Solid Oak Flooring   Engineered Oak UK

Wooden Oak Flooring has developed over the past 20 years and there are now more products and choices available than ever before. You can fit oak wood flooring in any room of the house now, including bathrooms, kitchens and even utility rooms, with the right product.

Choosing the Right Floor Type There are three types of wood flooring, solid wood floorsSolid, engineered wood flooring and Laminate flooring. An explanation of these types of flooring can be found here.

You should consider what purpose the flooring will serve and what room it is going to be laid in before you buy. Engineered wood flooring is often a better choice for kitchens, bathrooms and rooms (and even houses) where there is a large change in temperature across the different seasons. This is because engineered wood flooring is designed to prevent any movement in the wood, to keep it uniform and in place.

In country homes, barn conversions and period properties solid wood flooring is often preferred over engineered flooring because the result can look more authentic. Small distortions in a solid wood floor will add character to a home keep in style with the rest of the home.

Pre-Finished or Unfinished? There are advantages to both.

Unfinished
Choosing an unfinished floor will mean that the floor needs to be sanded* and finished once it has been fitted. You can do this yourself although it is recommended that you get an experienced professional to complete this on your behalf. You can experiment with different colours and types of stains on the off cuts of wood from the installation. There will inevitably be some dust and some noise made from the finishing process and no one will be allowed to walk on the floor for at least 12 hours after finishing. Sanding and finishing your floor on site will give you a totally unique hand finished smooth wood floor.

Pre-Finished
Pre-finished flooring allows for a faster and less labour intensive installation. It takes out the hassle of choosing colours and sanding and finishing. You will get no dust and noise as a result.

Choosing a Finish/StainLots of choice here.

Surface Finishes
Smooth Wood Surface: Wood is finely sanded to give a smooth finish. Floorboards feel smooth to touch. A smooth finish gives a more contemporary look.

Brushed Wood Surface: After sanding, a fine wire wheel is brushed along the top of the wood to remove softer growth rings of summer and reveal a strong and beautiful winter grain. This gives the floorboards more character and texture. You can feel the grain when you touch the wood.

Distressed Surface: Wood is carefully sanded to give a slightly smoother texture than a brushed surface and a more ‘polished’ finish.

Hand Finished: For ultimate luxury flooring. Carefully created with great attention and care to ‘age’ the wood, giving it an authentic look as though its been in place for years. Ideal for traditional country homes, period properties, barn conversions and anyone who wants to achieve the look of an authentic aged wood floor.

Unfinished
Unfinished flooring has been sanded and is ready to be fitted but has not yet had a finishing product applied.

Suits: Any room as you can apply whatever finish you like. You can create a truly unique looking floor with unfinished flooring as you can choose from literally hundreds of different coloured stains and oils.

Satin Lacquer Finish
Satin finishes give a soft reflective shine when looked at across a room as it catches the light. A satin lacquer finish is both easy to clean and hard wearing.

Suits: Contemporary design, “high traffic” areas like hallways

Matt Lacquer Finish
A Matt finish keeps the wood looking very natural and really highlights the wood’s colour and grain. Helps show off the character of the floor like an oiled finish without the distracting reflections. Matt lacquers are easy to maintain and long lasting.

Suits: Contemporary and more traditional homes, “high traffic” areas like hallways.

Oak Oiled
An oiled floor keeps the wood looking natural whilst highlighting its beauty and character. An oiled finish will protect the wood but will need slightly more care and maintenance than lacquered flooring.

Suits: Traditional country homes, period properties and barn conversions.

You can find environmentally friendly stains and finishes should you wish to use as many eco friendly products as possible.

You need to work out the area of the room you want the flooring fitted to make sure you order the correct amount of floorboards. When ordering your flooring you need to allow for cutting waste, so it is recommended that you purchase 10% extra flooring to ensure that you are not left short.

If your room is a square or rectangle shape: Using a tape measure, record both the length and the width of the room. Then to get the area of the room, multiply the length by the width. E.g. if the room is 5m long and 5m wide then you would multiply 5 x 5 = 25M2. Then you add 10% for cutting waste so 25M2 + 10% = 27.5M2.

If your room is an irregular shape you can try breaking the area up into smaller imaginary rectangles or squares. Then use the instructions above to calculate the areas of each of these areas. Once you have done that you can add them all up and you will have the total flooring area.

