WHY CHOOSE STATEMENT OAK?

There are some important differences between our Statement Oak tops and other tops that use wide pieces of oak. These differences have implications for appearance and longevity. Firstly, in terms of table appearance, you will notice differences in how refined the top looks, the consistency of its appearance (consistency between the pieces), the overall quality, and its impact. In terms of longevity, when you use big, wide pieces of timber, the risks of cracking, warping and twisting are much greater.

CONTEXT: STANDARD OAK

To give some context, I’ll detail the process of creating our Standard French Oak tops (not using wide pieces of Oak) and then explain why you simply can’t do this with wide-piece tables.

Our Standard French Oak tops also come from a whole tree, but unlike our Statement Oak tops, we use mid-grade French Oak, so many of the pieces have imperfections. You may have some large cracks, really big knots, or other features where the timber has deteriorated.

So, when making our Standard Oak tops, we can only take the very best pieces from each tree and have to discard everything else. As such, our Standard Oak tops are just the top-quality parts of that tree (hence, we end up with much smaller planks that make up a Standard Oak top).

A DIFFERENT PROCESS: STATEMENT OAK

To make our Statement Oak tops (wide-piece oak tables), you can’t cherry-pick the best bits. You need whole pieces from the tree. So, you have to buy a much higher grade of wood with no imperfections preventing you from using the full pieces. As such, you can use whole, wide pieces, which gives you that refined look.

OTHER WIDE-PIECE TABLES ON THE MARKET

Some other wide-slab timber tables only use mid-grade or even low-grade timber. So they’re using whole pieces with big imperfections that should be cut out and thrown away, as they will result in quick deterioration over time. You’ve also got no consistency in the appearance because there are so many imperfections that they’ve tried to work around and solidify to make into a piece of furniture.

So, when you buy any table top made of wide pieces, you have to ensure that the correct grade has been chosen, allowing full pieces to be used without risk of significant deterioration. Otherwise, you’re essentially buying a cheap table that’s being made to look like something that it’s not, and it really isn’t going to last.