Material: Pine, Poplar, Oak, Maple, White Oak, Cypress

Janka Hardness (Higher = Harder): Pine: 420, Poplar: 540, Cypress: 510, Maple: 950, Red Oak: 1290, White Oak: 1360.

Moisture Content: All wood is dried to a 7-9% moisture content to minimize swelling and cracks.

All woods are all selected at furniture grade quality levels to insure uniform characteristics and appearance for each wood type.

Pine: White Pine. White pine wood is straight-grained softwood with an even medium texture. It also tends to feature quite a few dark knots, as pine trees grow branches down almost the entire trunk of the tree. Most are familiar with white pine as a light white hue, sometimes with a touch of yellow to it. Pine is the most economical material, stains nicely and, since our tables are already distressed, can be an excellent choice. Furniture grade select white pine will have some knots that can bleed through surfaces, particularly with lighter colors. However, knots do add character to distressed wood tops. Bleed through on painted finishes can be avoided with a poplar top. Bleed through on stained finishes can be avoided with a maple top.

Poplar: Poplar is one of the most common hardwoods in the United States. The wood is straight grained, uniform in texture and moderate to light weight. It has a medium density, machines and glues well. It takes a variety of finishes well. Pine is a softwood while poplar is a soft hardwood. There is really not much difference in the strength between pine and poplar. Poplar is better for painted finishes to avoid knots which can be present in pine.

Red Oak: Red Oak is arguably the most popular hardwood in the United States. It is a light to medium brown, commonly with a reddish cast. The grain is straight, with a coarse, uneven and distinct texture and pattern. Red Oak produces good results with hand and machine tools plus it glues, stains, and finishes well. it can be stained or painted but the grain on painted oak will still be visible. Red Oak is Hard, strong, and moderately priced.

White Oak: White oak wood color can vary from a very light straw color, which is currently preferred, to a brown color. It has a very characteristic showy, straight grained with a coarse and uneven texture grain pattern just somewhat more subdued than red oak. White oak has excellent mechanical or strength properties The wood is hard, tough and durable, prized in boat and shipbuilding because it steam-bends well. White Oak is also used in fine furniture, flooring, cabinetry, interior trim, and decorative veneer.

Red Oak vs. White Oak: When it comes to choosing a hardwood for a custom table, many people immediately think of oak. It’s a good choice as oak is one of the most durable types of wood as well as one of the most readily available. As a homegrown wood, forested throughout the U.S., oak is also considered more environmentally friendly as it has a much lower carbon footprint than more exotic woods. What is less well known is that there are actually two distinct types of oak: white and red. Again, while most people instinctively choose White Oak, it may be worth your while to consider Red Oak, which can often be a more affordable and more attractive option.

The most obvious difference between the two types of oak is their color. The name White Oak might make you think it is lighter in color, but in fact the opposite is true. White Oak is actually a mix of browns and tans, making it darker than Red Oak. Red Oak has pinkish and red tones throughout. Despite their initial difference in color, as you apply stain to them that difference is diminished. In fact, with any stain darker than medium brown the difference is almost indistinguishable.

The other factor that can visibly distinguish two oaks from one another is the grain pattern of the wood. While both are obviously oak, there is a definite difference between the look of White Oak and Red Oak based on the grain. Red Oak has a more varied or “wild” grain, with many swirls and deviations. It also has wider grain lines that are sometimes wavy or zigzag in appearance. White Oak, on the other hand, has smaller and tighter grain lines, making it look much straighter and more uniform. With its more uniform grain, White Oak may look like a more solid and substantial, but don’t let all those swirls fool you. Red Oak is just as durable and sturdy.

Finally, as a closed grain wood, White Oak tends to be more resistant to water damage, which is why it is often used for boat building. Since table tops are professionally finished with protective clear coatings the water resistant difference between the two woods is negligible.

The durability of any table top is dependent on the overall hardness of the wood. According to the Janka scale, White Oak is slightly harder at 1360, compared to Red Oak’s score of 1290.

Of course, cost can be a major factor whenever you are considering table wood selections. Though prices can fluctuate depending on width and grade, in general for any planks 5”W or larger, White Oak is more expensive.

While both types of oak can offer a beautiful and durable addition to your home, it is worth taking the time to consider whether Red Oak or White Oak is the better option. The difference in look between the two may be less than you might think, especially as darker stains are applied.

Maple: Maple is strong, heavy, hard, straight-grained and fine textured. It is a creamy white hardwood that sometimes has a reddish tinge. One of the hardest wood species, maple is often chosen for heavy-use items, like dressers and kitchen cabinets. Along with cherry, walnut, and oak, maple is considered to be among the favorite hardwood choices for furniture building. Maple is generally considered to be strong, durable, and pretty when properly finished.

Cypress: Cypress wood is very durable, stable, and water- and rot-resistant, making it suitable for building and heavy construction. Iit is a beautiful, fine textured, straight grained, light colored wood that is very durable. Noted for its color consistency, density, and few knots, cypress wood is superbly workable, easily machined and installed, and readily finished. Although cypress benefits from the same decay-resistant qualities as redwood and cedar, it is harder and stronger. Cypress is extremely decay and insect resistant due to the naturally occurring preservative known as cypressine. Therefore, a table constructed out of cypress can be used outdoors! This handsome wood was and still is crafted into cabinets, fine furniture, flooring, paneling, and exposed structural features.

Cypress rates among the top North American woods in decay resistance and durability when exposed to weather. Unprotected wood eventually weathers to a light gray. For exteriors, you can let it weather naturally (turns gray or charcoal color), but it will perform better long term if you seal it with a stain or paint. If using stains, please use oil based wood stain with a mildew inhibitor. For your information, most clear stains last 1 – 3 years, semi-transparent colored stains (wood grain still visible) last 3 – 5 years, solid colored stains last 5 – 10 years, and most paints last 10 – 20 years.

Wood Check Cracks: Our wood tables are constructed from real trees and/or solid planks of wood, not engineered wood, and professionally dried to 6 – 12% moisture content before any build. Solid wood adjusts to the moisture content in the air at different times of the year. In a sense, the wood breathes just like us. Therefore, the temperature and humidity of your home will affect how your table behaves. To avoid this problem, cabinets and other case goods are normally built with furniture grade panels consisting of internal alternating grain wood sheets sandwiched by outside sheets of finished wood. This type of construction does not work well for most table tops, so we use a glued wood plank construction. As a result. you may notice your table and/or breadboard move slightly or develop small check cracks or dips. You may also notice occasional lifting on the epoxy or resin fills we use in processing our reclaimed wood tables. THIS IS PERFECTLY NORMAL. This is the inherent character of planked wood construction and is not considered a defect in material, nor will affect the structural integrity of the table.