Oak Staircases
Oak staircases, manufactured solely from oak or a combination of timbers, have become very popular in recent years.
The reason for this popularity is simple, they look fantastic. Regardless of the historical and emotional appeal, oak is a beautiful honey-coloured timber, in its natural state, that has the distinct advantage of being very strong.
The visual appeal of oak is obvious, it’s there in front of you; the historical and emotional appeal is subliminal and probably only applies to a particular cohort of the population.
The tune ‘Heart of Oak’ is the official march of the Royal Navy, and it refers to a time when the Navy's sailing ships were built extensively from oak. A great deal of it is sourced from English forests. The Heart of the Oak is the strongest central part of the tree.
Such was the demand for Oak to supply the navy of Nelson that it has been suggested that the Navy's requirements stripped England of its forests although there are some recent studies that dispute this. Arguing that, much as today, there was sophisticated management of woodland which included extensive replanting of broadleaf trees.
The point of this is that if you install an oak staircase in your home, you will not be destroying the planet. You are using a resource that throughout Europe and North America has been carefully husbanded to ensure a constant supply of this fantastic building material.
At JDstaircases we only use timber that originates in FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council ) approved forests.
We definitely don't use trees like the one in the picture. Ancient trees are of little use to commercial manufacturers as they do not produce long straight planks.
As a tree they are beautiful but in reality, they are too bent and twisted and have too many branches at a low level. They may produce interesting timber for bespoke furniture manufacture but you would not want to use the timber from a tree like this to make a staircase.
The majority of oak used in the UK comes from European and North American FSC-approved forests where trees are planted close together to promote upward growth. If you are enjoying a walk in the woods and all of the trees are of a similar size and species you are almost certainly in a planned plantation.
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