The trade-off nobody skips past
Solid wood moves with humidity more than engineered boards do, so it needs a stable suspended timber subfloor and a room with reasonably controlled conditions — not a damp basement or a heated concrete slab.
Where we talk customers out of it
- Rooms with underfloor heating installed or planned
- Solid concrete ground floors without a suitable timber deck over them
- Bathrooms, utility rooms and anywhere with regular water exposure
Sandstone tenement suitability
Older sandstone-built properties around Dunfermline town and Cupar often retain original suspended timber floors, which is exactly the stable base solid hardwood needs to perform well long-term.
Species and hardness
- Oak remains the most common choice for durability and grain
- Ash offers a lighter, more contemporary tone
- Walnut is softer and better suited to lower-traffic rooms
Fitting method
Usually secret-nailed or screwed to timber battens or an existing board deck, allowing the floor to move slightly with seasonal changes without buckling.
Long-term care
Refinishing every decade or so, rather than replacement, is what gives solid wood its long working life compared with laminated alternatives.