When ordering your flooring you need to allow for cutting waste, so it is recommended that you purchase 10% extra flooring to ensure that you are not left short. For advice on how to work out the area of your room in M2 read our How to Measure Your Room guide

Preparing your wooden floor
Make sure underfloor is dry and level

Sub Floor
A concrete floor needs a DPM underfloor
Plywood/Chipboard or existing floorboards need an underfloor without DPM – this is for the floating installation method. Use a normal foam underlayment instead.

Do Not using secret nailing method on chipboard.

Sub floor must be just one type before laying, cannot have a mixture of part plywood, part concrete etc.

Concrete Floor
A concrete floor is not suitable to lay floorboards over if it is not completely dry. It takes 1 month for each 2.5cm thickness to dry.

Joists & Battens
Keep joists/battens to a max of 40cm apart (ideally no more than 35cm) and a minimum of 5cm in height (any less will make secretly nailing impossible).
New wood floor must be a minimum of 18mm thick to carry weight effectively, unless you fit plywood (this must be at least 18mm thick) to the joists/battens first.

Moisture & Temperature Changes
Rooms with potentially high moisture content – Bathrooms, Kitchens, Utility Rooms – Engineered oak flooring is most suitable for these rooms

Rooms with potential for swift varying temperatures - Entrance/Corridor/Hallways and conservatories/garden rooms.

General Installation Methods
There a 4 main methods of installing an oak floor, with each one having different advantages.

1. Nailing – This is a more traditional flooring installation method. Regularly used with thinner floorboards.

2. Staples - Staples replace the role of nails in fixing the floor to the subfloor. It is easier to fit a floor using staples.

3. Glue – Both parquet and engineered floorboards suit this method of installation. The flooring is glued down to the subfloor with an adhesive, specifically designed for the job.

4. Floating – An easy and quick installation method. The wood does not get attached to the subfloor, it just ‘floats’ on top. You will either:
- Glue the floorboards to each other (to prevent movement)
- Use floorboards that are manufactured to ‘click’ together as they are fitted. This is called “click lock” or “click plank” flooring.
To protect against moisture build up with a floating floor, a pad will be used between the subfloor and the floating floor. This will also help with noise levels. Floating floors are suitable for fitting over almost all subfloors.

Installing a floating hardwood floor is certainly the best installation method for a DIY-er.

Installing Wide Solid Oak Flooring

Introduction Please be aware that the following information is only a guide and the proper installation of solid oak flooring requires a knowledgeable, experienced person to make sure that the wood is fitted properly.

To Age & Soften Unfinished Floorboard Joints Scrap and bang around with an old piece of metal to “roughen up” edges of boards. This will take off the hard machined edge.

Acclimatisation Period It is strongly recommended that the floorboards are left in the room they are to be fitted in for at least 7 days prior to installation to acclimatise to the new surrounding temperature and humidity. The longer you can leave the floorboards in the room, the better. Any cupping in boards, through storage, will be pulled back and held flat as fitting and fixing starts.

Laying/Fitting Methods The best way to fit our widest solid oak flooring (220mm+) is the traditional way of surface nailing with 65mm flooring brads (tool used for nailing flooring to joists) into wooden battens/joists.

This looks more authentic for older style properties and holds the floorboards in place to help avoid cupping in the future.

Battens must be at least 36mm in depth to give proper support otherwise they will break or twist under tension. It is recommended that the floorboards are laid across the floor joists and not parallel to them to strengthen & stabilise the entire floor structure. The boards are all tongue and groove to limit any cupping that would be found in traditional lap joints.

Cement Screed If there is a cement screed then the battens can be fitted onto this prior to nailing on the floorboards. As with all wood flooring it is essential that you check the screed is clean and dry before beginning to lay the floorboards.

Expansion As a general rule of thumb it is advised that some expansion gaps are allowed for within the floor, which can be achieved by leaving a small washer gap of 2mm every 8-10 rows.

Secret Nailing Secret nailing can be used if you do not want the nails showing. However with the widest boards (280mm) surface fixing by nails or “screw and plug” is preferable.

Gluing Although we do not recommend gluing very wide oak solid floorboards, some clients in the past have glued the 150mm and 180mm floorboards without any problems.

