About the oak

Oak-wood

Oak has been one of the most sought-after wood species for the production of furniture, panelling and constructions or barrels and mill wheels. It has a narrow, light brown white and a wide, evenly coloured core. On the middle and tangent section, you can see the so-called Mirrors, which are quite pronounced in oak.

Oak has basic properties such as strength, durability, toughness and durability. It is best able to withstand weather conditions, it does not mind the alternation of moisture and drought. It is used for solid wood and slicing veneers. It sticks well and the sea.

But oak is not like oak

There are 400-600 varieties and each has different characteristics. Four species are commonly widespread in our territory: Summer Oak (Quercus robur L.), Winter Oak (Quercus petraea L.), Cereal Oak (Quercus cerris L.) and Downy Oak (Quercus pubescens L.).

The primary forest trees are summer and winter oaks.

Oaks are divided into two subgenes and six sections

• Subgenus Cyclobalanopsis – evergreen oaks with entire or toothed but non-lobed leaves, widespread in Asia. The subgenus Cyclobalanopsis is sometimes thought of as a separate genus.
• Subgenus Quercus
  • Quercus section – deciduous and evergreen oaks widespread in America, Europe and Asia. Most of our oaks belong here.
  • Mesobalanus section – acorns ripen in the first year and are markedly bitter, widespread in Europe, Asia and North Africa. Our oaks include Balkan oak (Q. frainetto), cultivated large-flowered oak (Q. macranthera) and toothed oak (Q. dentata).
  • Cerris section – deciduous and evergreen oaks widespread in Europe, Asia and North Africa. Our cereal oak (Q. cerris) belongs here, from Lebanese oak (Q. libani) and pointed oak (Q. acutissima) grown, from Mediterranean species such as cork oak (Q. suber) and kermes oak (Q. coccifera). .
  • Protobalanus section – evergreen oaks with entire or toothed leaves, only in North America in the USA and
  • section Lobatae – so-called red oaks, widespread in North and sporadically in Central and South America. Deciduous and evergreen, with leaves lobed or entire. Among the more commonly grown oaks, this includes, for example, red oak (Q. rubra), marsh oak (Q. palustris) and scarlet oak (Q. coccinea).

Prefer domestic wood

When buying oak wood or products from it, give preference to domestic wood in the form of summer or winter oak. This is the only way to be sure that it is a really high-quality oak wood and not its subspecies, which are far from achieving such properties. Higher quality products and wood last longer and save your wallet. You will not have to replace new furniture with another one soon. The floor made of lower quality wood may start to twist or crack after a few weeks. This is due to the choice of a cheap material, which is a cheap imported oak.

A fast-growing oak and does not have enough tannins, so it rots outdoors and is subject to weather conditions. Another thing is that fast-growing oak is soft and it is not a stable hardwood, so the floors can be trampled faster and the furniture can loosen and achieve the results of other woods such as soft spruce, pine. Be careful when buying from companies and always want the Latin name of winter and summer oak (quercus robur and quercus petreae) or you can request a declaration of conformity of the tree

In recent years, the trend is to buy oak wood in Eastern European countries, from Bosnia, Slovenia or Russia.