Timber Cladding / Oak
European oak has a long tradition of use in the UK, left unfinished and allowed to weather to a natural silver grey, in which state it has lasted for many centuries without maintenance.
European oak has a long tradition of use in the UK left unfinished and allowed to weather to a natural silver grey, in which state it has lasted for many centuries without maintenance. There are now extensive forests of oak all over Europe and a large and expanding resource in the British Isles.
Fixings should be designed to allow some movement to avoid splits developing, e.g. oversize screw holes etc, and be of non-ferrous or plated steel to avoid staining. The surface finish is likely to develop small checks and some moisture movement will take place in the sections.
Technical data
- Wood type - Hardwood
- Environmental - Available from well-managed sources. FSC and PEFC.
Distribution - UK, France. - Tree - Reaches a height of 18m to 30m. Diameters are about 1.2m to 2m.
- Timber - The sapwood is 25mm to 50mm wide and lighter in colour than the heartwood which is yellowish-brown. Quarter-sawn surfaces show a distinct silver-grain figure due to the broad rays. The annual rings are clearly marked by alternating zones of early-wood consisting of large pores, and dense late-wood. Conditions of growth accordingly govern the character of the wood to a great extent; for example, in slowly grown wood the proportion of dense late-wood is reduced in each annual growth-ring, thus tending to make the wood soft and light in weight.
- Drying - Oak dries very slowly with a marked tendency to split and check, particularly in the early stages of drying, and there is considerable risk of honeycombing if the drying is forced, especially in thick sizes. End and top protection must be provided to freshly sawn stock exposed to sun and drying winds, and sticker thickness should be reduced to about 12mm for stock piled in the open air during early spring and onwards until winter.
- Strength - Oak has well known high strength properties.
- Working Qualities - Medium to difficult.
- Durability - Durable.
- Treatability - Extremely difficult for vacuum pressure processes. (BS EN 350-2)
- Moisture Movement - Medium. (Refers to the dimensional changes that occur when dried timber is subjected to changes in atmospheric conditions.)
- Density (mean, kg/m³) 720Kg/m3 at 15% moisture content
- Texture - Medium to coarse.
- Use(s) - Heavy structural use, Cladding, Exterior joinery, Interior joinery, Furniture, Flooring
- Colour(s) - Yellow brown.