Underfloor Heating Engineered flooring is best used with underfloor heating.

General Installation Methods
There a 4 main methods of installing an oak floor, with each one having different advantages.

1. Nailing – This is a more traditional solid oak flooring installation method. Regularly used with thinner floorboards.

2. Staples - Staples replace the role of nails in fixing the floor to the subfloor. It is easier to fit a floor using staples.

3. Glue – Both parquet and engineered floorboards suit this method of installation. The flooring is glued down to the subfloor with an adhesive, specifically designed for the job.

4. Floating – An easy and quick installation method. The wood does not get attached to the subfloor, it just ‘floats’ on top. You will either:
- Glue the floorboards to each other (to prevent movement)
- Use floorboards that are manufactured to ‘click’ together as they are fitted. This is called “click lock” or “click plank” flooring.
To protect against moisture build up with a floating floor, a pad will be used between the subfloor and the floating floor. This will also help with noise levels. Floating floors are suitable for fitting over almost all subfloors.

Installing a floating hardwood floor is certainly the best installation method for a DIY-er.

Installing Wide Engineered Oak Flooring

Introduction Please be aware that the following information is only a guide and the proper installation of engineered oak flooring requires a knowledgeable, experienced person to make sure that the wood is fitted properly.

Due to the nature of engineered oak floorboards, using the Floating installation method would be a quick and easy fitting method or you can glue the floorboards to the subfloor. Both methods are explained above under General Installation Methods

The process of acclimatising your floor is where you leave your new floorboards in the room they are going to be fitted in for a period of time to allow the wood to acclimatise to the new surroundings, including the new humidity and temperature. Depending on what flooring type you choose will determine how long you need to acclimatise the wood flooring for.

Solid Oak Floorboards: It is recommended that solid oak floorboards sit in the room they are to be fitted in for as long as reasonably possible before installation. A Minimum of 10 days is recommended. The floorboards must be stored in the room they are to be fitted in, not in the garage, outside or in any other room.

Engineered Oak Floorboards: Can be fitted immediately upon delivery, however it will do your floor no harm to sit and wait in the room for 2-3 days, just to be on the safe side.

Pre-Finished or Unfinished?
There are advantages to both.

Unfinished
Choosing an unfinished floor will mean that the floor needs to be sanded* and finished once it has been fitted. You can do this yourself although it is recommended that you get an experienced professional to complete this on your behalf. You can experiment with different colours and types of stains on the off cuts of wood from the installation. There will inevitably be some dust and some noise made from the finishing process and no one will be allowed to walk on the floor for at least 12 hours after finishing. Sanding and finishing your floor on site will give you a totally unique hand finished smooth wood floor.
*Some unfinished products will only need a light sanding or no further sanding at all as they will have been sanded already by the manufacturer

Pre-Finished
Pre-finished flooring allows for a faster and less labour intensive installation. It takes out the hassle of choosing colours and sanding and finishing. You will get no dust and noise as a result.

Choosing a Finish/Stain
Lots of choice here.

Surface Finishes
Smooth Wood Surface: Wood is finely sanded to give a smooth finish. Floorboards feel smooth to touch. A smooth finish gives a more contemporary look.

Brushed Wood Surface: After sanding, a fine wire wheel is brushed along the top of the wood to remove softer growth rings of summer and reveal a strong and beautiful winter grain. This gives the floorboards more character and texture. You can feel the grain when you touch the wood.

Distressed Surface: Wood is carefully sanded to give a slightly smoother texture than a brushed surface and a more ‘polished’ finish.

Hand Finished: For ultimate luxury flooring. Carefully created with great attention and care to ‘age’ the wood, giving it an authentic look as though its been in place for years. Ideal for traditional country homes, period properties, barn conversions and anyone who wants to achieve the look of an authentic aged wood floor.

Unfinished
Unfinished flooring has been sanded and is ready to be fitted but has not yet had a finishing product applied.

Suits: Any room as you can apply whatever finish you like. You can create a truly unique looking floor with unfinished flooring as you can choose from literally hundreds of different coloured stains and oils.

Satin Lacquer Finish
Satin finishes give a soft reflective shine when looked at across a room as it catches the light. A satin lacquer finish is both easy to clean and hard wearing.

Suits: Contemporary designed spaces.

