Oak flooring in a New England house is associated with a specific period and a specific room. Formal Colonial Revival, Federal Revival, and Arts and Crafts houses of the late 19th and early 20th centuries used wide plank oak in formal rooms where the hardness, the grain, and the warmth of oak were the specification. It is a harder, denser material than pine and it performs accordingly in rooms with significant foot traffic.
White oak has a warm, golden-brown tone with a distinctive grain — the medullary ray pattern is visible as a subtle figuring in quarter-sawn material, and the grain is open and pronounced in flat-sawn material. Red oak is slightly pinker in tone with a coarser grain. Both are significantly harder than pine. Wide plank oak — 5" to 12" widths — reads as a material rather than as a floor covering.
Wide plank white oak for traditional New England interiors: 5" to 10" width, 3/4" thickness, select or character grade (which includes limited knots and natural character), random lengths. Quarter-sawn white oak shows the ray figure most distinctly and is the correct specification for formal rooms where the grain character is part of the design. Flat-sawn white oak is more economical and appropriate for informal rooms.
White oak is significantly harder than pine — 1360 Janka versus 380 for eastern white pine. It is more resistant to denting under furniture and foot traffic. It moves less with seasonal humidity changes than pine. It accepts stain and oil finish well, and the open grain provides good mechanical adhesion for penetrating finishes.
Wide plank white oak is the correct flooring for the formal rooms of Colonial Revival and Arts and Crafts period houses in New England. In a Federal or Greek Revival house, wide plank pine is more historically correct. In a late 19th or early 20th century house, oak is the period-appropriate material. Match the flooring to the building's period.
Carlisle Wide Plank Floors (Stoddard, NH) is the leading New England source for wide plank white and red oak. Specify species (white oak preferred), width range, grade, and finish. Quarter-sawn requires a specific order — it is not a standard stock item.
Wide plank white oak, 6 to 10-inch width, select or character grade, for formal room flooring in Colonial Revival, Federal Revival, and Arts and Crafts period buildings in New England. Quarter-sawn for formal rooms where ray figure is part of the specification. Finish with hard wax oil or oil-based floor finish. No polyurethane on wide plank oak floors.
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