Oak: a new old favorite

A NYONE asked to name one of A ttre most versatile building materials around today would probably overlook oak flooring. After all, it's hardly new. Oak floors were used (and are still in service) in castles and palaces built hundreds of years ago in Europe. And yet .

A church in Ryan, Iowa, put 15,000 board feet of strip oak flooring on its sanctuary ceiling,and on the ceilings of various other rooms in the church and parsonage.

Two luxury suites of a new Far West convention/entertainment complex have oak flooring use on the walls for decorative effect.

A major West Coast department store chain is using oak flooring extensively as facilities are remodeled.

The $6.4 million remodeling of Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, New York City, completed last year, included installation of an oak floor for its acoustic properties.

And those are but a few of many examples the Oak Flooring Institute cites to show the versatility of their product and a resurgence of its popularity. The Institute is the promotion arm of the National Oak Flooring Manufacturers' Association, a trade organization of 28 producers whose principal function is to set grade standards and inspect member mills' output.

For last year, the Institute reports, hardwood flooring shipments from flooring plants in the U.S. totaled 109,3 14,000 board feet. That was an increase of ll% over the 1975 volume.

While residential construction continues to account for the major market for oak flooring, and the increased sales in 1976, the product is beginning to find its way into commercial buildings where its use would never have been considered a few years ago. This, says George Kelly, NOFMA managing director, is evidence ofchanges in styles and tastes and, he further suggests, national environmental concerns that tend to favor natural products and such renewable resources as lumber.

This trend is noted by a major West Coast flooring distributor who sees a "tremendous increase in use of oak flooring in offices, shops and other commercial establishments".

A Memphis architect whose firm specializes in design of custom houses and remodeling large older residences says "we never consider anything but oak flooring for our clients. Maybe that's to be expected here in the hardwood flooring capital of the world," he adds, "but I don't think so. Look through the prestigious interior design magazines and you'll see plenty of oak flooring used today in commercial as well as residential construction."

Elsewhere in the Oak Flooring Institute file of recent applications are:

. Plank flooring used by a bank for an exterior wall facing a mall walkway area.

. Strip flooring used to provide an interesting decorative treatment to the ticket counters of a new airport terminal.

. Oak flooring used to create a decorative but unobtrusive backdrop for the display area of a museum.

Finally, near-conclusive evidence of the growing interest in this centuriesold product is the action last year by the National Association of Floor Covering Distributors. This major trade association broadened its scope of interest to include hardwood and ceramic materials along with the traditional carpets and resilient products which for years had been the focus of members' concern.

Story at a Glance

Oak floor applications increase some of today's uses include strip oak on a church ceiling; the walls of Lincoln Center, N.Y., for its acoustical properties, department store walls for decorative effect, and exterior walls.

lN BEST Women's Lib style, the girls of 0range County Hoo-Hoo Club invited their bosses, boy friends and industry friends to the club's annual dinner dance. Present were a number of club officers, including the national president (1) Helen Robson, Trudy Smith, Karen Magnuson, national president;

Betty Shoener, Roberta Schroeder. (2) John Allen, Karen Hanson, Sheila and Burr Baldwin. (3) Doris Durnell, Wally and Joanie Wolf. (4) Marti Cutler, Rosie Gilbert, Gail Lamson, Sandie Lofland, (5) Tilley Miller, Nancy Alms. (6) Carol and Tom Mabin, Dennis and Virginia DeBritz, George 0tto.

(7) Ann Miyake, Bonnie Dunn. Chub Durnell. (8) Jon and Pamela Wolfe, Cindy Mazanet, Busty Bolton.(9) John and Cindy Mazanet, Rusty Bolton. (10) Susan Rankin, Sterling Wolfe, Jr. (11) Jeff Jahraus, Betty Shoener, Joe Jahraus. (12) Jim Cameron. (13) Ted Gilbert, Mark Lofland.