Matt Lacquer Finish
A Matt finish keeps the wood looking very natural and really highlights the wood’s colour and grain. Helps show off the character of the floor like an oiled finish without the distracting reflections. Matt lacquers are easy to maintain and long lasting.

Suits: Contemporary designed spaces.

Oak Oiled
An oiled floor keeps the wood looking natural whilst highlighting its beauty and character. An oiled finish will protect the wood but will need slightly more care and maintenance than lacquered flooring.

Suits: Traditional country homes, period properties and barn conversions. Scuff marks or scrapes can be more easily repaired than with a lacquered finish.

You can find environmentally friendly stains and finishes should you wish to use as many eco friendly products as possible.

Engineered floorboards are recommended for use with underfloor heating, to prevent cupping and distortion of the floor. If underfloor heating is installed in the concrete or its been covered with plywood then your new wood floor should be glued down and the floating installation method is not recommended.

By Telephone You can call us on 01903 892 012 anytime between 8.30am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday to place your order over the phone.

On the Wide Oak Flooring Website To order on our website, locate the product you would like to purchase and click on the buy now button. You will be directed to a page where you can choose the quantity of flooring you wish to buy and some other options relating to delivery and whether you wish to purchase any other products. After you have keyed in the appropriate information the website will take your payment details and once you have placed your order you will be sent an email confirmation with details of your order.

Once we have received your order a member of staff will contact you to arrange a suitable delivery date and time.

UK Delivery
All orders of 60M2 and above will automatically qualify for free UK delivery. Orders below 60M2 will incur a delivery charge. The cost of delivery for orders below 60M2 will vary and will be determined by several factors, including location and size of order. Please email us at info@wide-oakflooring.com or telephone 01903 892 012 for a delivery quote.

You must visually inspect your entire order and make a note on the delivery report of any issues regarding the condition of the goods and/or any missing/additional items.

All deliveries will be curbside unless previously agreed with a member of staff from Wide Oak Flooring. Therefore you must make sure someone is home to receive the delivery and bring the goods into your home or office. The driver will not enter your home unless previously agreed.

Only once you have checked that all the goods you ordered have arrived and are in good order should you let the driver leave. In the unlikely event that any of the goods you receive are damaged or you are missing some items you must write this down on the delivery note before the driver leaves. Otherwise we may be unable to replace these items.

Overseas Delivery
Delivery to overseas addresses (and delivery to the Channel Islands, the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man) will need to be discussed via telephone as the delivery charge will vary depending on your location and the size of your order. Please give us a call on 01903 892 012 or fill in our contact form and a member of staff will be in touch.

Minimum Order Quantity
There is a minimum order quantity of 15M2 on all our solid and engineered flooring. However this rises to 25M2 on our Unfinished Prime Grade Solid Oak Floorboard range.

Refunds, Returns & Cancellations
The Distance Selling Regulations 2000 gives all customers the option to cancel orders up to 7 days after receiving the goods from the seller, as long as you conform with all the guidelines it sets out in the “Distance Selling Regulations”.

Following confirmation from a member of staff at Wide Oak Flooring, you must return goods that you have already taken delivery of at your own expense within 30 days of receipt to qualify for a full refund. They must be re-packed in the same manner as they were received.

Refunds will be made to the payment card that was originally used to purchase the goods within 5 working days of cancellation.

Orders must be cancelled via email info@wide-oakflooring.com or in writing to the address stated on our Contact Us Page.

Delivery Times
Estimated date of delivery is usually within 2 weeks from order. However some of our flooring is hand finished upon order and so delivery can take up to 4 weeks from order. On larger orders of over 100M2 the estimated delivery date may be up to 3 weeks from order.

(The above terms apply to Internet Sales Only)

Dispatch Policy Make every effort to ensure all items shown are in stock we do not guarantee availability and this website publication does not offer constitute and offer of sale

Delivery is normally between 10am-6pm Monday-Saturday but delivery can be arranged for Sunday in some circumstances. Once you have placed your order a member of staff will call you to arrange a delivery time.

UK Delivery
All orders of 50M2 and above will automatically qualify for free UK delivery. Orders below 50M2 will incur a delivery charge of 80.00.

You must visually inspect your entire order and make a note on the delivery report of any issues regarding the condition of the goods and/or any missing/additional items.

