Timber Floor Questions Checklist

Write down who walks on this floor and how, including pets with claws, hard footwear worn indoors, wheeled chairs and anything heavy that is regularly dragged across it.

Suppliers ask about use before they ask about taste, and an honest answer changes which species and finishes are worth discussing at all.

Note which doorway takes the most traffic and whether grit gets tracked in from outside at that point, then mark it on a rough plan of the room.

Grit is what actually abrades a timber finish, so entry points wear at a different rate from the middle of a room.

Describe where furniture sits still for long periods, including anything heavy that is rarely moved, and mention each position when a species is being discussed.

Point loads and permanently shaded patches both leave marks, and they are easier to plan around than to correct.

Record whether direct sun crosses part of this floor and at roughly what time of day, because timber colour usually shifts where light falls and stays even where it does not.

A rug or a sofa left in place over a sunlit floor often reveals the difference only when it is finally moved.

Note anything that is regularly spilled or dripped in this room, such as water beside a back door, a pet bowl, or a plant that is watered where it stands.

Repeated small wettings in one spot are harder on timber than an occasional larger spill that is wiped up.

Decide and record whether you want this floor to look worn in over time or to stay close to how it was laid, since that single preference narrows the conversation quickly.

Owners who expect a floor to stay pristine and owners who like patina need different species, grades and finishes.

Ask to see a grade showing knots, sapwood and colour variation as well as a calm one, since display samples are often selected from the quietest part of a batch.

Grade is the biggest single driver of how a timber floor reads across a whole room, and it is the thing most often judged from too little material.

Ask the supplier to confirm in writing which grade is being offered, since grade descriptions are not used identically by everyone.

Write down whether you would welcome the boards darkening or mellowing with age, and ask which of the species being shown do that most noticeably.

Some timbers move a long way from their showroom colour, which matters if you are matching furniture or joinery already chosen.

Ask how the species you like behaves under everyday knocks compared with the others on the table, and ask for that in terms of ordinary use rather than a printed figure.

Denting behaviour is what owners actually notice, and it is more usefully described in terms of dropped objects and chair legs.

Look at samples lying flat on the existing floor in the room itself, in daylight and again under the lighting you use in the evening, rather than upright under showroom lights.

Timber colour changes dramatically with viewing angle and light source, and an upright sample tells you very little about a floor.

Ask how the boards are cut from the log and what that means for how the grain reads and how the boards tend to move, then note the answer alongside your sample.

The way a board is cut affects both appearance and behaviour, and the two are often discussed as if they were separate choices.

Ask what a replacement board from a later batch would look like beside this floor once it has aged, and record the answer before you commit to a species.

Repairs are far more common than owners expect, and matching is a question worth having answered while the choice is still open.

Batch variation is described by the supplier and manufacturer; treat any assurance about future matching as something to obtain in writing.

Decide and record which direction you would like the boards to run, then ask what the subfloor beneath actually allows, since preference and structure do not always agree.

Board direction changes how long a room reads and how light falls along the floor, and it is not always a free choice.

Whether boards can run in a chosen direction over a given subfloor is for a qualified installer to establish, not a matter of preference alone.

Ask where the setting out would start and where the narrow cut board would end up, then stand in the main doorway and look at that line before agreeing it.

A thin sliver of board along the most visible wall is a common regret, and it is entirely avoidable at the planning stage.

Consider whether wide or narrow boards suit the room, and ask how board width tends to affect the gaps that open and close from season to season.

Wider boards concentrate seasonal movement into fewer joints, which is a trade-off worth understanding before ordering.

Ask whether board lengths vary within a pack, what proportion tends to be short, and how short pieces are distributed across a room.

A floor made up of many short boards reads quite differently from one with long runs, and packs are not all mixed the same way.

Note every place the floor meets something awkward, such as a hearth, a bay, a curved wall or a stair string, and ask how each is usually resolved.

These junctions take disproportionate time and are where owners are most often surprised by the finished appearance.

Ask what happens where the floor continues into the next room, and decide whether the boards run straight through the opening or stop at it.

Running through visually joins two rooms, while stopping at the opening allows each room to be dealt with separately later.

Write down what lies beneath this floor as far as you know: a ventilated void, a solid base, or a heated room below, and say how confident you are.

What sits under a timber floor changes the moisture conversation completely, and the supplier will ask early.

Establishing what is actually beneath a floor, and whether any void is adequately ventilated, is a matter for a qualified professional.

Note how the household heats and airs this room across the seasons, including whether heating is left off in some rooms and whether windows stay shut in cold weather.

Indoor humidity swings follow habits more than climate, and boards respond to what the household actually does.

Ask what indoor humidity range these boards are expected to live within, and how a household would notice if conditions had drifted well outside it.

