Quartersawn Oak?

4 years ago

Hello, we are having some floor laced in with our original hardwood floor as part of our renovation. Then they'll sand and stain the whole house to match.

They originally brought over white oak, quartersawn. However after tearing out the "other" in our house and seeing it more they said they weren't sure anymore that's what it was so they went to have it tested.

They found instead it is red oak, quarter sawn so now that is acclimating at our house.

I had someone over this week who was doing something else at the house, and they told me the floor that is acclimating is NOT quarter sawn, so now i'm worried.

I thought I'd turn to Houzz expertise to make sure it is.

I took these photos - can anyone help me rest at ease?! I have no idea what I'm looking at but want to be sure, a. we're not getting one pulled over on us, but also b. it looks great when done!

Thanks:)

Featured Answer

SJ McCarthy

4 years ago

@ Kayla - I think you might be getting 'hung up' on wording. It is common to refer to "rift and quarter sawn" simply as "quarter sawn". Many professionals forget that industry lingo does not translate out to every-day speech.

The rift and quarter sawn products are an upgrade. It is rare to get 100% rift or 100% quarter sawn. One cut creates the other so it is often mixed into one product: thus "rift and quarter sawn".

The $12/sf doesn't bother me. That is industry standard for rift + quarter sawn. At the end of the day, the only issue we want to see 'resolved' is the overall look of your floors. So long as the SPECIES matches and the CUT matches (regardless of the name that cut goes by) and the width of the plank matches we are happy with the final result.

I know this is frustrating but I feel things are moving nicely. If you are SUPER concerned, get the old floor sanded down at the interface and ask for a single coat of finish be applied over both types of boards. A coat of finish will reveal any grain/species issues before the rest of the work continues.

Or you can wait until everything is sanded down and ask the STAIN and FINISH samples are done OVER TOP of the interface area. Any species/cut issues will show up VERY quickly once the stain patches and the single coat of finish are put down. It is a super simple type of test.

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Comments (15)

PRO
Uptown Floors
4 years ago
Need more boards to see. 2nd top picture shows a rift cut which is common in rift and quartered.

"who was doing something else at the house." the plumbers opinion..hehe
PRO
G & S Floor Service
4 years ago
The grade should be stamped in ink on the underside of the floor boards. But the boards shown are rift.
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Hondagirl, My flooring guy demonstrated the difference to me by showing me a sample of regular oak flooring next to quartersawn -- the regular oak has lots of what he called "cathedral arc-ing" -- swirls and arc patterns in the wood; the quartersawn had a more linear pattern. We ended up going with quartersawn for our floors, and it's beautiful. But we chose it because of its expansion pattern-- quartersawn tends to expand most up & down on the planks, regular oak side to side. We live in fairly harsh conditions (Saskatachewan) and didn't want a floor that was tight half the year and gapping the rest of the year. I don't know if you are looking at quartersawn oak for flooring, but if so, one consideration to bear in mind is that quartersawn floors must be finished on-site, and can't be purchased pre-finished (at least where we are that was the case).
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Our current cabs are GO and we're going with oak again, just not the builder grade GO of the '80s and '90s. We considered all our wood choices when we remodeled two bathrooms two years ago but we kept coming back to QS oak. We *love* QS oak plus we own a number of family heirloom pieces made of QS oak. If we'd chosen a different wood, such as cherry, we felt that we'd be following what everyone else was doing and not following our heart. We're about to redo our kitchen and once again, we're going with QS oak. We plan to use QS oak when we remodel the laundry room and MBTH. If you Google images for "Arts & Crafts furniture," the vast majority of what you'll see is Mission style. However, our family pieces are definitely not Mission style even though they were made during the Arts & Crafts period. Our cabinet style is not Mission style or classic Shaker either. They are overlay, inset panel with a bead and a decorative edge. IMO, they are a transitional style in keeping with our transitional home. Our cab hardware, light fixtures, etc are also transitional. I'm not sure how much of an upcharge we're paying for QS oak from a local custom cab shop but I know it's less than we'd pay for painted cabs. We nearly went with DeWils cabinets; they do not upcharge for QS oak. All their woods are the same price. They are local to me (Portland OR area) but they ship to many areas of the country and contrary to a few other places we checked, you can get QS oak in any of their door styles and finishes they offer. If QS oak is what you want, you should add them to your list of cab companies to consider.
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I have seen some Amish online reseller websites, but I haven't done business with them personally to recommend them. You may have luck looking for a local store near you that carries solid wood furniture and ask to look at their catalogs. My parents have a mom-and-pop store and I know that many of their Amish suppliers (from Indiana and Ohio) have mission styles that can be special ordered in any wood, including quartersawn, and the catalogs show a wider selection of manufacturers' designs than resellers can fit on the floor. Some shops upload the entire catalog so you can look that way online too. The Amish traditionally don't have websites, but a few of their brands to google with quartersawn oak mission chairs: RH Yoder Woodworking, F&N Woodworking, Artisan Chairs. If you google those names you should be able to find some resellers near you who are representing their lines on the floor of their shops. You can also special order your stain; most workshops provide samples for the stores who represent them so you'd be able to see wood stain options in person vs. a computer screen. Good luck with your search - solid wood quartersawn oak should last you a lifetime, and then some!
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johnc777
4 years ago
I'm just curious, can one buy just quartersawn oak flooring? It's been years since I bought quartersawn oak for woodworking projects but it was pretty expensive and required a some picking through the pile to find the "good" stuff.
PRO
G & S Floor Service
4 years ago
Full quarter sawn is available. But, still has a good amount of rift in it.
SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
Photos of the floor you have already would help as well. You can always lay down 5-10 loose planks next to your existing floor to see of the 'rays' in the boards are a decent match. As simple as that is, it is highly effective.
Kayla
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks everyone.

Here it is installed. It looks like some is rift and some is quartersawn. Posting a few of what I have of the old floor... it’s so dusty now hard to see.
Kayla
Original Author
4 years ago
Anyways, would still be happy to hear thoughts! I asked the wood floor guy again and all he said is “it is quarter sawn.”
Kayla
Original Author
4 years ago
By the way we paid $12/sq ft just for the wood charge, if that’s any indication... it’s not a lot of area but still.
PRO
G & S Floor Service
4 years ago
Your floors look like white oak. What type of test did they perform to determine that it was red oak?
Kayla
Original Author
4 years ago
SJ McCarthy, this is really helpful advice, thank you!
PRO
Johnson Flooring Co Inc
4 years ago
As G&S stated your existing floors look like White Oak. I'd say it's obvious. If your contractor put in Red Oak, they will not match. I can buy, mark up and sell 3/4" x 2-1/4" x r.l. select grade, rift and quarter sawn White Oak for <$7/square foot, plus shipping.
PRO
G & S Floor Service
4 years ago
You can do a tannin test. There are kits from Woodwise for $30. Or you can use tea, reactive stains or anything that will react to tannins. White oak will be darker compared to red oak.
PRO
Oak & Broad
4 years ago
Kayla , here are two helpful grain diagrams for you.
Educational Plank Flooring Examples · More Info

Educational Plank Flooring Examples · More Info
PRO
retired
4 years ago
From one of the largest quarter-sawn white oak mills in the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbaXWmEiS98

https://frankmiller.com/lumber/

Quartersawn Oak?

SJ McCarthy

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