https://www.misterendgrain.com/The reference guide to wood flooring: species, patterns, finishes, makers and installers.en https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/charred-wood-shou-sugi-ban/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/charred-wood-shou-sugi-ban/Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTCharred wood, called yakisugi or shou sugi ban, is timber whose surface has been deliberately burnt to a black char layer, a technique used in Japan for centuries. Published tests give a mixed picture: a US Forest Products Laboratory study found no systematic improvement in flammability or durability of commercial siding, while a small Latvian study found better fire performance when the char was left in place. On a floor, the char layer is thin and soft, so interior products are sealed with a varnish or similar finish. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/hungarian-point/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/hungarian-point/Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTPoint de Hongrie, or Hungarian point, is the French name for a parquet whose blades are laid like bâtons rompus but with their ends cut on the mitre, so they meet in unbroken zigzags. The cut is commonly about 45 degrees. English-speaking trades usually call the same layout chevron. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/smoked-and-fumed-oak/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/smoked-and-fumed-oak/Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTSmoked or fumed oak is oak darkened by exposure to ammonia vapour, which reacts with the tannins in the wood and turns it brown. It is a chemical colour change inside the wood, not a pigment on top, but how deep it goes depends on the process, so ask a maker whether a floor is darkened through its whole thickness. Fuming itself is hazardous and is an industrial or workshop process, not a job for a home. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/wood-grades/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/wood-grades/Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTA wood flooring grade describes appearance, not strength. In the United States, the NWFA/NOFMA standard grades unfinished oak as Clear, Select, No. 1 Common and No. 2 Common, from the most uniform to the most characterful, and states that appearance alone determines the grade. Prefinished and European floors use makers' own names such as Rustic, so a grade on one brand's sheet is not a guaranteed match for the same word on another's. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/wood-stairs-and-nosings/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/wood-stairs-and-nosings/Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTA wooden stair is built from treads (the part you step on), risers (the vertical face) and nosings (the protruding front edge of a tread). In England, Approved Document K sets a private stair at a 150 to 220 mm rise and a 220 to 300 mm going, with a maximum pitch of 42 degrees. Flooring can be fitted to stairs as solid treads, overlay treads or nosing profiles, and the EU's fire classes for wood floors also apply to steps of stairs. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/wood-wall-panelling/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/wood-wall-panelling/Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTWood wall panelling is timber boards or panels fixed to a wall as a lining. In the EU, solid wood panelling and cladding of at least 390 kg/m³ is listed in a Commission Decision as class D-s2,d0 or D-s2,d2, depending on thickness, joints and what sits behind it. That is a different table from the one used for floors, so a floor-grade product used as a wall panel needs its own check. Wood also swells and shrinks with humidity, mostly across the growth rings. https://www.misterendgrain.com/guides/end-grain-floor-care/https://www.misterendgrain.com/guides/end-grain-floor-care/Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTCare for an end-grain floor as you would any wood floor, with frequent dry cleaning, a barely damp mop and the finish maker's products, but be stricter about water because the exposed block ends take up liquid fastest. Keep the room's humidity steady, because the floor swells and shrinks across each block, and follow the block maker's instructions for oiling, joint filling and sanding. https://www.misterendgrain.com/guides/fire-and-slip-ratings/https://www.misterendgrain.com/guides/fire-and-slip-ratings/Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTIn Europe a wood floor's reaction to fire is given as a class from Afl to Ffl; most coated wood floors are Cfl-s1 or Dfl-s1, which depends on thickness, density, coating and what the floor sits on. The EU lists generic constructions that need no testing. Slip resistance is a separate property: the UK Health and Safety Executive prefers the pendulum test, where a value of 36 or more means low slip potential, and warns that German R-classes such as R9 are slippery when wet. https://www.misterendgrain.com/guides/usage-classes-en-685/https://www.misterendgrain.com/guides/usage-classes-en-685/Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTUsage classes are two-digit codes that rate a floor covering for an intensity of use: the tens digit gives the setting (2 domestic, 3 commercial, 4 light industrial) and the units digit the traffic (1 moderate to 4 very heavy). They come from EN 685 and the related ISO 10874 (EN ISO 10874). For parquet, France's XP B 53-669 gives each wood floor a class from its wear-layer thickness and the hardness class of its species. A class on a data sheet is a maker's claim, so ask which method and edition produced it. https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/zambezi-teak/https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/zambezi-teak/Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTZambezi teak (Baikiaea plurijuga), also called Rhodesian teak, is a legume from southern Africa and not a true teak. The Wood Database gives it a Janka hardness of 2,990 lbf (13,300 N) and a density of 890 kg/m³ at 12% moisture content, and PROTA describes it as particularly suitable for heavy flooring. