How To Choose The Right Wood Floor

Wooden flooring will give an attractive natural foundation for your home’s aesthetic and should last a lifetime, but it can be tricky to know where to start when it comes to choosing wood flooring. As you will be living with your choice for many years, it’s easy to become a bit overwhelmed by all the options available to you.

At Chaunceys, our experts will be happy to talk you through your project and point you in the right direction, but feel free to read through the guidelines below which give an overview of the questions you should be asking yourself when it comes to choosing wood flooring.

With so many great options available, what should you consider when selecting a wooden floor?

The Look

The desired look of the flooring is usually the first thing you will think of, and with so many possibilities — all of them beautiful in their own way — it is a tricky choice to make.

Do you want a traditional or contemporary look? Are you leaning towards a dark or light floor? Should it be sleek and understated, or distinctive and full of character?

Colour

Dark flooring tends to offer a feeling of luxury and cosiness, and light floors can give a sense of space. Or you could go for more natural mid-tones which are warm and welcoming.

You can choose from a wide-ranging colour palette with wooden flooring. Have a look at the Chaunceys colour guide for some inspiration.

Finish

Think about the sheen level you envisage for your project. We offer a range of finishes from Ultra Matt to Gloss in both oils and lacquers.

Grade

As they are natural products, every wooden floor has its own individual character and beauty. The knots, splits, and colour variation in each board will be unique to each board, and you can choose to have more and less of these features depending on the grade of timber you choose. We have developed our own grading guide to help you choose the look you’re after.

Length and Width

Chaunceys offer a huge range of board sizes to suit your needs. To stay on-trend, opt for extra-wide single-width floorboards. These are especially well suited to larger rooms. We suggest looking at our Extra Long Engineered Planks.

A more traditional look can be achieved with the boards laid with 3 or 4 varying widths.

Using our Fixed Length boards can create a more distinctive contemporary feel, whereas mixing lengths will give you the timeless character of traditional wood flooring.

The Side Profile of the board

The edge of your floorboards can either be square, which gives a sleek modern look, or they can have a slight bevel to them. Micro bevels give a more traditional feel and can also hide the small potential height differences between the boards.

Patterned flooring

Parquet flooring is another excellent option to think about. Chaunceys offer a range of beautiful Herringbone, Chevron, and Versailles panels. These geometric patterns make an impressive statement in entrance rooms and hallways.

Location and traffic level

Are you planning to fit your chosen wood flooring in a room where there will be a lot of footfall? If so, we advise you go for a hard-wearing wood such as Oak, or a finish that can withstand the high levels of traffic. It’s also better to avoid lighter floor tones in these areas as they will show more dirt and marks.

Which rooms will you be putting the flooring in? We recommend engineered boards for kitchens and bathrooms as these will offer more stability for rooms more prone to humidity and spillages.

Sub Floor & Structural Considerations

When choosing wooden flooring, it’s important to consider the surface you will be fitting your new floor over. Will it be laid over new or old screed, wooden batons, or on top of an existing wooden floor? Do you, or will you have underfloor heating? These factors may affect your options and in terms of flooring choice and how it can be fitted.

You may also need to consider the thickness of the boards if the flooring needs to be structural i.e. load bearing. 20mm thickness boards are required if you are spanning joists, for example.

Sustainability

Does your new timber flooring have environmental certification? Chaunceys are FSC® (FSC-C131323) certified and we are careful to source our timber from managed forests. If eco-credentials are as important to you as they are to us, then you will want to use wood that is certified by FSC® or PEFC® which is guaranteed to have been grown from renewable sources. Alternatively, reclaimed timber is also an option if sustainability is an important consideration for you.