What is Commercial Wood Flooring?

If you’re planning to install commercial wood flooring there’s a whole host of things you’ll need to take into consideration thanks to the broad range of wood flooring solutions which are ideally suited to a commercial environment.

No matter whether you’re looking to floor or re-floor a pub, a club, a shop, an office or a large public space like a museum, a gallery or a sports hall, commercial wood flooring can be the perfect solution.   You’ll no doubt have a specific look in mind for your floor and that will ultimately affect your choice.  In fact, the choices you make will depend almost as much upon the look (or the aesthetics) you’re aiming to achieve as well as the more basic considerations such as traffic, moisture and temperature fluctuations.

If you’re seeking a natural look which will be durable and pleasing on the eye, commercial wood flooring is one option that you simply can’t afford to ignore.   But making the right choice of wood flooring is essential if your investment is going to be a sound one.

In the UK, oak is amongst the most widely used hardwood flooring solution in both commercial and domestic locations.  Oak is as renowned for its strength and durability today as it has always been.  Even within the oak range of wood flooring options, there is a whole host of choices.  For example you might choose pre-finished or un-finished engineered oak flooring, pre-finished or un-finished solid oak flooring, or one of the many oiled options.  Due to the size of the oak tree, there is also a broad range of board width options in oak ranges.

That said, if you’re looking to floor or re-floor a commercial space which is likely to have a high footfall, or a location which suffers significant humidity or temperature changes, other dense hard woods like Wenge and Cumaru are also worthy of consideration.  Wenge is a tropical timber with a dark colouring and a characteristic partridge pattern in its grain.  Cumaru is again an exotic hardwood which is naturally durable but comes in a broader natural colour range than Wenge, including everything from a golden tan colouration to a reddish brown.  One of the unique characteristics of Cumaru is that it will age to a natural silver-grey patina in time.

So no matter what the commercial purpose for your wooden floor, there are plenty of wood options to choose from.   Finally, once you have selected the most suitable wood option for your floor, it then comes down to selecting the right finish.  Choosing the right finish for your commercial wood flooring is a decision which should be made based on the traffic, temperature and humidity conditions which your floor will be asked to deal with.  It’s advisable not to take wood flooring finish decisions lightly because making the right finishing choice will help your floor look great and last longer.