Consider a Red Oak Butcher Block Countertop for Your Kitchen Remodel
What distinguishes Appalachian Red Oak is its reddish tone and the similarity between the species’ heartwood and sapwood. As you might expect, red oak is slightly redder than white oak. Its heartwood – wood at the core of the tree – is slightly darker in color than its sapwood – wood found in the tree’s outer rings. The grain structure of red oak is open (i.e., porous) and slightly coarser than white oak. Overall, it’s a stiff and dense wood that resists regular wear and can withstand heavy blows.
John Boos’ Butcher Block Legacy Dates Back to the Late 1800s
Boos & Co. makes these lovely and durable oak butcher block counter tops in the US Midwest. Company founders made their first Boos Block in 1887. Since then Boos has learned a thing or two about making the highest quality butchers’ blocks that can last a lifetime.
Boos Oak Tops for Counters and Islands Come in Edge-Grain and Blended Styles
Oak countertops made in edge-grain style utilize wood staves arranged to show the wood’s “edge” grain on its surface; that’s the wood you’ll find on the edge of a plank cut from the trunk of an oak tree. Each wood stave runs the full-length of the butcher block, providing a clean, repeating look.
Edges of oak planks can also be seen on the surface of a blended oak butcher block, but each rail or row of a blended block requires multiple pieces to span the block's full length (except for the outside rails of the block, which are full-length boards). Oak pieces are finger-jointed together then rotated 90 degrees so that no unsightly joints show on the block's surface. Blended blocks reveal a more intricate and some say, interesting look that somewhat resembles a patchwork quilt.
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