Solid Wood Flooring

Solid wood flooring comes in many varieties of wood, width, thickness and colour to suit almost any requirement. Solid wood flooring is secret or surface nailed onto joists or a quality sub-floor, but can also be glued onto a concrete or wood sub-floor with plenty of allowance for wood expansion. With the proper care and attention, your solid wood floor will last a lifetime and, like a good wine will improve with age. 

A close up of a solid wood board with a tongue and groove profile can be seen below.

Solid Wood board with a Tongue and Groove Profile 

Solid wood flooring differs from engineered flooring in that it is cut directly from the log and as its name suggest it is one piece of solid wood. 

Engineered flooring on the other hand is a solid wood veneer that is bonded to a plywood backing board.

This difference in structure between solid and engineered flooring determines a completely different set of uses and installation methods for each type of flooring.

Solid wood flooring is available Unfinished or Prefinished. Unfinished enables you to colour and finish your floor to your exact requirements, onsite, once the floor has been fitted.

Prefinished has the advantage of being quicker to fit, less mess and is ready to use straight away.

Some Advantages of Solid Wood Flooring Compared to Engineered Flooring

• Huge selection of styles from Modern to Antique
• Huge variety of widths and lengths. From 57mm wide right up to 380mm wide. Random widths can be used to create extra character and individuality
• Life of any wood floor is up to the tongue, this is usually about 8mm in solid wood as opposed to 6mm or less in engineered boards.
• Square edged boards have no tongue so floors can be sanded over and over.
• Very versatile to create the exact look you require, this is not as achievable with engineered floors as the boards are precisely machined and look very uniform
• Reclaimed wood is available in Solid format only.
• Solid wood can look a lot better than many of the Engineered ranges available, however with advanced production methods the 20mm thick engineered boards now can look exactly the same as a solid wood floor.

Disadvantages of Solid Wood Flooring over Engineered Flooring

• Not as stable as Engineered flooring. Solid wood expands, contracts and warps to a greater extent than Engineered flooring
• Not suitable for areas where there is any moisture present. Eg Cellars, Bathrooms, damp rooms etc
• Cannot be used with under floor heating

To find out more about installing a solid wood or engineered floor please read more about our Installation Service.

When making a comparison of different types of flooring, like comparing solid wood flooring to engineered wood flooring, it is important to compare like for like products.

For example you would compare a 20mm board solid with a 20mm engineered board, both of the same type of wood, finish and grade.  This will give you a true comparison.

To find out more about our complete and comprehensive selection of solid wood call us now. To arrange an appointment call London 0207 125 0009, Berkshire 0118 329 0071 or click here and fill out the form to send us a message.