The oak tree grows all across the planet, with over 600 species throughout Europe, North America, Asia and beyond. These trees can grow for a millennium, with all oaks over 400 years of age being classed as ancient.
Given this vast and wild growth, there are many types of oak flooring that you can use in your project. These can have different origins, ages, thicknesses, grain patterns, growth rings and more. No two trees in the oak wood species are the same.
What is oak flooring?
There are many types of oak floor, but for Ted Todd and Woodworks, oak floors encompass both engineered hardwood and solid hardwood flooring.
These flooring options, created using European, French and English oak, appear throughout our collections.
Oak floor species such as this are timeless and will last a lifetime in the heart of your project. Classic planks can bring a level of poise to a room, whilst elegant parquetry can create a design statement for the ages.
This year we’ve seen a particular shift from dark brown tones into more white oak flooring, with Calico, Clifton and Ecru being amongst our most popular flooring options at the moment.
Why choose oak flooring?
A great reason to choose oak wood flooring is the sheer versatility in your options.
COLOUR
We are able to craft any oak floor species into a range of colours. From deep blacks and browns, to lighter whites and mellow tones, we have an extensive range to enhance the feeling of your space. Our Superfine portfolio is a prime example of this, containing 24 floors of differing hues in total.
DIMENSIONS
Oak wood floors all have different dimensions, with some being crafted into skinny herringbone blocks, whilst others are transformed into Superwide planks and everything in-between. So, whether you are looking to expand a small space or bring a larger one together, oak flooring offers dimensional viability.
TEXTURE
European Oak is unique in texture. Choose from smooth, clean woods to undulating, authentic-antique-feeling French Oaks, with wild grown English Oaks providing the most characterful textures of all. Be sure to order samples to fully understand the texture of your floor, and how it would incorporate into your space, as this feeling will be key to ensuring an authentic and natural touch is achieved.
DESIGN
Having decades of experience working with the material, we are able to craft oak floor species into all manner of formats. Intricate parquetry patterns such as Parquet de Versailles or basket weaves are available to create a masterfully memorable design, whilst end grain boards and extra wide planks can be used to effectively transform a space into something much more impressive.
Following these core specifications, European Oak also provides extensive options in terms of grade, grain pattern, growth rings, wear layer, construction and finish amongst other selections. All of which can be found here online.
This ultimate versatility means that there is an oak flooring appropriate for projects of all shapes, sizes and specifications, allowing you to drill down into the key details of your project more quickly and easily.
What are the different types of oak flooring?
There are five core types of oak flooring available from Ted Todd and Woodworks:
ENGLISH OAK
The first being English Oak, which is amongst the finest of all wood species available. Being wilder, slower and more naturally grown it features incredible grain patterns, rays and growth rings within each plank. Furthermore, the wood has immense density and a dark hue.
FRENCH OAK
Next, we have French Oak. This timber, which arrives exclusively from the region of Quercy in Southern France, is famous for its undulating texture, making French Oak floors amongst the most characterful and authentic feeling in our portfolio.
EUROPEAN OAK
The term European Oak then covers oaks from across the remainder of Europe. These can range from Eastern European forests, to central European reserves – due to the broad range of area this species cover oak floors using European Oak can be anything from smooth to undulating or rustic looking to clean and crisp.
RECLAIMED OAK
What separates the next two types of oak flooring isn’t location, but age and origin.
Reclaimed oak comes from all manner of sources; be it a pier, a Victorian textile mill, a government building, or a row of terraced houses. Regardless of where this reclaimed wood arrives from, we make sure it is kiln dried, de-nailed and correctly restored for its new purpose, before transforming it into a Woodworks floor, adding interest and intrigue to any and all surfaces.
ANTIQUE OAK
The final type of oak floor is antique oak. Similarly to reclaimed, these planks and blocks have been around for a century or beyond and have history brimming within every natural grain and manmade blemish. What really makes these oaks special though is their original patina, which we carefully polish by hand, allowing the centuries of creation to shine.
Oak flooring tones
Oak floors allow us to experiment with several different tones, ranging from incredibly natural looks, to ones more innovative and surprising.
By using both red oak and white oak trees, we are able to get a true range of natural medium looks. Our Classic Naturals collection is perfect for this, with each of the floors linking your project to the natural world and helping to bring a calming atmosphere indoors.
If you’re looking for more dark oaks, we have that too. Galion for example is an indulgently dark floor which pays homage to centuries old originals, and we even have black floors such as Ollerton or Assier. Dark oaks can help make a space feel especially intimate.
The most popular tonal choices at the moment though, are white and light wood floors. Granting a scandi-style, modern look, they provide a level of freshness and exuding clean living feelings. Plus, if your interior is expected to get a great deal of natural light shining through, the floor will shine too, reflecting light well to give a cooler and more relaxing feeling.
Oak flooring inspiration
ENGLISH OAK
FRENCH OAK
EUROPEAN OAK
RECLAIMED OAK
ANTIQUE OAK
Summary
There are a various types of oak flooring, with a lot of considerations to bear in mind when selecting the perfect oak floor for your project. Dimension, colour, design, texture, age, origin and more spring to mind, but regardless of your specifications, Ted Todd and Woodworks will have a flooring solution to suit your needs.
Be sure to visit your nearest showroom, either in London or Cheshire, to experience these woods close up. Finally, if you are looking to use these oak floors in a commercial project, contact our expert team here.