Oak : Prime and Light Character

The two main grades of kiln dried European Oak that we supply are prime grade and light character. There are defining characteristics for each of these grades which you should keep in mind when choosing your timber.

Light Character

Light Character is cheaper of the two grades and is the more traditional grade as it contains knots. The knots in a light character piece of timber will not be large dead knots that might be found in a rustic piece of timber but are small sound knots.

Prime Quality

The top grade of kiln dried Oak we supply is prime quality. This is the most knot free Oak available, although it is important to remember there will still be small infrequent pin knots in the timber.

Both of these grades are available as Sawn to size, planed all round and machined to profile boards e.g. cladding and flooring.

Other Available KD Grades

A1 Face – We have a range of Oak slats and packs available in A1 Face grade. This grade is prime on one face and light character on the other. This is handy when the timber is being used for machined products like cladding and decking where only one face is seen.

FAS – The FAS (derived from the old first and second grade) is available in American White Oak.

Rustic – Rustic Oak is available in flooring and is what people go for when they want a truly traditional look. The boards contain many knots with some of them being large knots.