Natural Oak Engineered Wood Flooring
Authentic oak with timeless appeal. Natural oak brings balanced tones, real wood character and warmth into your home. A versatile choice for modern or classic interiors that need natural beauty, comfort and lasting style.
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“A real oak surface over a cross-laminated core. This is the version of oak that lives happily over underfloor heating.”
— our flooring team
Natural OakThe look
Still unsure? Real people, honest advice.
The look
Natural Oak is engineered oak finished to look like oak: 12 boards, 14 mm to 20 mm thick. Five finishes and four grades, so the choice is about surface, format and character rather than colour.
Smooth or brushed
Five finishes
The safe choice, chosen well
In depth
Choosing natural engineered oak
A natural oak board is the one where the finish is chosen to protect the wood and leave the colour alone, so this range of 12 boards is decided by surface, format and grade rather than by tone. The Ascot boards are 125 mm wide and the Cobham boards 150 mm wide, both 14 mm thick in random lengths between 300 mm and 1200 mm. The Weybridge and Developer planks are 14 mm thick at 190 mm by 1900 mm; the Victorian Antique Natural Oak is 15 mm thick and 220 mm by 2200 mm, the Richmond plank 20 mm thick and 2200 mm long. All are tongue and groove, micro-bevelled and listed as compatible with underfloor heating. Ascot Cottage, listed under dark oak as well, is the one board here whose colour is given as smoked oak rather than natural.
Surface first. Four boards are smooth: the Ascot Lacquered, the Cobham UV Lacquered, the Cobham Oiled and the Weybridge Natural Smooth. Seven are brushed: three Ascot boards, the Cobham Natural Brushed, the Weybridge Natural Brushed, the Developer and the Richmond. The Victorian Antique board is deep brushed. A smooth surface is the cleanest, most formal look and shows fine scratches most readily; a brushed surface hides small marks and reads warmer. In a busy family room the brushed boards are the easier floor to live with.
In practice
Then finish. UV lacquer on three boards and matt lacquer on the Ascot Natural Brushed give the hardest wearing surface and are refinished as a whole floor. UV oil, on six boards, and plain oil, on the Cobham Oiled, can be re-oiled locally where they wear. Hard wax oil, on the antique board, sits in the brushed grain and takes on the most patina. Wear layers are 3 mm on the ten 14 mm boards, 4 mm on the antique board and 6 mm on the Richmond. The manufacturer's warranty is 15 years, 20 years on the two Weybridge planks and 25 years on the Richmond.
Grade is the last decision and the one that makes a natural floor look chosen rather than default: Classic for the calmer boards, Rustic for the ones with knots and colour play (the Developer plank is listed as DEF Rustic), Antique Effect for the aged, mixed surface. Order a sample of each grade before deciding, because photographs flatten exactly the difference that matters here.
FAQ
What is the difference between Classic and Rustic grade?
Lacquered or oiled natural oak?
Which width should I choose?
How do I order the right amount?
Do you deliver UK-wide and can I get a sample first?
Standards
What the published standards say
Each entry is quoted from its source and linked to it. The full set is in the standards reference.
Moisture content at delivery — what EN 13489 requires
EN 13489, the product standard for multi-layer parquet, requires the moisture content of the elements to be between 5 % and 9 % at the time of first delivery, measured by the oven-dry method of EN 13183-1. The corresponding figure for solid parquet under EN 13226 was not available from a source we could read, so it is not stated here.
| Moisture content at first delivery, multi-layer parquet (EN 13489:2023, clause 4.1.2) | 5-9 % |
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“The moisture content shall be between 5 % and 9 % at the time of the first delivery of the product.”
Source: EN 13489:2023 - Wood-flooring and parquet - Multi-layer parquet elements (SIST preview of the standard, clause 4.1.2 Moisture content)Acclimatisation before fitting
The Contract Flooring Association's guide states that the room should be at its in-service temperature 48 hours before installation so that the flooring can be kept in the room and reach room temperature before it is laid.
| conditioning before installation | 48 h |
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“They also advise that this temperature should be attained 48 hours prior to the installation, so that floorings can be kept in the room and brought to room temperature (acclimatised) before installation.”
Source: CFA Guide to Contract Flooring - Contract Flooring AssociationRelated looks
More engineered wood looks
9 floorsAntique Oak
11 floorsDark Oak
3 floorsGolden Oak
6 floorsGrey Oak
2 floorsLight Oak
4 floorsWalnut
3 floorsWhite OakDelivery & areas
