Pine Vs. Oak Flooring

Pine Vs. Oak: which wood makes the better floor?

When choosing the best wood for living room flooring, dining room flooring or bedroom flooring, the debate often comes down to Pine Vs. Oak. Over the centuries, these species have been two of the most popular sources of flooring in American homes. Yet these woods could hardly be more different. Let’s take a quick look at the pros and cons of Pine Vs. Oak to see which type of wood might be best for your new floors.

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Pine: the wood that built America

Pine is a softwood that’s found in plentiful supply throughout the country. Heart Pine and Eastern White Pine are the varieties most commonly used for floors. Eastern White Pine was favored by early New England colonists who used it as floors, structural timbers, siding and wainscoting. Eastern White Pine floorboards are very light in color and feature smooth grain with beautiful knots, providing a wide range of possibilities for finishes.

Heart Pine flooring was used in buildings throughout the Eastern and Southeastern seaboard and is considered the wood that spawned the American Industrial Revolution. Heart Pine offers a richer palette with colors ranging from pumpkin and amber to darker, more modern hues. The grain on Heart Pine is more prominent, ranging from boards with tight knots and vertical grains to planks with wider lines, extravagant knots and cathedral wood patterns.

Oak: the most versatile hardwood

Oak is a hardwood that’s also grown widely in the U.S. and it’s considered the most popular species for hardwood floors. Red Oak floorboards have a deep salmon hue in the heartwood and wider, more prominent grain with occasional swirls. White Oak features hues of nutty brown and tan and is slightly darker than Red Oak. The grain on a White Oak Plank is tighter and more uniform. Oak floors are popular because they’re considered to offer a perfect balance of beauty, stability, durability and affordability.

Pine Vs. Oak flooring: which is tougher?

Oak wins this category hands down. Hardwood trees like Oak have a different system for growing, reproducing and taking up water than softwood trees like Pine. In most cases, these differences result in stronger, harder and more durable timber. Homeowners often prefer to use denser woods for hallways, wood stair treads and other high-traffic surfaces. The density of wood is measured on the Janka Hardness Scale, which determines how much force it takes to embed a steel ball halfway up a plank of wood. When comparing the hardness of Pine Vs. Oak, White Oak has a Janka rating of 1360 while northern Red Oak is slightly softer with a rating of 1290. Heart Pine is one of the strongest softwoods with a rating of 1225, while Eastern White Pine is an extraordinarily soft wood with a rating of 380.

Does Pine or Oak last longer?

Denser floors like White Oak will be more resistant to scratches, dents and dings, meaning that on the whole, Oak floors will wear more slowly than Pine floors. However, many homeowners love the lived-in look of Pine, and some even prefer that their new Pine floors be textured or distressed to create the look of older Pine floors. In terms of the longevity of Pine Vs. Oak, both types of floors can last for centuries with proper care. Pine floors actually grow harder over time as they’re walked on and the fibers in the wood are compressed to create a denser surface.

Is Pine or Oak More Sustainable?

When considering the environmental impact of Pine Vs. Oak floors, Pine definitely has the edge. As a softwood, Pine grows faster than Oak, enabling Pine forests to be replenished more quickly.

The cost of Pine Vs. Oak

Both Pine and Oak are among the most affordable types of wood flooring. As a faster-growing tree, Pine tends to be more affordable than Oak.

Staining Pine and Oak floors

Both Pine floors and Oak floors are easy to stain and can be used to complement a wide range of decor.

Learn more about Pine Vs. Oak flooring at Carlisle

At Carlisle Wide Plank Floors, you’ll find lots of options for Pine and Oak flooring along with wide plank specialists who can help you design the perfect floor for your space. Our team can help you explore all your hardwood and softwood options, comparing Yellow Pine vs. White Pine or Walnut vs. Oak and other hardwoods. We can walk you through texturing techniques that give new Oak floors the appearance of vintage French Oak flooring, for example. We’ll detail the differences between solid and engineered floorboards and show you all the possibilities for stain colors and finishes, including the option to prefinish your Pine or Oak floor so you can skip the mess and inconvenience of finishing the floor on-site.