PREMIUM FRENCH OAK

What Makes French Oak the Best?

French Oak is grown and processed according to a very strict set of rules and guidelines, regulated by the Fédération Nationale du Bois (FNB) or the National Wood Federation. The FNB exist specifically to ensure the consistent high quality of timber produced in France and exported around the world for all sorts of purposes, from wine barrels to floor boards to furniture and much more. If you have a table made of real French Oak you can reasonably expect:

• It has come from one of just 2 species of oak tree, the best ones for furniture or course.

• It has been allowed to grow slowly (unlike American Oak for example) to maximise density, strength and other natural performance characteristics.

• It has reached a certain age / maturity before being felled for commercial use, which is not only ecologically sensible but again this maximises the natural beneficial properties of the material like hardness and strength.

• It has come from the specific section of the tree that is best for indoor furniture.

• It has been prepared to maximise longevity and durability through several stages of drying, firstly outdoors for a number of years and then a digitally-controlled, multi-stage seasoning process over several months, depending on the thickness of the sections.

• It will have a predictable level of character, natural features and colour variation according to the detailed French Oak grading system.

From our experience, the only caveat to this is that there are French sawmills that adhere to the regulations, and others that aren’t quite so trustworthy. The correct seasoning process takes a long time (and time = money) which makes the product expensive to produce to the French Oak standard. So if you’re buying a French Oak product, my advice (to save you learning the same hard lessons we have) is to make sure the maker / workshop is 1. using a lot of it and 2. they have been using their source for at least 2 years, because the standard of oak preparation only becomes clear around 12 months after it has been made into furniture. Ideally each source of oak should be tested and monitored for several years to gain a high level of confidence in the product that they produce.

Aftercare & Guarantee

Over the years we’ve formed close relationships with a handful of French Oak suppliers that we know and trust. We’ve used their timber to make lots of furniture, which we’ve closely monitored for movement.

Without this hands on experience, we’d have no way of knowing whether if the oak we use will develop uncorrectable movement problems such as cracking and warping. This is the reason that many furniture makers will not guarantee their product, or offer any sort of promise that it will last.

Having a great deal of trust in our source is one of the things that gives us a high level of confidence in the furniture that we make, and the ability to accurately predict it’s longevity. This is why each piece comes with our comprehensive guarantee and an aftercare service to ensure that it stays looking good and lasts you for a lifetime.

Ultra-Protective Induro Finish

All our French Oak comes with our ultra-protective Induro Oil finish as standard. If you want your table to stay looking like brand new with virtually no maintenance, this is the finish for you. In terms of stain resistance, nothing we’ve seen comes even close. It’s been tested against everything you can imagine, including turmeric, wine, olive oil and hot coffee. All of these can be wiped away with a lightly damp cloth. The finish can be easily refreshed in situ (if needed), unlike traditional lacquered finishes.

This is without a doubt, the best Oak finish that we’ve ever come across.