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/mosaic-parquet/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/mosaic-parquet/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTMosaic parquet is a traditional solid wood flooring format composed of small, slim finger slats—typically 8 mm thick, 22.8 mm wide, and 160 mm long—assembled into square panels or geometric laying units. Standardised in Europe under EN 13488, it is glued directly to the subfloor with full-surface adhesive, sanded, and finished on site. Its compact 8 mm solid profile provides exceptional stability, low thermal resistance, and repeated renovation cycles. https://www.misterendgrain.com/guides/herringbone-vs-chevron/https://www.misterendgrain.com/guides/herringbone-vs-chevron/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe fundamental distinction between herringbone and chevron parquet lies in how the board ends are cut and meet: herringbone uses rectangular boards laid end-to-side at 90° angles to form a staggered broken zig-zag (bâtons rompus), while chevron uses boards with ends mitred at 45° or 60° angles that meet point-to-point along a continuous straight central axis (point de Hongrie). Chevron requires higher cutting precision and typically incurs 10% to 15% timber waste during installation, compared with 5% to 8% for classic herringbone. https://www.misterendgrain.com/installers/london/https://www.misterendgrain.com/installers/london/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTFitting or restoring a hardwood floor across Greater London requires understanding Victorian suspended joist structures, acoustic requirements in multi-occupancy leaseholds, and subfloor moisture in concrete extensions. In the United Kingdom, professional installations are benchmarked against British Standard BS 8201:2011 for wood and wood-based flooring panels. Below is our directory of verified London wood flooring specialists that publish workshops, showrooms, and registered business premises across the capital. https://www.misterendgrain.com/manufacturers/mafi/https://www.misterendgrain.com/manufacturers/mafi/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTMafi is an Austrian manufacturer of premium natural wood flooring operated by mafi Naturholzboden GmbH in Schneegattern, Upper Austria. The maker specializes in a signature symmetrical three-layer construction using the same timber species on the face and backing layer with a transverse conifer core, naturally finished with air-dried plant oils and chemical-free thermal treatments. https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/birch/https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/birch/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTEuropean birch means two closely related trees, silver birch (Betula pendula) and downy birch (Betula pubescens). Silver birch is listed at 1,210 lbf (5,360 N) on the Janka scale and downy birch at an estimated 930 lbf (4,140 N), and both are pale, fine-textured and perishable outdoors. Birch can be hard to stain evenly, and much of it goes into plywood. https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/elm/https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/elm/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTElm is a distinctive European and North American hardwood recognized for its reddish-brown heartwood and interlocked grain, with European species ranging from English elm (Ulmus procera) at 810 lbf (3,620 N) to Wych elm (Ulmus glabra) at 990 lbf (4,400 N) on the Janka hardness scale. While its interlocking grain resists splitting under heavy foot traffic, widespread mortality from Dutch elm disease has made mature elm timber rare and sought-after. https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/iroko/https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/iroko/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTIroko (Milicia excelsa and Milicia regia) is a durable African hardwood with a Janka hardness of 1,190 lbf (5,310 N) and an average dried weight of 660 kg/m³. Its yellow to golden brown heartwood darkens with time, and hard calcium carbonate deposits can blunt cutting edges. It is sometimes sold as African teak, although it is not related to true teak. https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/jatoba/https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/jatoba/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTJatoba (Hymenaea courbaril) is a very hard, dense South American timber sold for flooring as Brazilian cherry, although it is unrelated to cherry. The Wood Database gives it a Janka hardness of 2,690 lbf (11,950 N) and an average dried weight of 910 kg/m³, and its reddish heartwood darkens with light exposure. https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/merbau/https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/merbau/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTMerbau (Intsia bijuga and Intsia palembanica) is an orangey to reddish-brown tropical hardwood with a Janka hardness of 1,840 lbf (7,620 N) and an average dried weight of 815 kg/m³, listed by Tropix as a stable wood used for flooring. Its yellow mineral deposits are water-soluble and can stain, and NGO investigations document illegal logging of merbau in Papua, so origin and paperwork matter. https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/sapele/https://www.misterendgrain.com/species/sapele/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTSapele (Entandrophragma cylindricum) is a golden to dark reddish-brown African hardwood with a Janka hardness of 1,360 lbf (6,060 N) and an average dried weight of 665 kg/m³. Its interlocked grain gives it a striped figure but can cause tearout in machining, and the species is on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable, so check legality and origin before you buy. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/chevron/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/chevron/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTChevron flooring has both ends of each board cut at an angle, commonly 45 degrees, so the boards meet in a continuous point. In French it is called parquet en point de Hongrie. Herringbone, by contrast, uses square ends meeting at right angles. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/end-grain/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/end-grain/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTEnd-grain flooring is made of wood blocks set so that the ends of the growth rings face up, which shows the cut-across pattern of the tree. It has been used as a heavy industrial floor and is now also made as thin blocks bonded to a backing for homes. It moves across the block but hardly at all in thickness, and it is glued down with gaps allowed for swelling. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/engineered-wood/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/engineered-wood/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTEngineered wood flooring is real wood made from several bonded layers, with a wood wear layer on top that sets the appearance. Finished thickness runs from 3/8 in to 3/4 in in NWFA guidance, and the wear layer thickness decides how often it can be refinished. In Europe it falls under EN 13489. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/herringbone/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/herringbone/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTHerringbone is a parquet pattern in which rectangular pieces with square ends meet at right angles to form a broken zigzag. Because the pattern is directional, boards are supplied as mirror-image left and right pieces. In French it is called parquet à bâtons rompus, and it is easy to confuse with chevron, which has mitred ends. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/reclaimed-wood/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/reclaimed-wood/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTReclaimed wood flooring is made from timber taken from an earlier use, such as old buildings, and milled into floorboards. The NWFA says there is no grading standard for it, so appearance is agreed between buyer and supplier. Hidden nails, old paint and brittle wood are the main checks. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/solid-wood/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/solid-wood/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTSolid wood flooring is made of boards cut from one piece of timber, top to bottom, so it can be sanded and refinished many times. In the United States ¾ in is the most common thickness. It suits rooms on or above ground, and it needs a stable indoor climate, particularly over underfloor heating. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/versailles-panels/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/versailles-panels/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTParquet de Versailles is a floor of pre-assembled square panels of oak, taking its name from the Château de Versailles. Parquet laid in large quantities there under Louis XIV was widely copied across Europe. Traditional panels are jointed with tenons and mortises inside a frame, while modern versions are often engineered. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/wide-plank/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/wide-plank/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTIn US industry guidance, wide plank flooring is any solid or engineered plank wider than 5 in; a UK supplier uses 180 mm and above. Wide boards move more with humidity than narrow ones of the same species and cut, so installation guidance favours glue-assisted fixing and a controlled indoor climate. https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/wood-block-industrial/https://www.misterendgrain.com/flooring/wood-block-industrial/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTIndustrial wood block flooring consists of solid timber blocks oriented with their end grain facing upwards to absorb severe mechanical impacts, rolling vehicle traffic and heavy machinery loads. Standardised in Germany under DIN 68702 as Holzpflaster GE, individual block heights range from 50 mm to 100 mm, commonly milled from pine, spruce or oak. It provides exceptional shock absorption, acoustic damping and long-term durability in workshops, foundries and industrial facilities. https://www.misterendgrain.com/guides/cleaning-and-maintenance/https://www.misterendgrain.com/guides/cleaning-and-maintenance/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMTCare for a wood floor with daily dry sweeping or dust mopping, vacuuming with the hard-floor setting, a well wrung-out damp mop and a cleaner approved for your finish. Oiled floors are refreshed with maintenance oil; lacquered floors are renewed by a light sand and a fresh coat. Avoid steam, wet mops, vinegar and polish products, and keep indoor humidity steady.