Set next to red oak, white oak reads noticeably cooler and quieter, its pore structure tighter and its grain running straighter instead of swirling. Astor takes advantage of that with a stain that leans grey-brown rather than gold, so the cool undertone underneath stays visible instead of getting buried. Wire-brushing drags shallow channels across the surface, breaking up the plank face so light scatters instead of pooling in one glossy strip. At a 7% gloss, that scattering effect is doing most of the work, keeping the finish from throwing a hard reflection back at a window. Character is rated High, so knots, mineral streaking and sapwood show through with real variation across the run, not smoothed over.
This grey-brown reading of Astor fits a bungalow's front rooms especially well, sitting easily against beadboard cream cabinetry and a sage wall, and holding its own next to a slate counter and brushed graphite hardware. Bungalow front rooms tend to get long afternoon sun through original double-hung windows, and that's exactly where a 7% gloss earns its keep on this Shaw Empire Oak Plank engineered hardwood. A higher-gloss floor in that kind of light would show every dust track and heel mark almost immediately. Here, the low sheen and the wire-brushed texture both work to break up reflection, so the floor reads clean between vacuum passes rather than needing constant wiping down.
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Shaw Empire Oak Plank SW583-01007 Astor 5" x Random Lengths up to 70.87" Engineered Wire Brushed White Oak Hardwood Flooring (29.53 SF/Box)