Here at Steller Floors, we know that our clients love White Oak - and it's no surprise.
The natural coloration of White oak flooring is uniquely blonde and beachy among North American Hardwoods - and its hardness makes it a fantastic choice for active homes and light commercial spaces.
In addition, quartersawn white oak is an architectural favorite. Quartersawn varieties are sawn so that the grain pattern is long and linear - and glimmering ribbons of ray-fleck are revealed. In this format, white oak is one of the most stable types of flooring available.
However, fans of white oak have probably also noticed that prices of the material have increased substantially in the last 2 to 5 years, and it has been more so than other flooring prices.
What are the main drivers of white oak flooring prices?
It is well-known that inflation has driven increases in prices of building materials across the board - but white oak has been uniquely affected- so what are the additional reasons behind white oak price increases?
In addition to inflation, there are three main drivers of white oak prices today - quality, world events, popularity and competing uses.
White Oak Flooring Quality & Global Events
When you are shopping for white oak flooring, the main consideration you should focus on is quality - specifically because flooring is necessarily a long-term purchase.
In the world of engineered flooring, the war in Ukraine shifted world trade patterns dramatically - specifically with regard to the highest-quality, Russian-produced Baltic Birch.
Baltic birch trees grow near the Arctic circle and have a short summer growing season - which makes the rings very small - and the corresponding distance between bark layers very short - and the wood very dense. When these trees are found in old-growth stands, they can produce high volumes of extremely stable, dense wood. From the 1990's to the 2020's large flooring companies discovered that these materials in combination with nearby low-cost labor created the ideal, highly profitable combination.
Thus, extremely wide plank flooring - specifically with white oak wear layers and Baltic Birch backers - became the subject of massive marketing programs aimed at architects and designers - which was extremely effective.
In fact, the ethics of using old growth wood from the Arctic and using questionable, low-wage labor always led to a head scratchers for ecologists. Meanwhile, extremely wide plank materials are clearly not solid wood - because hardwood trees don't grow large enough for 8-10" wide planks anymore.
While it can be nice to see the wood grain in a wide plank format, engineered flooring is not so different from plywood itself - which carries a significantly lower-class reputation due to evidently lower quality. It was dubious that architects and designers took the bait - but here we are.
And then when the war in Ukraine began, Baltic Birch materials actually became embargoed, and even today in 2025 continue to face high tariffs and ethical concerns.
Subsequently, seismic reactions in domestic American markets occurred in desperate search of alternatives - which increased prices dramatically. For many materials, like composite maple backers - long-term tests had not been done, and new engineering and production needed to be undertaken quickly.
Unfortunately for customers seeking ultra-wide white oak options, new replacements still are not completely online or even tested. This leaves clients with very few white oak options especially among high quality materials. Today, the old materials are still so desirable that folks smuggle them into the US via third countries - and this is obviously illegal and fraught with even more ethical issues.
American-Made, Solid Wood White Oak
At Steller Floors, of course, we recommend our own exceptionally high quality, real solid wood materials in sustainably sourced white oak that present a uniquely wonderful alternative to engineered flooring - absolutely free from all of the above listed ethical complaints and duplicity. And, in many cases our pricing is vastly superior to permanently installed alternatives.
Ready to get started with Steller? Get a Personal Estimate.
0 comments