A History Of Oak

Oak is one of the most common trees found through England and Europe and It has been on of the most predominate trees since the prehistoric period.

Most people refer to the mighty tree as the English Oak. It is also referred to as the Pedunculate Oak and occasionally the Sussex Weed. Its Latin name is Quercus robur.

It is part of the Beech family or in Latin the Fagaceae family. This deciduous broadleaf grows to an average height of fifteen to twenty five metres. The oak tree leaves are instantly recognisable with their dark green colour large lobes and smooth edges. In the autumn time they turn a beautiful amber colour.

They flower from early May to late June producing a flower commonly referred to as a Catkin. Their seed, the acorn is naturally distributed by wildlife in the surrounding areas.

The oak tree thrives in a light, chalky soil but is happy in most environments.

Oak has been traditionally used for its strong and durable timber for thousands of years. It was particularly prized for ship building as well as furniture, flooring and buildings.

We don't build many boats these days from oak. Modern construction methods and materials have created superior vessels and Oak has largely left the mass production sector of boat building.

Oak is still an incredibly popular material for the domestic and commercial construction market. Oak is still regularly used in the construction industry for timber frames due to the same reasons it has been used for many centuries before, strength and durability.

Oak has seen a real resurgence in the flooring market in recent years. Thanks to modern manufacturing. There is an increasingly popularity for an oak flooring product on the market called engineered oak flooring.

Engineered oak flooring consists of a man made backing; the best are a water resistant ply. A thinner layer of solid oak is then adhered to the top of the backing. This style of oak flooring has revolutionised the flooring industry enabling oak flooring to be installed in many areas that would have been previously unsuitable due to temperature fluctuations or moisture levels.

The strong backing significantly reduces the amount of expansion and contraction usually associated with traditional solid oak flooring.

As technology continues to improve we find new ways to use one of the oldest building materials in more effective ways. Oak will continue to be used in construction, furniture and flooring for the foreseeable future as it is still one of the strongest, durable and most beautiful natural materials available.

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