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Commercial Wood Flooring

A floor in a shop, an office or a restaurant takes in a week the traffic a hallway at home takes in a year. The specification that matters is not the one on the brochure cover — it is the thickness of the oak above the tongue, and how the surface was finished.

Those two numbers decide whether the floor can be sanded back in year eight or has to be lifted and skipped. We hold 134 floors and can tell you the wear layer on every one, supplied on their own or supplied and fitted by our own fitters across London.

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Wear Layer: The Number That Decides Everything

The wear layer is the solid oak above the plywood core, and it is all you have to sand. A full refinish takes roughly a millimetre. So a 2–3 mm floor gives you one sanding, perhaps two if the operator is careful; a 3–4 mm floor gives you two or three; a 4–6 mm floor gives you three or four and will outlive the lease.

HerringboneChevron
Block shapePlain rectangle, cut squareCut at an angle at both ends
How it meetsEnd to side, steppedPoint to point, continuous V
FeelTraditional, informal, forgivingFormal, directional, more modern
Waste10–15%More — the angled cuts throw away more
CostHigher than plankHighest of the three
Best inAlmost any room; the safe choiceLong rooms and hallways, where the V has somewhere to go

Of our range, 10 floors carry a 4–6 mm wear layer, 78 carry 3–4 mm and 32 carry 2–3 mm. For a commercial fit we would point you at the 3–4 mm group first: it is the sensible balance between cost and lifespan, and it is where most of the range sits.

Oiled or Lacquered for a Commercial Floor

This is the decision people get wrong most often, and it runs opposite to the domestic answer. Lacquer is a film sitting on top of the wood. It resists scuffing well, but when it does wear through you cannot patch it — a worn doorway means sanding and recoating the whole floor, which means closing the room.

Oil soaks into the timber instead, so a worn patch can be cleaned and re-oiled on its own, overnight, in the area that needs it. For a restaurant or a shop that cannot shut for three days, that is the difference between maintenance and a refit. We stock 82 oiled floors against 48 lacquered.

Grade and Texture: Hiding the Traffic

A commercial floor will get marked. The question is whether the marks read as damage or as character, and grade decides it. Rustic grade has knots, colour variation and natural movement already in it, so a scuff joins a busy surface rather than interrupting a clean one. We hold 67 rustic floors.

Texture does the same job. Brushing scours out the soft grain so the surface is slightly uneven, which breaks up reflected light and hides fine scratching remarkably well. 102 of our 134 floors are brushed. A smooth, pale, select-grade floor in a busy entrance will look tired in a year; a brushed rustic oak in the same spot looks lived in.

Darker colours are the other trap. A dark stain over pale oak shows every deep scratch as a bright line, which in a commercial setting adds up fast.

Fire, Slip and Building Regulations

Wood flooring in a commercial building sits under rules that do not apply at home, and we would rather say plainly what we can and cannot answer. Reaction-to-fire classification and slip resistance are properties of the specific product and its finish, and they come from the manufacturer’s declaration of performance, not from us.

What we will do is get that documentation for any floor you are considering, before you commit, so your architect or building control officer has the actual certificate rather than our word for it. If a floor cannot meet the specification for your use class, we will tell you that instead of selling it to you.

For an escape route, a stairwell or a space with a high occupancy figure, the classification is not a formality. Ask us early and we will chase the paperwork while you are still choosing.

Shop Floors Suited to Commercial Use

Floors with a 3–4 mm or thicker wear layer, from £22.00 per m² excluding VAT. Trade pricing on volume — ask for a quote with your areas.

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Commercial Work We Have Done

Oak through a Beckenham dental practice, specified oiled so single rooms can be refreshed out of hours. Wide rustic oak in a Crystal Palace cafe, brushed to hide the traffic in front of the counter.

More of these, with photographs, are on our recent work page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What wear layer do I need for a commercial floor?

3–4 mm as a minimum, which is where 78 of our floors sit. That gives two or three full refinishes. Below 3 mm you are committing to replacement rather than maintenance, which is usually the more expensive route over ten years.

Can you supply fire and slip certification?

We obtain the manufacturer’s declaration of performance for any floor you are specifying, before you order. We do not test or certify floors ourselves, and we will not guess at a classification — your building control officer needs the document.

Is solid wood better than engineered for commercial use?

No, and usually it is worse. Solid boards move more with changes in humidity, and a commercial space with heating, air conditioning and doors opening all day is a harder environment than a house. Engineered construction is dimensionally stable, which is why 131 of our 134 floors are engineered.

How long will a commercial wood floor last?

With a 3–4 mm wear layer, sensible matting at entrances and refinishing when it is due rather than when it is desperate, fifteen to twenty-five years is realistic. The failures we are called to see are almost always floors that were never maintained, not floors that wore out.

Do you offer trade or contract pricing?

Yes. Send us the areas and the rooms and we will quote on volume. For a multi-room fit the saving against the list price is usually worth the phone call.

Can the floor go over underfloor heating in an office?

On 64 of our floors, yes — those are the ones rated for it. The constraint is the same as at home: the surface temperature must stay at or below 27 °C, and the screed must be commissioned properly before the floor is laid.

What Our Customers Say

★★★★★

“We had some herringbone flooring fitted recently. It was a great experience from start to finish and we couldn't be more happy with the result. Ruslan is a…”

— Dave Thompson

★★★★★

“Beautiful job, I’m so pleased. Ruslan is very knowledgable, flagged any potential issues early and advised me on what I could preserve from the existing f…”

— Rosa O'Mara

★★★★★

“I went to visit Wood4Floors to see some samples, and had a super helpful man show me some things and gave me a few full sized samples of herringbone flooring.…”

— Drew Theunissen

See all 101 reviews on Google →

How do we start a commercial enquiry?

Send the floor areas, the use of each space and your programme dates, and we will come back with a quote, lead times and the certification you need. Samples are free.

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