Independent guide
Choosing wood flooring: construction, character and the right questions
A practical way to compare wood floors using product records, room requirements and representative samples.
Updated 2026-09-10
Compare actual products
Start a shortlist with named products, not just labels such as oak or engineered. Record the manufacturer, product code, construction, dimensions and finish for each one. This gives you something definite to compare when two samples look almost identical. It also stops a conversation about colour being mistaken for confirmation that a floor suits your room.
Write a short brief for the space alongside the shortlist: what the room is used for, whether it has underfloor heating, and whether keeping the existing floor level matters. Pass that brief to the supplier and prospective installer. Ask them to identify any missing information before you order.
Understand what the construction tells you
Solid boards are cut from one piece of wood. Engineered flooring combines a real wood surface with supporting layers, whose materials vary between products. The layered construction can improve dimensional stability, but engineered is not a promise that room conditions no longer matter.
Separate total board thickness from the thickness of the wood surface. Kährs distinguishes parquet from its thin-surface veneer flooring, which is not sandable. Ask for the renovation options for the exact product rather than assuming that every real wood floor can be sanded. If you are assessing an existing floor, its previous treatment history is another question for a renovation specialist.
Treat heating approval as a separate check
Do not decide underfloor-heating suitability from the words solid or engineered alone. Junckers provides instructions for particular solid hardwood systems over heated subfloors, demonstrating why a blanket ban on all solid wood would be misleading.
Ask for written compatibility covering your chosen floor and the proposed heating and installation arrangement. Give the installer the actual documents, rather than a screenshot of a retailer's tick box. Where different instructions appear to conflict, ask the manufacturers to resolve that conflict before committing. This guide does not provide heating design or installation limits.
Read character as well as colour
A product description may deliberately allow conspicuous knots, contrasting tones or filled features. Ask what the named grade permits; do not assume that the same label means the same appearance across your shortlist. Request several representative boards or a larger display if variation matters to you.
Look at samples beside the room's fixed finishes in daylight and evening lighting. Note what you like about each: a quieter pattern, a warmer tone or a more textured surface. Ask whether the colour is expected to change. Keep photographs as a reminder of your preferences, while recognising that a photograph is not a precise colour standard.
Finish with a decision record
Before choosing, put three questions against every remaining candidate: Is its suitability confirmed? Do I understand the permitted variation? Can I follow its care instructions? A missing answer is a reason to ask another question, even when the sample is the favourite.
Keep the selected product code, specification, care sheet and relevant written answers in one folder. Ask who will handle product questions and who will assess site suitability. This record is useful to you now and to anyone caring for the floor later. Next, read our finish comparison to examine the maintenance commitment behind the appearance.