7 Features Why Oak Hardwood Flooring Is So Popular In Antigua And Barbuda

Northern Red Oak makes up a lot of the Oak used for hardwood, but there is also Southern Red Oak and White Oak. The Northern Red Oak is very plentiful in the United States. This Oak Hardwood is native to North America and you can find it anywhere from Southern Appalachia to Central Canada. It’s been known to grow up to 150 ft. in height and 6 ft in diameter. A White Oak tree can grow more than 80 ft and also 6 ft in diameter. Also called Spanish Oak, Southern Red Oak often grows in the early founded Spanish colonies.

If you’re considering adding or redoing new hardwood floors to your house in Antigua and Barbuda, Oak provides some advantages over other types of wood. 

1. Oak Hardwood: Color

Oak comes in various colors that range from brown and red to light beige. You’ll often find different colors throughout the same tree. The inner heartwood is often darker than outer sapwoods, but this isn’t always the case. In many cases, the sapwood and the heartwood are the same color and over time, the Oak often becomes darker. It often takes on a more amber hue when it’s exposed to oxygen and UV light.

2. Oak Hardwood: Stains Easily

One of Oak’s advantages to other types of hardwood is its ability of being easily stained. And, because of this, any room can be brightened by its light color and can even become dark like Walnut. Oak’s ability of being stained easily allows you to select from various color options. Many popular wood types don’t stain as easily and you end up having to deal with the color of wood.

3. Oak Hardwood: Character

Oak has a certain board length and character, particularly European Oak. It’s character is it’s streaks, knots and other features unique to the tree the natural flooring came from.

4. Oak Hardwood: Abnormalities

Since Oak has a strong, natural grain pattern, it can mask abnormalities like dents, nicks, scratches and other small floor mishaps much better than other floor options.

5. Oak Hardwood: Versatility

Oak has an extremely traditional, timeless appearance. Thus, it tends to work great with many different styles of décor from classic to modern. It’s hard to find a décor pattern or combination that doesn’t go great with Oak.

6. Oak Hardwood: Stability

When it comes to floors, stability is how the wood responds to levels of moisture either by expanding or shrinking. Oak is a more stable option than other domestic woods and doesn’t expand or shrink quite like maple or hickory wood flooring does.

7. Oak Hardwood: Maintenance

Oak’s maintenance requirements are greatly based on the way it’s finished. If you seal it properly, it’s able to withstand moisture a lot better than other wood species. But, it’s not recommended you allow water to sit on it for very long. If your Oak floor is engineered wood, it will then be able to withstand moisture exposure much better than planks of solid wood.

Overall, it’s your choice which type of wood you want to go with for your flooring project in Antigua and Barbuda. But, if you’re looking for stability, character, color and more, Oak flooring is the way to go and you can find it at Brazilian Lumber.