawmill and forest management service is located in New England, where Northern White Oaks have a tendency for epicormic branching, which leaves a legacy of knots in the grain of the wood. We created our live sawn White Oak natural character grade wood flooring to make use of this abundant resource and highlight these gorgeous character marks.
For more info visit us at www.hullforest.com
