What Colour is Oak?

Sounds like a weird question, but actually we get asked variations on this fairly often. So firstly,

what colour is fresh oak?

The bark is of course a grey brown colour, The sap wood inside is a golden honey coloured timber with a darker heart wood in the centre of the trunk.

what colour is seasoned oak?

Oak initially retains its honey colour when seasoned, but over time it changes to a light grey which over time darkens again to create the gun-metal colour that you see on timbers within old buildings. When it reaches this point it is extremely hard and difficult to work with but also extremely strong.