We just put white oak in our new build, including the kitchen. Can't think of a single negative to tell you but I've always had wood floors in my kitchens. This is the first time with oak, old homes had maple. Perhaps the specific finish might be the only caveat - we used Bona Traffic HD in satin and it's wonderful. I was really concerned about 2 things with a finish - did not want shiny and wanted hard wearing. On our floors the satin is really subtle, not matte but not shiny, just a glow, much like wax finished floors. They are holding up perfectly to a rambunctious dog and dirt dragged in from a working house.

DLM...your post was very informative. White oak here too. The gentleman we are thinking of hiring also uses Bona Traffic. Dogs here too. I would love a pic of your floor. Thanks.

ILR it's cloudy and the sun is going down - this is the best I can do. Stain is Minwax Weathered Oak. Didn't want natural but wanted light enough to show the wood variations.

I think white oak is great. The worst thing I've ever heard anything say about it--the only negative thing really--is that it gets dismissed as "dated", which for the record I think is an absurd criticism. It's durable, and if your floor gets damaged it is easy to invisibly replace a few boards without tearing up the entire floor. I see posts where people with more exotic flooring choices worry about making changes because they'll have to replace the floor in the whole house. You will not have that problem.

My house was built in 1911 and has the original oak flooring. It's been refinished, and it's been patched, but it's still going strong.

I have natural cherry cabinets with natural ash floors. The floors are 29 years old. Ash has a very similar grain pattern to oak so I thought I'd post a picture to give you an idea of how your oak floors might look. The photo was taken at night and was actually a photo of my new rug but I think it shows the floors well enough. I really like the contrast between the floors and cabinets.

DLM...how wide are your boards and do you plan to have your house "conditioned " i.e.: controlling humidity most of the time?

may I ask how many pounds your dog weighs?

Your floors are beautiful and classic.

Badgergal...the ash is beautiful too. I don't think I've ever seen ash before.

I have natural cherry cabinets with natural ash floors. The floors are 29 years old.

Im convinced! That looks great!!

badgergal, well, live and learn! I'd have said I wouldn't care for that combination, but I find the contrast to be striking, and your kitchen is lovely!

Beautiful ash flooring.

I love white oak, and we are (most likely) going to install 7" wide plank French White Oak in a house we are about to remodel. Kitchen, MBR, 4 other bedrooms, closets and main staircase. Maybe even the lower level den, kitchen, hallway and the stairs to this level. The house is concrete and steel (all three levels have poured concrete floors) so we are looking at engineered hardwood. Not my first choice, but my only for this house. I discovered Hallmark Flooring during my online research, and luckily found it at two local showrooms. The Alta Vista collection, Laguna finish. It's 4mm thick, so it's solid wood into the groove. It can refinish up to 4 times, if needed. I narrowed down my search by looking for sawn cut-face flooring and then thickness.

indiecook, glad the pictures helped. The woodwork and doors in my house are 1988 golden oak. The previous kitchen cabinets were also golden oak.

Not sure why the floors were ash. When we bought the house the floors did have a very thick plastic looking finish on them. We had them sanded down but did not put any stain on them and then had them finished with the Bona.

The floors also came with some cherry trim in the dining room and around the perimeter of our great room. It's a nice touch and part of the reason why I choose cherry cabinets when I remodeled. Here's a close up of the area by my table

Good luck with your remodel.

badgergal I have a place in my heart for ash - the house my parents built and I grew up in had ash window/door trim, baseboards and interior doors, all natural. Your floor is beautiful and I like the mix with cherry - they complement each other well.

ILR here's the scoop - I wanted 5", DH wanted max of 3" and we settled on 4" but he warned me they would show some cupping especially at certain times of the year and they do. I really hate it when he's right and that's why he wanted narrower boards. I've made peace with it. We've been in the house since March, one story over full unfinished but conditioned basement. We're in western NC so we've had heating days, AC days and nothing days - haven't seen a significant difference in the floor, perhaps this winter when we have a longer stretch needing heat. Our dog is a 22lb *youngin* who gets antsy when she can't be outside and loves to place chase from one end of the house to the other, scrabbling on the floors the whole way. Ok. So I'm the one who likes to play chase ;-) Trust me. she can be a nut job, don't let this fool you.

(We have a St. Bernard, and no problems.)

Gennifer, are your floors site finished? I am having a hard time finding just the right gray/blond color for my desired white oak floors. Everything I find is either far too gray or golden in color.

Mine are white oak engineered floors and I love them. This is looking towards the kitchen/dining area and is right after they were installed.

No, they are prefinished.

Don't forget whatever color they are when they are installed is likely
not the color they will be in a few years. My floors have changed color
considerably in the past 4 years.

We installed white oak throughout our downstairs in our new build. 3.25" unfinished solid planks. We love them but have only lived here for about a month. Previous house had red oak which I loved too. This house we finished with Pallman's Magic Oil, which is a two part hardwax oil. Matte finish, with no shine at all. So far I love it as my two large dogs haven't left a mark yet. And if they do, I can just re-oil right over it and buff it out.

Here's a pic of them after they were oiled in our family room. I don't have a kitchen specific picture of them but they look exactly the same.

Gennifer, may I ask what brand/finish they are? Everything I have looked at in person is almost too gray. I would like for a little warmth to show through.

cpartist, beautiful floors! They look like they will have a very nice variation to them

It's an engineered wood, which we needed so we could do it in our basement, as well. Montpellier Oak