All deliveries will be curbside unless previously agreed with a member of staff from Wide Oak Flooring. Therefore you must make sure someone is home to receive the delivery and bring the goods into your home or office. The driver will not enter your home unless previously agreed.

Only once you have checked that all the goods you ordered have arrived and are in good order should you let the driver leave. In the unlikely event that any of the goods you receive are damaged or you are missing some items you must write this down on the delivery note before the driver leaves. Otherwise we may be unable to replace these items.

Overseas Delivery
Delivery to overseas addresses (and delivery to the Channel Islands, the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man) will need to be discussed via telephone as the delivery charge will vary depending on your location and the size of your order. Please give us a call on 01903 892 012 or fill in our contact form and a member of staff will be in touch.

Minimum Order Quantity
There is a minimum order quantity of 15M2 on all our solid and engineered flooring. However this rises to 25M2 on our Unfinished Prime Grade Solid Oak Floorboard range.

Refunds, Returns & Cancellations
The Distance Selling Regulations 2000 gives all customers the option to cancel orders up to 7 days after receiving the goods from the seller, as long as you conform with all the guidelines it sets out in the "Distance Selling Regulations".

Following confirmation from a member of staff at Wide Oak Flooring, you must return goods that you have already taken delivery of at your own expense within 30 days of receipt to qualify for a full refund. They must be re-packed in the same manner as they were received.

Refunds will be made to the payment card that was originally used to purchase the goods within 5 working days of cancellation.

Orders must be cancelled via email info@wide-oakflooring.com or in writing to the address stated on our Contact Us Page

Delivery Times
Estimated date of delivery is usually within 2 weeks from order. However some of our flooring is hand finished upon order and so delivery can take up to 4 weeks from order. On larger orders of over 100M2 the estimated delivery date may be up to 3 weeks from order.

Product Warranties
If your flooring is not installed correctly, a damp proof membrane is not used on a ground floor or incorrect underlay is put down then this will affect your product warranty.

Colour Variation
Although samples give a good indication of what the floor will look like, as wood is a natural product it is possible that small samples (those which are sent out in the post) may not represent exactly what the entire floor will look like, with regards to colour and grain detail. This may also be true of the pictures used on the site although every effort possible goes into making sure these pictures are as fully representative of the floor as possible.

Many of our wide oak flooring products come with lifetime manufacturers warranties. However, the length of warranty can vary depending on the product. Always check on the product information pages for warranty advice on individual flooring products.

Wide Oak Flooring supplies wide solid oak and engineered oak floorboards that are specially selected for their beauty and character. The oak used is Prime Grade and displays all the charm and individuality of antique or reclaimed floorboards but at a fraction of the cost.

Investing in wide oak flooring ensures you will achieve a truly spectacular floor!

The Wide Oak Flooring Company is a family run business which offers several advantages for it’s customers:

1. Personal customer service – you will never have to deal with call centres and a member of the family will always be on hand to answer your questions.

2. Lower costs for lower prices – we have just a couple of employees who work from a small office close to home. This enables us to keep our overheads low and keep our prices very competitive as a result.

3. We only supply oak flooring – Storing lots of different types of floorboards means costly storage facilities. So supplying only oak floorboards reduces the storage space needed and again keeps our overheads low, meaning we can offer our customers the best prices possible.

What Our Customers Say

“Thank You for Arranging Delivery so Quickly, This was Crucial for Getting our Project Finished on Time”
N Smithers, Bognor Regis, West Sussex.

“The Flooring Looks Fantastic…Many Thanks” C Shoubridge, Horsham, West Sussex

“This is Beautiful Flooring….Just What I was Looking For, Thank You”
D Jenkins, Beaconsfield, Bucks

“Thanks for getting back to me with info so fast...”
L Manning, Maidstone, Kent

The majority of our floorboards come from managed and replanted forests in Europe.
We have extensive recycling facilities at our offices and warehouse in Ashington, West Sussex whereby all unused paper and cardboard is actively recycled on site and then taken away to be reused.
All our invoices are sent via email unless otherwise requested by the customer. All our empty ink cartridges used in printing are also recycled and reused.