Owners are often told to keep conditions stable without ever being told what that means in practice.

Ask what acclimatisation the boards need before laying, where they would sit while that happens, and who is responsible for the conditions in that space.

Acclimatisation frequently falls between supplier and installer, and a floor stored in an unheated garage has not acclimatised to your house.

Acclimatisation requirements come from the manufacturer and the installer; ask for them in writing rather than relying on a verbal assurance.

Record any history of leaks, damp or flooding in this room, including anything that happened before you moved in or that was put right by someone else.

Old water events rarely appear on paperwork, and a supplier can only allow for a history they have been told about.

Ask what degree of gapping, cupping or edge lift is considered normal for this floor through the seasons, and what would not be, then keep the answer in writing.

Without an agreed description of normal, every seasonal change becomes an argument rather than an expectation.

Whether a floor is behaving acceptably is judged by the supplier and installer against their written guidance, not by comparison with another home.

Say at the very first conversation whether this room has heating beneath the floor, or might have it later, rather than mentioning it once boards are chosen.

Heating underneath narrows the field of suitable products sharply, and finding out late usually means starting the selection again.

Whether a specific timber can be laid over a specific heating arrangement is for the manufacturer and installer to confirm in writing.

Ask how the heating is brought back up to temperature after a timber floor is laid over it, and who is responsible for following that sequence.

Getting this sequence wrong is a known cause of problems, and it usually sits between the flooring installer and the heating trade.

Note where this room feels cold underfoot at present and whether it is the whole floor or particular areas near walls or the door.

Owners often expect a new floor to solve a cold room, and describing the current experience keeps that expectation honest.

Ask what layers would sit between the heat source and the top of the boards, and what each of them does to the warmth reaching the room.

Every layer added for acoustic or moisture reasons also affects heat transfer, and the trade-offs are worth hearing together.

Say whether rugs are planned over a heated floor and ask what covering part of the floor does to the boards beneath, then record the answer.

Rugs trap heat locally, and this is one of the most frequent causes of a complaint about an otherwise well laid timber floor.

Ask whether the floor is expected to feel actively warm underfoot or simply not cold, and write down which you were told to expect.

The gap between those two experiences is where most disappointment with heated floors sits.

Ask whether the boards arrive already finished or are finished after laying, and what each approach means for the household while the work is happening.

Finishing on site brings smells, drying and restricted access into the house, while a factory finish arrives as it will look.

Decide and record how much sheen you want, then look at a finished sample lying in the room rather than judging sheen from a photograph or a small offcut.

Sheen changes how much dust, scratching and unevenness the eye picks up, and it looks different in every room.

Ask what the finish does to the colour of the bare timber, and ask to see the same species both bare and finished side by side.

Many finishes warm or deepen timber considerably, so a bare sample can be quite misleading.

Ask what routine care this finish expects and which cleaning products the manufacturer rules out, then keep that list where the household will see it.

Ordinary household cleaners damage some timber finishes, and the instruction usually reaches one person and then disappears.

Cleaning and maintenance requirements are set by the finish manufacturer; ask for their written guidance rather than adopting general advice.

Ask whether a worn or scratched patch can be repaired in place with this finish, or whether the whole floor has to be treated to keep it even.

Some finishes accept a local touch up and some do not, and this shapes what living with the floor is like.

If the finish is applied on site, agree in writing who is responsible for the result and what happens if the floor does not match the approved sample.

On site finishing depends on conditions in the room, so agreeing the process beforehand avoids a difficult conversation afterwards.

Any dispute about a finish applied on site is settled against the installer and manufacturer written terms, so keep the sample you approved.

Ask how many times a floor of this construction can realistically be taken back and refinished, and treat that as a supplier question rather than a general rule.

Renewability is one of the main reasons owners choose solid timber, and it varies with board construction and how it is fixed down.

Ask what would be involved in lifting and replacing a single damaged board once the floor is down, and whether the fixing method makes that easier or harder.

How the floor is fixed decides whether a local repair is straightforward or means disturbing a whole run.

Ask whether spare boards from the same batch can be set aside for you, and write down where they are kept and in what conditions.

Spares stored somewhere damp or forgotten are no help later, and the same batch is rarely available once the order closes.

Record the species, grade, finish and any underlay or preparatory products actually used, and keep that note with your property papers.

The first question anyone asks about an existing floor is what it is, and nobody can answer that reliably by looking at it.

Photograph the subfloor and any packaging labels before the boards go down and the packaging is taken away, since neither is recoverable afterwards.

Labels carry references that identify exactly what was supplied, and they leave the house with the rubbish.

Agree in writing how the new floor is protected if other work continues in the house afterwards, and who is responsible if it is marked.

Damage to a new timber floor frequently happens after laying and before the household has moved back in.