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Wood Flooring for Underfloor Heating
Of the 134 floors we stock, 64 are approved for underfloor heating. That is not a marketing split — it is the manufacturer saying this particular board has been tested to sit over a warm floor and stay flat.
Every one of the 64 is engineered. Not one solid board is on the list, and that is the single most useful thing to know before you start looking. We supply these floors on their own or supplied and fitted by our own fitters across South East and South London.
See the range ↓Why Engineered Only, and Why There Is No Argument
A solid board is one piece of timber. Warm it from below and it gives up moisture from the underside first, so it cups, and in a dry winter it opens gaps you can put a coin into. No amount of careful fitting prevents it, because the movement is in the material.
| Herringbone | Chevron | |
|---|---|---|
| Block shape | Plain rectangle, cut square | Cut at an angle at both ends |
| How it meets | End to side, stepped | Point to point, continuous V |
| Feel | Traditional, informal, forgiving | Formal, directional, more modern |
| Waste | 10–15% | More — the angled cuts throw away more |
| Cost | Higher than plank | Highest of the three |
| Best in | Almost any room; the safe choice | Long rooms and hallways, where the V has somewhere to go |
An engineered board is a real oak wear layer bonded to a cross-grained core. The core pulls against the top layer and holds it flat as the floor warms and cools. We keep three solid floors in the whole catalogue, and none of them goes over heating. If someone offers you solid wood for a heated floor, ask them to put it in writing.
Thinner Boards Carry Heat Better
Wood insulates. Every extra millimetre between the pipe and your foot is a millimetre the heat has to push through, and the system compensates by running hotter — which costs money and stresses the board.
That is why our approved list leans thin: 47 of the 64 are 14–15 mm and 13 are 10–12 mm. Only four are thicker. Width works the same way: narrow boards move less across their width than wide ones, and the approved list has 28 narrow against 24 wide. A 90 mm board is the safest thing you can put over heating, and 22 of ours are exactly that.
How It Is Fitted, and the Week That Matters
Fifty-seven of the 64 are glued down, and that is the right method here rather than a compromise. Glue puts the board in direct contact with the screed, so heat moves into it instead of across an air gap. A floated floor over heating always runs cooler at the surface for the same water temperature.
Before anything is laid, the heating is run up and back down again — typically a week of raising the temperature a few degrees a day, holding it, then bringing it down. That drives residual moisture out of a new screed. Skipping it is the most common reason a heated wood floor fails, and it is not a step anyone can shorten to suit a date.
After the floor is down, the same slowness applies. Bring it up a few degrees a day over the first week rather than switching it on in November and asking for 27 °C. The surface should not exceed 27 °C at any point, including under rugs and against the edge of a kitchen island.
What It Costs, and an Honest Word About Prices
The approved floors we can price run from £25.99 to £55.14 per m² excluding VAT, with the median at £51.00. We also stock a dedicated underlay for heated floors at £4.71 per m².
Worth saying plainly: 48 of the 64 approved floors are V4, and that range is priced on request rather than published. So the shop below will show “Price on request” against a good number of them. Send us the floor you like and your room sizes and we will come back with a figure the same day — it is not a tactic, it is how that supplier works.
Fitting is £20 per m² excluding VAT for a straight lay and £40 for herringbone. What varies is the screed: it has to be dry, flat and properly commissioned before a board touches it, and that is quoted after a survey rather than guessed.
Shop Floors Approved for Underfloor Heating
64 floors approved for underfloor heating — engineered oak and walnut, in plank, herringbone and chevron. Three samples free.
Showing 49–64 of 64 results
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Embered Oak – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Lichen White Oak – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Pebble Grey Oak – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Silver Sands – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Fjordic Shore – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Jetsum Oak – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Brushed Oak – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Three Strip Oak Driftwood – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Three Strip Oak – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Wide Rustic UV Oiled Oak – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Wide Rustic Brushed & Lacquered Oak – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Wide Rustic Oak Lacquered – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Rustic Brushed & Oiled Oak – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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American Black Walnut – Engineered Walnut Plank Flooring
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Natural Oak Chevron – Engineered Oak Chevron Parquet Flooring
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Rustic Brushed & Lacquered Oak – Engineered Oak Plank Flooring
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Heated Floors We Have Laid
A ground floor in Dulwich where the kitchen and garden room run over one screed, laid in wide oak and commissioned over a fortnight. In Honor Oak a narrow-board herringbone went over heating in a hallway and two reception rooms.
More of these, with photographs, are on our recent work page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put solid wood flooring over underfloor heating?
No, and we would not supply it for that. A solid board cups and gaps over a heated screed because the movement is in the material, not in the fitting. All 64 of our approved floors are engineered.
What temperature can the floor run at?
The surface should not exceed 27 °C, and that includes under rugs and along the edge of an island where heat collects. Most systems reach a comfortable room temperature well below that limit.
Does the floor have to be glued down?
It is strongly preferred, and 57 of our 64 are specified that way. Glue puts the board against the screed so heat transfers directly. A floated floor sits on an air gap and runs cooler at the surface for the same water temperature.
How thick should the board be?
Thinner is better over heating, because wood insulates. Our approved range is mostly 14–15 mm, with 13 floors at 10–12 mm. Anything over 20 mm we would talk you out of for a heated floor.
Do I need a special underlay?
If the floor is floated rather than glued, yes — one with low thermal resistance. We stock an underlay made for heated floors at £4.71 per m². A thick acoustic underlay under a heated floor works against you.
Can I have herringbone over underfloor heating?
Yes. 24 of the approved floors are herringbone and four are chevron. Blocks are glued down as a matter of course, which is exactly what a heated floor wants anyway.
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…”
★★★★★
“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…”
★★★★★
“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.…”
How do I get a price for a heated floor?
Send your room sizes and tell us the system is wet or electric, and we will price the floor, the underlay and the fitting together. Free samples first if you want to see the boards in your own light.
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