We have several sample floorboards and brochures to view at our office in Ashington, West Sussex. If you would like to come and visit the office please call beforehand to book an appointment to ensure someone is there to greet you and we are not already busy in meetings etc. Call 01903 892 012 to book your appointment now.

• Oak flooring is a great investment as it will add value to your home
• Oak flooring is known to resist wear & tear far better than any other types of flooring, like carpets
• Oak flooring often lasts well over 100 years with minimal maintenance
• Maintenance of your oak floor can be done easily by the owner & is comparatively cheap
• Spillages on oak floors are much easier to clean up in comparison to carpets
• Oak flooring is hypoallergenic and environmentally friendly
• It is simple to re-finish or re-varnish an oak floor to protect it or remove scratches and stains
• Wide floorboards ensure an authentic look for period properties but at a fraction of the price of reclaimed wood.
• An oak floor says high class, quality, sophistication, great taste and character & will breathe life and warmth into the room it is laid in.

Lacquered Hardwood Floors
To ensure your new floor lasts for years to come we recommend Bona Spray Cleaner for regular to day to day cleaning. For periodic maintenance we recommend Bona parquet polish.

The following products may be useful for owners of a lacquered oak floor :

• Bona Wood Floor Clean Kit
• Bona Spray Cleaner
• Bona Parquet Polish

Oiled Hardwood Floors
To keep your oiled hardwood floor in excellent condition we recommend using Carl’s cleaner for day to day use. For periodic maintenance we recommend Carl’s Maintenance Oil, which will refresh your wood floor surface.

The following products may be useful for owners of an oiled oak floor :

• Standard Wood Floor Mop
• Carl’s Oil Cleaner
• Carl’s Maintenance Oil

Protection
The surface of an oak floor can be scratched or tarnished by furniture. To ensure your floor is kept in the best condition always use felt pads and castor cups on furniture.

The following products may be useful for owners hardwood floors :

• Feltguard Castor Cups
• Feltguard Felt Pads
• Feltguard Dining Room Set
• Tack Glide

1. Engineered oak floorboards look just as elegant and sophisticated as solid oak floorboards, due to the top layer of solid oak, but come without the hassle and worry of the possibility of movement and distortion associated with solid oak.

2. Engineered flooring is more cost effective than solid oak

3. Quick and easy to fit - can be glued or nailed.

4. No risk of cupping, shrinkage or distortion even if the room temperature varies from season to season.

5. No acclimatisation period necessary; your engineered floor can be fitted as soon as it arrives.

6. Perfect for use with underfloor heating – despite the dry environment that underfloor heating can cause there is no risk of distortion or shrinkage with engineered floorboards.

Engineered oak floorboards are equally as visually appealing as solid oak floorboards but come without the risk of the potential problems associated with solid oak (like expansion and distortion) due to the way they are manufactured.

An engineered floorboard comprises of a 6mm strip of solid oak, which is then applied to the top of a 15mm cross ply plank of wood via cold press (cold press gives a stronger and more stable hold than a hot press). This creates an extremely hardy and long lasting floor which will not expand or distort even in rooms with varying temperatures.

Select – This flooring has very subtle grain texture with slight variations in colour and only a few small knots. Suitable for more modern style properties, offices and restaurants.

Nature – Nature grade flooring may include a few small hairline cracks, knots and sapwood on the face. Compared to Character flooring, the colour and grain of the wood will be more clean and less noticeable.

Character – Character grade is a combination of both the Nature and Select Grades and includes some prominent variations in colour with larger open knots, small fissures and sapwood. Suitable for most renovation projects where you want the floor to have some character but still look fairly uniform.

Rustic – Rustic oak flooring has a fantastic lively, prominent appearance with lots of natural variations in colour and plenty of knots and fissures. Rustic flooring may contain heart and sapwood. Suitable for period properties, barn conversions, country manors and any traditionally styled spaces. Gives an aged and mature look.

Oak flooring is hypoallergenic and so can help allergy sufferers. Carpets attract dust mites whose faecal matter triggers allergic symptoms. Dust can also irritate or set off asthma or eczema. Oak flooring with small washable rugs is far easier (and less hard work) to keep free from dust mites and general dust and dirt than wall to wall carpets.

Whether you have oak flooring or not, try to ventilate your house every day, even if that means opening a window for just 10 minutes. This will help remove odours and can help remove dust and excess moisture.