White oak has been having a moment in interior design for a few years now, but shipbuilders have known its worth for centuries. In this Q&A, Matt touches on the carpenter-to-client process, the wood itself and the benefits of white oak.
I’m going to share a bit of a secret about running our small business. While you may see Matt in a lot of the content we share online, he doesn’t always love being the face of BirchBarn Designs. He would much prefer the designs and products he creates to market itself. But as a career-long marketer, I know we have to strike a balance in a busy marketplace.
What Matt does enjoy and is more apt to participate in is when I ask him to talk about different projects. He can wax about flaws, knots and the fingerprint of a slab of wood for hours. We recently got a shipment of Rustic White Oak lumber to have on hand for custom work, which has proven helpful for clients to be able to see the raw lumber before a project commences.
White oak has been having a moment in interior design for a few years now, but shipbuilders have known its worth for centuries as its strength, durability and workability stands up against saltwater. Aesthetically, it’s also extremely versatile in a variety of interior settings.
Matt just completed a white oak countertop project for a client on the ocean. In this Q&A, he touches on the carpenter-to-client process, the wood itself and the benefits of white oak.
What was the client looking for?
The client was looking for something unique and, originally, it was probably white oak that we were leaning toward. A lot of people are drawn to driftwood, and reclaimed which is challenging in that there is not a place to always source driftwood and reclaimed. You can’t always just go to the lumber yard to find reclaimed wood. You have to match the dimensions for the project and reclaimed dimensions are a lot harder to work with than regular lumber. But we had just gotten in this rustic white oak and I said, you should come check this out. It’s cool. We can fill in all of the knots with black epoxy. It will be a unique piece on its own.
Did the client have a particular style in mind?
Well the home is right on the ocean. It needed to be something that didn’t conflict with the cabinets. White oak alone goes with a lot of things. We’ll use it when customers have a handful of species that they are trying to pull all together but they are trying not to use the same thing. They might have a dark floor and then they’ll have another species for mantles or shelves. They don’t necessarily want to use the same woods so we’ll propose white oak because it will bring everything together. Having three different species in one area of a home is not uncommon.
How are you feeling about this project?
Board layout can be really challenging. A lot of times, there is no wrong answer, it’s what {the carpenter] thinks is best. Even after you think you’ve put a lot of thought into it, and everything is glued up, you are still questioning yourself – why did I do that? The boards don’t get laid down randomly, there is a method to the madness. But that doesn’t always mean it’s the only method to madness. Working with rustic wood is more challenging than working with clear, dimensional lumber…. For instance, when I was laying out this countertop, I didn’t want the knots to line up straight across, but that’s tougher than it sounds. The knots would randomly end up in a line, so then I tried alternating the knots so it wasn’t a straight line. I’d think it looked good but then look at it again and see a diagonal going across the knots – It makes it a little more challenging and you have to be more mindful of how you are viewing the layout because with a clear countertop, it is clear. When it comes to rustic species, you are still trying to make the whole thing absolutely perfect, but that’s not what the wood actually is.
Why White Oak?
Well since bringing in this material in, we’ve done about four projects with it. It definitely says a lot about having the material on hand because if we didn’t have it in the shop, to be able to explain it to a customer is a lot more challenging. If I said, hey we can get some White Oak, it has knots in it versus having it on hand where you can show them and walk them through it visually.
When you talk about knots with a client do they get a little nervous?
Yes they do. They can get a little nervous and they say well I like that knot but not that knot. But you can’t avoid it. We had this one piece where they must have taken a chainsaw and cut out a bolt that would have been in there. There was like a tic-tac-toe cutout in the center of the board, but that’s a one off. We laid out like nine boards for a client and they said we like them all except one, so that worked great.
What do you like about Rustic White Oak?
I like that it’s unique. It’s polished, but it’s still rustic. The rustic isn’t just knots falling out in a rough surface and splintery kind of rustic – when it’s sanded down and polished, the knots and the grain all pop and each board has its own fingerprint versus a clear white oak or anything else where the grain varies but not to the extent of rustic white oak. There’s also something about the black epoxy that just enhances the look of the countertop.
What caused the holes in the wood? It’s kind of neat to think about the story behind the flaws in the wood.
{looking over the countertop} This looks like there was a beetle that could have been in there. There were insects burrowing through there. I didn’t even think it was noticeable until the wood was planed down.
Stay tuned as we’re hoping to highlight the table once it’s installed.
