Four Benefits of Solid American Oak Furniture

When shopping for your dream piece of furniture, it can get extremely overwhelming with the sheer number of options available, particularly, the type of timber the furniture is constructed from. Here at Woodwrights, we believe in using only premium quality sustainable materials. This is why all of our wooden furniture is constructed from solid hardwood timber, including New Zealand Beech, American Ash and American Oak. 

Let us share four of the key benefits of oak furniture. 

1. Oak is an extremely durable and long lasting timber. 

Opposed to other cheaper composite materials that so many companies use these days to make furniture, our solid American Oak lasts years with very little maintenance. The reason for Oak’s impeccable durability is because it is sourced from slow growing trees, which means the trees’ cellular structure is a lot denser compared to faster growing softwoods. As we use durable hardwood timbers, such as oak at Woodwrights, when you purchase a piece of solid timber furniture from us you are gifted with a lifetime guarantee. This warranty reinforces the quality material, quality design and quality workmanship every piece of Woodwrights solid timber furniture exudes. It is hand crafted to delight generations. 

2. Oak furniture can be customised in form and finish. 

Oak as a hardwood timber can be crafted into endless furniture forms to perfectly complement your space. From oak coffee tables and oak console tables to oak round dining tables to oak bedside tables, they all can be custom designed and made to meet your specific requirements. Oak timber can also be finished in any natural or pigmented colour of your choice to match your existing decor. Whether you are after a dark, edgy modern furniture piece or a more classic timeless furniture piece, oak timber can be stained in any colour finish for any look. By using stain, the natural beauty and unique grain pattern of the timber is not compromised, and remains a focal feature of quality. 

3. Solid oak timber can be sustainably sourced.

Unlike plastic, oak timber is a sustainable resource. As long as it is harvested in a responsible manner, trees can continually be replenished. This is why at Woodwrights we believe in only using sustainably sourced hardwoods, such as American Oak. We are committed to minimising our environmental footprint and reducing carbon emissions, therefore only using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accredited timber. 

You may ask what is so good about FSC certified timber? Well, there are various benefits. 

The positive carbon benefits – every cubic meter of wood used as a substitute for other materials displaces an average of 1.1 tonnes of CO2. If this is added to the 0.9 tonnes of CO2 stored, therefore each cubic meter of wood can save up to 2 tonnes of CO2. 

The energy saved – trees need little more than sunlight and rainfall to grow. Wood has the lowest embodied energy of any mainstream building material. Producing an alternative material such as steel, for example, requires 24 times the energy needed to produce it than wood. 

It is recyclable - unlike composite wood materials, see below.

4. Solid oak is recyclable 

Wood is renewable, reusable and recyclable. When wood is sourced from FSC certified forests, buyers and sellers can rest assured that their wood products are not only renewable, but that they come from forests that are managed responsibly. Wood is also a reusable resource and its recycling needs less energy in comparison to many other materials.

Recycled sustainably sourced timbers have many positive environmental impacts, including; contributing to the conservation of forests, increasing carbon storage and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Through recycling timber, the impact on landfills is also lessened.

These are just a handful of the amazing benefits that come with consciously choosing furniture crafted from FSC accredited oak. At Woodwrights, we are committed to minimising our environmental footprint and becoming the most economically sustainable company we can be.