What's driving white oak demand? Why is it (QS) more expensive than walnut? I recall it being half the price.
[OP]
Contributor
What's driving white oak demand? Why is it (QS) more expensive than walnut? I recall it being half the price.
Member
Flooring, whiskey / wine barrels, architectural millwork, etc.
The most demanded WO I have noticed in recent years has been Riftsawn and less so Quartersawn.
Still waters run deep.
Contributor
Tastes change. People seem to like the light color of white oak these days. It'll change again. But around here white oak is still about half the price of walnut. White oak might be $7 for plain sawn. Walnut is at least $12.
Following up on Phillip's comment, I really like the look of rift sawn WO (and white ash, too). Straight linear lines of grain. Very elegant.
John
Contributor
World wide peak in bourbon consumption.
Contributor
I put White Oak siding on our house and barn when I built them in 1980. I also built several spec lake houses with it around those years. Back then I bought it for $100 a thousand board feet for rough sawn 1x6's, and bought it by the semi truck load. It's all still solid as a rock and woodpeckers only get a headache from it.
Contributor
Originally Posted by Phillip Mitchell
Exactly what my local sawmill told me a couple months ago. Said prices were about to go up again. I wanted to buy WO (RS/QS) for a project this winter back then but I didn't have any place to store it. Wish I had anyway.
Brian
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher
Contributor
White oak is one of my two finalists for a kitchenette cabinet bank in our new cottage. It will go under a birch butcher block countertop. The other candidate is birch itself. With a light colored top I want to stay light for the cabinet. Only the doors and drawer fronts will be visible.
Is one easier to find/work/finish than the other?
Contributor
I gobbled up a ton of white oak for a recent project. Thick stair treads, wall paneling and cabinets. Photos of the Liberty street project can be found on Michael Graf Architect and Builder website.
[OP]
Contributor
Seems this is a good time to buy what's cheap and store it. I came back from my oak quest with a load of Ipe, bought for less than I'd expect to pay for poplar. No clue what to do with it, but it looks like a nice wood.
Contributor
I should take a picture of my lumber storage and you might change your tune. I have beautiful boards I've collected for 50 years. My shop is completely choked down with lumber. Now I'm 71 and a lot of that "collection" will sell for pennies on the dollar in a few years on my estate sale. Took a minute to take a pic. Bowl blanks on the right of me, lumber to the left in the distance.
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Contributor
I did a tour at the Jack Daniels Distillery and I asked about it last year. They said that there was a distillery that burnt down and it was a major factor for the demand as they were trying to replenish their stock.
Contributor
All the good white oak logs at my local log yard are going to a stave mill for whiskey barrels. I paid their going rate for a small 12' log. I calculated it to be $1.88 a board foot. But there is a lot of work and waste involved to make a Windsor or ladder back chair. But it's fun. Too bad I don't burn wood.
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