This sturdy hardwood was a mainstay for shipwrights in the age of the tall ship, being very resistant to moisture as well as being very easy to work with in terms of cutting and fastening. The use of white oak was common to the eastern United States, as well as in the Midwestern Great Lakes region, where many ocean going ships were constructed with this species of hardwood. White oak makes excellent hardwood flooring board because of its strength and general durability. The white oak wood itself is as descriptively light in color, with subtle touches of brown highlighting it.

Easy to work with and resistant to moisture, white oak hardwoods have long been used as timber for ship making. Those same properties make white oak hardwoods attractive for flooring use, in addition to their durability, heaviness, and lightness in color. Other common uses are in furniture, flooring, architectural millwork, mouldings, doors, kitchen cabinets, paneling, barrel staves (tight cooperage) and caskets.

The sapwood is light-colored and the heartwood is light to dark brown. White oak is mostly straight-grained with a medium to coarse texture, with longer rays than red oak. White oak therefore has more figure. White oak possesses a hard and heavy wood with medium bending and crushing strength, a low stiffness, but very good steam bending, and is very resistant to wear.

See additional hardwood flooring types.