# Help identify wood flooring



## jameston (Feb 28, 2015)

I am in the middle of a remodel project on a 1908 house and I need some of your expertise on identifying the existing hardwood flooring. I would like to match the new hardwood flooring that will be going into the kitchen with the existing hardwood in dining and living room. I may or may not have already purchased the flooring for the kitchen and I am second guessing myself that I may have misidentified the existing flooring.


















































I will also need to replace one stair tread and will also need help identifying the existing as I do not trust myself as I believe I may have misidentified the existing hardwood flooring.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

I say red oak with a wide variety of sawns... (flat. rift, plain, QS)... 
clean the floor to see more details and colors...


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

That's my guess too.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

If it was 1908 it could just as easily have been White Oak. It was the preferred product at the turn of the century.
After all those years of wear, stain, aging of the finish, old wax buildup, oxidation, exposure to UV, you'd need to pull out a piece and sand it down to clean wood.
Personally, I don't think it's got enough red in it to be Red Oak.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Red oak vs. White Oak hardwood flooring - what's the difference?
Man, I wouldn't put money on _my_ guess...


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=red+ok+wood+samples&ia=images

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=white+oak...ch-of-white-ba5fbca9.jpg?width=380&height=380


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## katabrontes (Nov 12, 2014)

Looks like Oak to me too.


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## MYB506 (Dec 5, 2012)

I agree with Stick that it's a variety of sawns but think it's white oak.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

MYB said:


> I agree with Stick that it's a variety of sawns but think it's white oak.


that floor needs a serious cleaning before it's real character is known....
now if there is a closet that could be sanded out for a real visual that would be a plus...


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## Woodshaper67 (Jan 13, 2012)

By the pic's that is white oak old growth.


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## 64 ford (Apr 21, 2013)

Looks like White Oak to me too. My old house was built in 1905 and it looks very similar to mine. Mine was in such bad shape that I put another layer of 3/4 over it so I can't look at it.
With the patina it looks like white oak.
Dennis


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## GregLittleWoodworks (Dec 9, 2014)

Oak is my thought also.


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## jameston (Feb 28, 2015)

I was thinking it is oak too but wasn't too sure on which type. It looks like it’s red based on the rays, which are 1/8" to 1/2" like what I've read and seen online, but coloration of a piece of the existing flooring sanded down to bare wood looks like it’s white oak. So now I’m confused. Here are some pictures of a piece of the old flooring sanded down from the dining room .


























I did a side by side comparison with a piece of the old flooring from the kitchen and this piece and they look nothing like the new red oak that was purchased. I understand it’s new growth vs. old growth, but shouldn’t it be somewhat similar just based on the rays, which is supposed to be a more accurate method to identify white oak vs red oak than by the color of bare wood?


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## Rockenroller58 (Apr 29, 2014)

*Grainy pics but we'll try to identify.*

It looks like the first 1/2 of your pics show Oak flooring, and the grain changes to possibly maple? Are these two hard woods part of the same floor or in different rooms? At any rate, sanding them out will bring out the true nature of the product, that will denote the refinishing products to be used.
Just my 1 1/2 cents worth?


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## belaire445 (Oct 21, 2012)

My money is on red oak.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

So we have a consensus... It's Oak!


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

The end grain on red oak is quite a bit more porous than the end grain on white oak. That would be one area to look at.


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## todd628 (Mar 8, 2015)

I believe that you have a mixture of Red and White oak. Besides the mixture of the two oak species you also have a number of different types of cutting. Random cutting is used to gain the highest yield from a log.

Have a blessed evening, and have fun making some dust, Todd


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