Jamie Sandford was the Owner and Chief Editor of Home Flooring Pros. After 12 years’ experience in screen and stage set construction, followed by a further 15 years working in the home renovation and remodeling business, he now writes and curates online home improvement advice.
Editorial note: Homefront (defined in the Disclosure below) may earn a commission from affiliate partner links featured on our site. This commission does not influence our editors’ opinions or evaluations.
Oak flooring is the most popular and most widely available hardwood flooring in the USA, prized for its aesthetic versatility – full of character and easy to stain – as well as its strength and stability. Oak hardwood floors have remained a constant best seller for decades, so oak is a clear contender for any home remodeling project. Read on to find out if oak wood flooring is the best option for your home or if you should go with something more standard like the best laminate flooring that is available.
The average total cost ranges from $9 to $20 per square foot.
The average total cost for carpet ranges from $5.67 to over $21 per square foot, depending on the quality.
The average total cost for laminate flooring is between $3 to $13 per square foot.
The first thing to be clear about when you’re considering oak floors is that there are two main types: red oak flooring and white oak flooring. There are a few technical differences between them, which we will discuss in more detail here. But the main thing to consider first is that in their natural state they do have different colors and graining, which will affect how they take stain and how they will look in your home.
In essence, red oak flooring has a pinkish tone and a more patterned grain, whilst white oak flooring has a yellowish tone and a less busy aspect to its grain.
If you’re looking for a floor that has a great deal of character in the grain, then red oak is best for you. Because both types are very attractive in their raw state, oak flooring is often best presented with just a clear or very lightly tinted sealant.
However, both types of oak can be stained and, of course, much of the oak flooring on the market is already stained and pre-finished by the manufacturers.
Being such a popular hard wood flooring, you will find oak wood floors of both types available in a huge range of stained tones, from golden tans, through chic grays to deep chocolates.
There is also a further coloration process, used primarily with white European oak, called fuming. This process creates what is commonly known as fumed oak or smoked oak. The process involves exposing oak planks to varying amounts of ammonia gas. Tannins that are naturally present in wood react with the ammonia gas, causing the wood to take on a richer and deeper color.
Once fumed, the oak plank can then also be stained, so that you can get fumed oak in several different colors. The fuming process can be used for both solid and engineered oak planks. Note that the depth and tone of the color created by the fuming process depends on several factors including how much tannin is in the wood, and where the plank was placed in the fuming chamber.
The overall results mean that a floor made up with fumed oak planks will be very varied, or highly contrasted, in tone. This variation and the fuming process creates a very naturally aged look to the wood, which works very well with rustic styles. At the moment, rustic style flooring ideas are popular, and characterful oak is perfect for this, so you’ll see a lot of distressed, etched and weathered finishes and textures such as hand scraped, or wire brushed oak flooring for sale.
Some retailers also stock unfinished oak flooring. However, bear in mind that if you’re planning on doing an on-site custom stain, white oak will stain a bit more evenly than red oak; in either case, getting experienced pros to do the job is worth it to ensure best results.
Also note that some hardwood floor stain colors work better than others depending on the type of oak. Gray stains, for example, don’t look that great with the underlying pink tones of red oak, but do look good with the yellow tones of white oak. Whilst the more varied, patterned grain of red oak can be beautifully highlighted if you use a dark walnut stain. Because of oak’s lovely grain and ease of staining, it is a very versatile option that works with all kinds of décor. Oak flooring also has a timeless, classic feel to it, which makes it a great investment as it can be adapted over time to suit changing décor.
In terms of hardness, with a Janka rating of 1290 red oak is the industry standard, meaning that you’ll hear comparisons of hardwoods as being less hard or more hard than red oak. In actual fact, with a Janka rating of 1360, white oak is slightly harder, but there’s not that much in it, and both types of oak hardwood flooring are known for being durable and good options for busy households with lots of traffic.
Another bonus for busy households is that the inherent patterns of the grain in red oak make it a better choice as the patterns will hide scratch and dent marks more.
In terms of durability, it’s worth pointing out that only white oak is resistant to rot and therefore can also be used outside (for example as patio furniture). However, as far as oak flooring is concerned, both types are very durable, plus technological advances in engineered oak hardwood production means it can be installed in any part of your home, even in bathrooms or as a basement floor idea.
As with most hardwood flooring, oak flooring is available in several options:
All these oak floor options, even the laminate ones, are available in a range of stain colors and aesthetic finishes and different textures including smooth, antiqued, distressed, wire brushed and hand scraped.
There are a large number of lumber yards and small manufacturers that sell oak flooring direct or via local retail outlets, so it’s worth checking in your local area for those too. In the larger home improvement stores you are likely to come across some of these top brands:
Home Depot sells Home Legend, Mohawk, Bruce and Shaw solid hardwood and engineered hardwood, along with Pergo and TrafficMASTER laminate flooring.
Wayfair sells Bruce, Mohawk, Shaw, Armstrong and Somerset solid and engineered hardwood. They also stock a good selection of Mannington and other oak laminate flooring.
If, so far, it seems that oak flooring is too good to be true, well that’s not far from the truth; but just like any hardwood flooring there are cons as well as pros to installing oak floors.
Oak flooring is very durable and makes good sense for a long-term investment. But there are some provisos to get the best from this investment.
First, we recommend that you buy the best quality oak flooring you can afford and use professional, experienced installers to ensure a good-looking, long-lasting result.
Secondly, be ware of trends: some might be worth going for and some probably should be avoided. Lately there has been a trend for wide or random width planks, and those are actually quite classic choices, so worth going for.
However, we would think twice about going for on-trend gray stain on oak flooring – whilst it certainly looks rather lovely right now, we’re not convinced it’ll be so popular in 25 years’ time. Sticking to a natural or warm brown tone is more likely to pay off for the long-term.
Finally, be sure to research in-depth the different manufacturing options before deciding between solid oak and engineered oak hardwood.
Editorial note: The name “Homefront” refers to the alliance between USA TODAY and Home Solutions that publishes review, comparison, and informational articles designed to help USA TODAY readers make smarter purchasing and investment decisions about their home. Under the alliance, Homefront provides and publishes research and articles about home service and home improvement topics.
Homefront has an affiliate disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Homefront editorial staff alone (see About Homefront). Homefront adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is believed to be accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
Floor tile patterns It’s no secret that we love floor tiles and the variety of looks, colors, textures and styles that are available mean that tiles will often be a great solution for home flooring projects, especially in the bathroom or kitchen areas. The great thing about tiled flooring is that, because of their inherent…
If you’re looking for something unique, beautiful and durable for your home or office, cork flooring is worth considering. Along with its durability and popularity cork floors are very Eco-friendly, made from materials that are quickly renewed. In case you haven’t noticed, cork flooring has undergone a quiet revolution in recent years, shedding its dreary…
Are dark wood floors still in style? Dark wood floors will always be in style, regardless of whatever the latest flooring trend is. Although pale and light-colored hardwood, think Scandinavian style, is still very popular, designers still love and recommend dark hardwood floors as a classic option. Dark hues can create intimacy and warmth or…
The average cost to tile a bathroom floor is about $17 per square foot. Cheap tile installed starts at about $11 per square foot while premium tile costs can easily exceed $30 per square foot installed. Prices include the tile, materials and labor. How much is the labor cost to tile a bathroom floor? It’s the…