Resurgence of oak: The Classic American hardwood

HomeInside FCNewsResurgence of oak: The Classic American hardwood

March 2/9, 2015; Volume 28/Number 18

By Jenna Lippin

There was a period in recent years in which exotics had a firm grasp on the hardwood market, dazzling consumers with unique, rich visuals for which American species are not known. That trend has shifted, however, with domestic options taking charge once again with oak leading the surge thanks to abundant supply, design capabilities and widespread appeal.

While oak has seen much action recently, experts noted that it never “went away,” so to speak. “I’ve been in this industry for more than 10 years now, and oak has been a staple for as long as I can remember,” said Harry Bogner, senior vice president for Unilin, a division of Mohawk.

Reasons for oak maintaining share in the hardwood market are numerous, Bogner said, one being its ability to be stained to meet trending colors and tones. “You can really allow the beauty of the wood graining to pop and make a statement. If you look at what is popular today relative to oaks and stains, you will see everything from almost white to tan to grays moving all the way to deep, rich browns.”

Milton Goodwin, vice president of hardwood products at Armstrong, explained the abundance of oak in North American forests keeps it popular. And, due to supply and demand, oak maintains an appealing value. “Depending on where you are, when you go into North American forests about 65% to 70% of the trees will be oak, either white or red. As long as our forests are generating that much oak it will always be a dominant species. If the marketplace were to all of a sudden switch where the whole world likes hickory or maple, the forest would not be able to generate enough wood to satisfy the demand. The way the industry controls availability of hickory, maple, walnut and other species—which are beautiful and liked by consumers—is with price based on availability. It’s supply and demand; if demand exceeds availability price will go up. Oak will always have a high value proposition.”

Dan Natkin, senior director of residential products for Mannington, also spoke to the abundant supply of oak in the United States, which is an important factor to the domestically sourced product movement. “As we see a lot of on-shoring and look at the hardwood population in the U.S., or what is growing in the forest, over half is oak.”

Regarding oak’s value, Natkin noted that pricing could vary quite a bit due to its ability to be treated in a variety of ways. “Pricing can range from entry level to extremely high end depending on product treatment. Basic rotary peeled engineered may come in at $2.50 or $3 to the retailer, or even to the consumer. Or you can have a very wide, long, sawn European-style product that might be $10 or $12 to the consumer. Oak runs the gamut. It can compete across the market.”

As noted by Natkin, oak works well with trending rustic visuals, wide widths and long lengths. Interestingly enough, that is simply because of the species’ natural qualities. “Oak definitely lends itself to wider widths and longer lengths. Trees in general, particularly northern oak or those form Europe, tend to be older and longer, and not as twisted and gnarly as something like walnut.”

Bogner also explained how oak’s inherent characteristics make it a visually appealing flooring option and can hit various points in the market in terms of pricing and tastes. “Oak has so many natural characteristics, and when you texture it or use on-trend colors you actually accentuate those characteristics. You end up with knots or mineral streaks; different aspects of the wood [are emphasized] when you begin to texture it. Oak just provides the canvas that allows you to get creative in how you decorate your home. I would describe it as a warm species because it has so much graining and character that when you use a low-gloss finish and some of these warm grays and browns you create an environment that is very inviting.”

Oak in the face of exotics

Oak has also seen a rise in popularity as the exotic trend has waned. There is, of course, a market for all hardwood options, but many industry experts believe there are viable reasons for the shift.

“There was a time when exotics were particularly hot,” said Paul Stringer, vice president of sales and marketing at Somerset Hardwood. “A lot of them were being imported, the prices were very competitive—especially in a booming market—and people loved their look. But problems in other countries, especially Brazil—where there were pricing and delivery and even quality issues—started to impact the market, and suddenly the shine was off these exotics. Meanwhile, U.S. manufacturers continued to look for ways to sell oak, because, frankly, that is what is in the woods. So, manufacturers became more aggressive, reinvented some looks and made headway while the exotics were losing ground.”

Because of exotics’ natural colorations, it cannot be designed as oak can to meet trends and varied tastes. “Because exotics are so dark they are more difficult to work with relative to a stain if you wanted to change something later on,” Bogner said.

Goodwin expressed a similar sentiment. “Exotics have been around long enough now that people may try to refinish and redo these floors, but they will find it to be quite a challenge.” Exotics have rich designs naturally. For example, “tiger wood has almost stripes on it, and it is hard to do much with that. True Brazilian cherry has a very striking coloration right out of nature; you would have to play around with that [to change it]. What we see on the exotic side is a category that is very niche.”

According to Natkin, the period when exotics became increasingly popular was when a hardwood floor’s actual hardness became synonymous with its performance and durability. Today, a wood species’ natural hardwood rating is not necessarily what consumers are looking for when determining which flooring is best for their homes. “It’s a combination of different factors that determine how a floor will perform over time—color, grain, whether the product is distressed and then hardness is the last characteristic, being the worst measure of long-term performance of a hardwood floor. Oak checks all the boxes above hardness for long-term performance.”

Exotics’ sourcing, as noted by Stringer, has also caused issues with its popularity, especially with developments like the Lacey Act. Exotics coming from South America also present an issue with cost, making oak an even better value.

Popular products

With the vast design possibilities of oak, manufacturers are capitalizing on the species, creating products that have been particularly successful in the hardwood market.

As noted by Drew Hash, director of hard surface for Shaw Floors, wider, longer and enhanced character are the big trends in hardwood, and Shaw has responded through its oak offerings. “The growth area for us is wire-brushed oak and the color it takes on. White graining is certainly selling for us. What we launched last year was Castle Wood, up to 6 feet long and 7.5 inches wide in white oak—white oak is 80% of our sales. That has been a key part of our growth in engineered, along with Historique from Virginia Vintage, an Anderson product, which is similar in size and 1.2 inches thick. We offer a handscraped and wire-brushed version.”

Armstrong’s American Scrape has been exceedingly popular, consisting of a solid oak scrape product that is white washed and black washed “so you get the visuals that are different and more appealing to a younger, more progressive audience,” Goodwin said. The company is also providing wider widths in its Prime Harvest line. “All lend themselves to value, which is the driving factor in that marketplace. Oak will probably always be the greatest value, at least in North America.”

Mannington’s newly released Mercado product is lightly wirebrushed with some distressing and a sawn face. “It has received accolades coming out of Surfaces,” Natkin said. “We sold more than I anticipated. It is indicative of the strength of oak in the market.”

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