Alternatives to Oak
Oak wood is very robust and therefore perfect for heavily used floors. It has also been considered an easily available raw material. However, due to high demand, oak forests are under stress.
Especially from the architecture and design scene, we receive more and more requests for alternatives. We offer truly equivalent options as well as completely new approaches.
Popular alternatives to oak wood
The Ash?
The Larch?
the Douglas Fir?
Product Portfolio
In addition to the common alternatives such as ash, larch, and spruce, mafi also offers wooden floors made from beech, fir, spruce, walnut, and Swiss stone pine. Especially the softwoods have an advantage over the typical oak parquet due to their good availability in large dimensions. It's no problem to find plank lengths of up to five meters and widths of up to 30 centimeters.
While thermally treated ash is often used as an alternative due to its similarity to oak, Swiss stone pine and fir are becoming more popular as characterful wood options. With an exceptionally pleasant fragrance and interesting grain patterns, these are two choices for those who want to bring nature closer to people. A highlight for all barefoot enthusiasts is the Fresco Collection on beech – with its very fine-pored structure compared to oak, it is ideal for this purpose.
Advantages of our Surface
All our natural wood floors have a natural surface that can be adjusted to mimic the appearance of oak through lyes, oils, or our thermal treatment. For instance, to adapt the lively grain of ash to the very fine grain of oak, white oil can be used to homogenize the surface. If you want ash to resemble the warm tone of the popular wood species, the thermal treatment provides a solution.