What Will White Oak Look Like in My Home?

At Vermont Plank Flooring, we mill our white oak wide plank flooring for a variety of customer preferences. You can choose from three different styles of white oak boards, plain/flat sawn (on which we’ll focus here), and rift sawn and quarter sawn.

White Oak Hardwood Flooring - Vermont Wide Plank Flooring

All Wood Types / White Oak

White Oak Wide Plank Flooring

White oak, along with its sibling red oak, are the most popular species for hardwood flooring in North America. White oak’s reputation, though, begins in forests and fields throughout the eastern third of the United States where the tree is highly esteemed for its beauty and stately eminence.

Officially deemed America’s national tree, as well as the state tree of Maryland, Illinois, and Connecticut, the white oak wears its honor well. It grows straight and tall within the forest canopy, and when out in the open, it spreads its limbs broadly, sometimes producing a crown that is wider than the tree is tall.

Request a quote

white oak plank flooring - vermont plank

Order custom-milled White Oak Flooring in one of three ways:

Unfinished

Unfinished planks require light sanding after installation to knock sharp edges and prepare the floor for the onsite finish application. From $12 - $28/SF

Finish Ready

Avoid sanding onsite by ordering unfinished planks Finish Ready: knots filled, pre-sanded, with optional micro-bevel. Unfinished price + $2/SF

Prefinished

Prefinished planks are milled with a slight bevel, and are sanded, sealed, and top coated with the prefinish on your signed control sample. Starting at unfinished price + $5.50/SF

Finish Grade Style of cut Widths Solid / Engineered

Finish

We love this one. Waterbury’s subtle white accent tones in the grain offset its light, seemingly untreated base colors.

One of our most popular finishes, its soft, silver, gray, and brown accents create a slightly weathered look. Perfect for everything from a grand great room to a private reading nook.

A finish with lush, cool white undertones, this low-sheen treatment imbues the oak with a modern, airy feel.

Pictured on Select Grade White Oak, Stowe is an elegant, low-sheen finish with warm white undertones that presents as clean and uncluttered.

This lovely finish features a water-based reactive sealer that gently warms the White Oak with a rich golden tone and low sheen. Pictured on Character Grade White Oak.

We think this deep golden finish with brown tones looks especially great on Live Sawn or Rift & Quarter Sawn planks, but it’s so versatile it looks great with everything. Pictured on Live Sawn White Oak.

Ludlow floors are heat-treated, meaning our technicians lightly scorch the surface with a torch in order to give the wood burnt undertones; every piece is understandably unique, and a testament to our commitment to handmade craftsmanship. Pictured on Character Grade White Oak.

Lighter than some of our other historic finishes, Mansfield Summit’s subtle grays and browns look weathered but elegant; this finish was used in many modernist buildings in the mid-20th century.

A finish you’re likely to find in some of Vermont’s most historic homes, Cavendish has a timeless butterscotch-brown color spectrum.

The rich brown base-finish of Sugar Season draws out soft-grain accents in a finish beloved by contemporary and traditional homeowners alike. Pictured on Character Grade White Oak.

The cool, silvery finish of East Putney Falls has gray-brown tones that don’t overwhelm the grain—perfect for providing a lived-in aesthetic.

Designed to evince the patina of years of use, Dairy Barn contains undertones of white which contrast with its rich brown patina. One of our favorite low-sheen finishes.

Grade

White Oak Select & Character Grades

Vermont Plank’s White Oak flooring is offered in Select and Character Grades, both of which are crafted from the same high-quality timber.

Select Grade features a uniform, clear appearance with fewer knots and less color variation.

Character Grade offers a more rustic look, with knots, mineral streaks, and other natural characteristics.

Click here to learn more about our grading system and treatment of knots.

Style of cut

plain sawn white oak - vermont plank

Plain Sawn

rift quarter sawn white oak vermont plank

Rift & Quarter Sawn

rift sawn white oak vermont plank

Rift Sawn

We mill our White Oak hardwood flooring in three styles of cut: Plain Sawn, Rift & Quarter Sawn, and Rift Sawn.

Plain Sawn White Oak produces a classic cathedral grain pattern, while the grain in Rift & Quarter Sawn runs vertically along the plank.

The wider the plank width, the wider the variety in grain patterns and different types of character. In Character Grade Plain Sawn planks 10 inches and wider, expect to see occasional vertical grain orientation along the edges of the planks — a stunning aesthetic generally associated with “Live Sawn” timber.

Learn more about Rift & Quarter Sawn White Oak flooring on our dedicated page here.

Widths

Solid / Engineered

vermont plank solid flooring illustration

Solid Plank Structure

vermont plank engineered illustration

Engineered Plank Structure

Vermont Plank’s White Oak flooring is offered in both a solid and engineered plank structure.

If your flooring will be laid on concrete, below grade, or in a location where more than occasional moisture is likely, Engineered White Oak may be the most suitable for your project.

Learn more about engineered plank flooring here.

A note about our prefinishes

Vermont Plank's hand-applied natural prefinishes dynamically seal your planks and topcoat for mar and scratch resistance, and to adjust sheen. As a natural product, your flooring will have unique tonal variations across the floor regardless of the finish you select. Finishes can either harmonize and mellow or highlight and draw attention to these natural variations.

1. Is White Oak the Right Choice for Your Home?

When harvested, white oak becomes a beautiful, durable, and stable flooring material. At Vermont Plank Flooring, we harvest white oak trees from sustainably managed woodlots and mill them into wide-board planks specifically for your project. The result is a floor of unparalleled quality and splendor.

As you consider White Oak among your available flooring options, you might consider the following questions.

2. What Size Planks Can You Provide?

Akin to a giant tortoise, white oak is a slow-growing and long-lived species—specimens have been documented at over 400 years old. It even takes its sweet time reproducing. Acorns are not produced in large quantities until the tree reaches at least 50. And those same acorns can spend an equal number of years resting dormant beneath fallen leaves on the forest floor, waiting patiently for sunlight to hit them. Unless a squirrel gets there first.

We’re equally patient at Vermont Plank Flooring where we persistently seek out only the healthiest fully mature white oaks. The result is boards up to fifteen inches in width, and up to fourteen feet long. You’d be hard-pressed to find similar dimensions elsewhere. Wide planks provide a spaciousness that will transform a room. And because white oak is highly stable dimensionally, the seams between those wide boards remain tight.

3. How Durable Is White Oak?

White oak is one of the more durable domestic hardwoods available. On the Janka scale, which measures the relative hardness of woods, white oak is rated behind only hickory and maple. But durability is more than just hardness. White oak accepts finishes and stains quite well, which further protect it. And its tight, patterned grain hides wear and tear without appearing worn, making it ideal for high-traffic areas.

4. What Will It Look Like in My Home?

5. Where in My Home Is White Oak Best Suited?

White oak’s durability makes it ideally suited for high-traffic areas, including living rooms, family rooms, stairways, and hallways. Its rot resistance also makes it a great candidate for rooms that might attract occasional water or moisture, such as spills in a kitchen, or wet boots in the mud room (also known as foyers outside of Vermont). For bathrooms, basements, and areas with more severe moisture potential, we recommend our moisture-resistant engineered flooring.

6. Tell Me More About Engineered White Oak

Explore White Oak Flooring Projects from our Gallery

Would you like a wide plank White Oak floor in your home?

Call +1.877.645.4317 to speak with one of our flooring specialists.

Or, simply request a sample or quote.

Request a quote

White Oak

Unfinished

Finish Ready

Prefinished

A note about our prefinishes

Custom Wide Plank Flooring

© 2023 Vermont Plank Flooring