# Red oak hardwood flooring in Toronto — supply, grades and what to specify

**Is red oak the right hardwood floor for a Toronto home?**

Red oak is one of the seven principal tolerant hardwoods the Government of Ontario names, it is the second-largest hardwood growing stock in the province, and it is the species most Toronto homes already have. This dossier sets out what is actually published about its supply, its hardness and the grades it is sold in.

## Comparison

*What each NWFA/NOFMA oak grade permits, as published*

| Grade | Permits |
| --- | --- |
| Clear | Heartwood-dominant, minimal character. Up to 3/8" bright sapwood along the full length, small burls, fine pin worm holes, tight checks. |
| Select | Unlimited sound sapwood, one small tight knot per 3 ft, slightly open checks, machine burns to 1/4" wide. |
| No. 1 Common | Open characters — checks and knot holes — that are sound and fillable. Excludes broken knots over 1/2". |
| No. 2 Common | Sound natural forest variation and manufacturing imperfections. The NWFA calls it most desirable where prominent character is wanted. |

## Specification

| Item | Specification |
| --- | --- |
| Botanical name | Quercus rubra |
| Side hardness, 12% MC | 1,290 lbf (USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Wood Handbook Table 5-3b) |
| Ontario range | East of Lake Superior and across Central and Southern Ontario (Ontario Tree Atlas) |
| Ontario status | One of the seven principal tolerant hardwoods named by the Ministry of Natural Resources |
| Ontario growing stock | 85,019,702 m³ (Forest Resources of Ontario 2021) |
| US growing stock | 17.9% of the US total, 2.62 billion m³ (American Hardwood Export Council) |
| US annual growth against harvest | 60.6 million m³ grown against 31.9 million m³ harvested per year |
| Flooring grades published | Clear, Select, No. 1 Common, No. 2 Common (NWFA/NOFMA oak rules) |

## What goes wrong here

- Red oak and white oak are different woods and are routinely quoted as "oak". Red oak is 1,290 lbf against white oak at 1,360; the grain is more open and it takes stain differently. Ask for the botanical name on the quote.
- A very common claim — that red oak historically dominates Ontario housing stock — has no source we could find. We looked hard, found only unattributed blog content, and do not publish it. Neither should anyone quoting it to you.
- Ontario publishes growing stock, not hardwood harvest. Nobody can tell you what share of Toronto red oak flooring is Ontario-grown, because that number is not published by anyone.

## Related questions

### Is red oak harder than white oak?

No. The USDA Forest Products Laboratory publishes red oak at 1,290 lbf side hardness at 12% moisture content and white oak at 1,360 lbf. The difference is real but modest, and it is not the reason to choose between them — grain openness, colour and how each takes a stain matter more in a finished floor.

### Is red oak flooring sustainable?

On the published inventory, red oak grows considerably faster than it is cut: the American Hardwood Export Council records 60.6 million cubic metres of annual growth against 31.9 million cubic metres of annual harvest across the US resource, and Ontario holds a further 85,019,702 cubic metres of standing red oak. That is a statement about the resource, not about any individual supply chain — for that, ask who milled the boards.

### What grade of red oak flooring should I buy?

Grade is an appearance decision, not a durability one: the NWFA/NOFMA standard states that all grades are equally strong and serviceable in any application. Clear gives a near-uniform heartwood face, Select allows sapwood and small tight knots, and No. 1 and No. 2 Common carry progressively more character. Choose the look, then require the grade by name on the quote.

## Recommendation

Red oak is the correct default for matching or extending an existing Toronto hardwood floor, and a sound choice on its own merits. Specify the botanical species and the NWFA/NOFMA grade in writing; both are free to ask for and neither is usually offered.

Conditional on:

- If the floor is being matched to existing boards, red oak is very often what is already there — confirm by inspection, not by assumption.
- If a whiter, tighter grain is wanted, white oak is the comparison to make, and it is a different guide.


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## Provenance

- Canonical URL: https://ecowoods.ca/guides/red-oak-flooring-toronto
- Publisher: Ecowoods Inc., Toronto & the GTA
- Contact: (647) 244-5156 · services@ecowoods.ca
- Published: 2026-08-27
- Sources: https://ecowoods.ca/papers/where-toronto-hardwood-comes-from#tolerant-hardwoods, https://ecowoods.ca/papers/where-toronto-hardwood-comes-from#growing-stock, https://ecowoods.ca/papers/where-toronto-hardwood-comes-from#ash, https://ecowoods.ca/papers/hardwood-grading-standards-nhla-nwfa#nwfa-appearance
- Citation guide: https://ecowoods.ca/ai.txt

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