Is Oak Still Good Quality Wood

The building trade full of flash new things these days, and we're asked at least twice weekly whether oak is still good quality wood. You'd imagine centuries of tried and tested performance would see it stand up, but here we are. Fact is, while everyone's dashing around trying to get hold of the latest composite this or engineered that, oak's been quietly doing what it does best—last.

Why Oak's Always Been Solid

This is where it gets interesting. Oak's that are full of tannins—natural chemicals that basically act like the wood's own preservation system. We're talking 8-15% extractable chemicals, which doesn't sound like a lot, but it's what keeps beetles and fungi from being able to take over.

Had a structural inspection done on a farmhouse one year ago where the original oak sills were still in pristine shape after 200+ years of being in contact with the ground. No chemicals, no treatment—just oak doing its magic. The surveyor couldn't believe it, but we were not surprised. That's what high tannin content does for you.

Those tyloses (heartwood vessel stoppages) are little plugs that keep water from thundering through the grain. It's Mother Nature's own humidity control system, after all, which accounts for oak weathering so nicely outside.

Performance That Stacks Up

When architects specify oak flooring, they're interested in more than just looks. Independent acoustic testing verifies 20mm solid oak reduces impact noise by 18-22 dB. That's solid sound damping—your downstairs neighbours will thank you.

Thermal material's not so bad either. Oak rises about 4.9 millionths per degree celsius in the direction of the grain. Not that much sounding as it isn't—which is exactly why it works so well over underfloor heating. Hundreds of fits over radiant systems, hardly any movement each time.

The thermal conductivity is approximately 0.17 W/m·K. Perfect middle ground—insulates when you want it to, conducts heat when you do.

Tropical woods like iroko might possess a minor advantage on sheer longevity, but then you're having to include shipping prices and carbon footprints that give your head a whiplash. European oak arrives perhaps 500 miles from where we source it versus 5,000+ with the exotic one.

Engineered products guarantee more stability, and yes, they will shift less at first. But this is the catch—when they wear out, they're done. Oak boards and floors can be sanded 5-8 times over their lifetime. Engineered? Maybe twice if you are lucky.

Modern Standards, Traditional Quality

Our kilning timetables are to EN 14298 to the letter, drying to 8-12% moisture content throughout the timber. Not because we have to—because repeatable dry is repeatable performance.

Four-way planing puts us half a millimetre within tolerance on size. That makes a difference when you're gluing together thousands of square metres of floor coverings or complex structural joints.

TRADA grading certification means that our structural oak passes D30 and D40 grades with ease. Professional engineers trust to be able to rely on such grades for load-carrying purposes. Green Credentials That Actually Mean Something

FSC and PEFC accreditation is more than paperwork—it's guaranteeing forests will be around in 50 years. European oak when properly managed takes up more carbon as it grows older. Mature oak trees store 10-15 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.

Managed oak woodlands contain a greater variety of wildlife than in unmanaged forest. Does sound counter-intuitive but it's fact—varied canopy height and regular thinning give habitat variety that unmanaged woods can't match.

Carbon footprint is always going to have oak as one of the least impactful when you factor in service life. Hard to beat something that'll last 100+ years and takes care of itself.

Still the Professional Choice

RIBA architects still specify it for buildings where they want materials that will outlast the original brief.

Fire performance to EN 13501-1 meets commercial building codes with appropriate finishes. Not the most exciting spec, but it ticks every box and provides you with everything else you actually require from a building product.

While everybody's chasing the next thing, oak just keeps going on making what it always makes—reliability, longevity, and performance you can count on.

We've built UK Oak's reputation on this very point. No need to get all fancy with marketing when you've got centuries of proof. Our customers know that naming names with oak is naming names with confidence.

Need to discuss oak choice for your project? Get in touch on 01536 267107. We'll take you through choices that are appropriate for your exact requirements—no jargon, no bluster, just genuine advice from people who understand timber.