How much does wood flooring cost?

Wood flooring looks great in any home and doesn’t have to break the budget either. Find out how much wood flooring costs here.

Wood flooring is a great addition to any home

There are many types of wood flooring such as walnut, ash, bamboo, oak... the materials are endless. There are styles which can accommodate all kinds of budgets too, so quality wood flooring is assessable to all!

There are three main types of wood flooring:

• Laminate flooring, which is a piece of plastic with a photographic image of wood grain mounted on MDF. Laminate is very cheap per sq meter (pm2) and is scratch resistant; however it is also non-repairable if damaged.
• Engineered wood flooring, or composite flooring, is made from wood fibres and other materials fused together to make an extremely strong, durable floor which resembles real wood. This type of wooden flooring is so hard wearing you can even use it in bathrooms.
• Solid wood flooring, as the name suggests, is made from natural planks of timber which needs to be nailed to a permanent floor (so concrete is a problem). Some newer floors can be floated on an underlay however; solid wood is the most expensive option. As these are thicker than most floor types, beware of transition issues from room to room (due to the differences in height).

The prices (per meter squared) for wood flooring are roughly: from £22 for solid wood, £14 for engineered wood, and £7 for laminate. These are rough ideas of the cheapest available prices for each wood flooring type, so it is best to shop around to find exactly what you are looking for.

Installing wood flooring

Installing laminate flooring is easy; it is usually sold as a ‘click together product’. In contrast, engineered and solid wood flooring require a high level of competence to install, so this is best left to a professional. Generally, for fitting prices, it is wise to double the price per sq meter to accommodate fitting which can be very expensive. Even in a 4mx4m room, solid wood flooring at £25 psm would cost £400, which when doubled to accommodate fitting, costs £800.

Other costs to consider when installing wood flooring

Different grades of real wood vary in price. The grade is a signifier of the woods look rather than its durability. For example, solid wood with fewer aesthetic defects would be the highest priced - but the quality of the wood would not necessarily differ.

Engineered wood is sold in ‘strips’ which relate to the widths of material. The thinnest are the cheapest and the widest the most expensive, so if you want to save money, using thin strips may be a cost-cutting route.

Unfinished wood gives a whole array of options when it comes to stain, colour and finishes. However, these require sanding and finishing after the installation, putting the room out of bounds for at least a few days, so be prepared to work around this. There are pre-finished floors available as an alternate, which can be used hours after installation.

Finally wood flooring usually comes with a 10-15 year guarantee, so the investment you make will not be lost if all goes wrong, however it is best to follow these steps and make sure you make the choice which is most suitable to your budget and your home.