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Exeter · Devon

Solid Wood Flooring in Exeter

Solid oak is one piece of timber from face to back, 18 mm thick in this range, fixed to a timber base and able to be sanded and refinished for as long as the house stands. In Exeter roughly one home in 4 is a flat (26%), so sound through the floor matters alongside the base under it.

Solid Wood in Exeter

Solid Wood flooring in Exeter: what the housing says

The Exeter district counts 52,551 households in the 2021 census, and the mix of houses and flats in that count is what decides how a solid wood floor is specified here.

Terraced houses are 31% of the homes in the Exeter district, and a terrace is where solid oak is at home: the original floor was solid timber on joists, and a new solid board is fixed the same way, nailed or screwed through the tongue into the joists or a ply overlay. The 90 mm Windsor Narrow boards suit the proportions of a terraced front room. What the terrace needs first is a dry, ventilated void underneath, because solid timber follows the moisture of the air around it.

Flats are 26% of the homes in the Exeter district, and a flat is usually the wrong place for a solid board: the base is often concrete, the lease usually has an impact-sound clause, and a solid floor cannot be floated on an acoustic underlay. In a converted house with a timber floor and no clause, it can work; in a purpose-built block, an engineered board over acoustic underlay is the right answer and the wood looks the same.

Private renting is 25% of households in Exeter, and solid oak is a landlord's choice only where the property is held for the long term: the floor costs more to fit than it does to buy, and its advantage, that it can be refinished for decades, pays off over tenancies rather than within one. For a portfolio with a shorter horizon, the engineered range is the usual specification.

of households rent privately (21.0% in 2011)
24.9%
live in a flat or maisonette
26.0%
postcode districts we deliver to
EX1, EX2, EX4
solid wood floors in our range
15

Source: ONS, Census 2021, Exeter (E07000041) · Postcode districts: postcodes.io (ONS geography) · Range: our product catalogue

Delivery to Exeter

We deliver across Exeter and the wider Devon area. Most in-stock orders arrive within a timeframe that depends on the delivery postcode. We cover Exmouth, Dawlish, Tiverton, Honiton, Crediton, Newton Abbot, Cullompton and the surrounding Devon countryside.

Delivery details

Compare the solid wood range

The Windsor boards come in 90, 125 and 150 mm widths and in brushed, smooth, hand-scraped and smoked faces; Windsor Narrow Smooth Solid Oak suits a hallway or a small room, Windsor Solid Smoked Oak a larger one. The Marlow Solid Natural Oak Parquet Blocks are the solid answer to a herringbone floor. None of the solid range is listed for underfloor heating.

ProductFormatWear layer / thicknessFittingUnderfloor heating
Windsor Narrow Brushed Solid Oak Wood Flooring 18 x 9018mm x 90mm x RL18mm thickTongue & GrooveNot Compatible
Windsor Narrow Smooth Solid Oak Wood Flooring 18 x 9018mm x 90mm x RL18mm thickTongue & GrooveNot Compatible
Windsor Solid Coffee Hand Scraped Oak Wood Flooring 18 x 12518mm x 125mm x RL18mm thickTongue & GrooveNot Compatible
Windsor Solid Brushed Oak Wood Flooring 18 x 12518mm x 125mm x RL18mm thickTongue & GrooveNot Compatible
Windsor Solid Smooth Oak Wood Flooring 18 x 15018mm x 150mm x RL18mm thickTongue & GrooveNot Compatible
Windsor Solid Smoked Oak Wood Flooring 18 x 15018mm x 150mm x RL18mm thickTongue & GrooveNot Compatible
Marlow Solid Natural Oak Parquet Blocks 18 x 90 x 30018mm x 90mm x 300mm18mm thickTongue & GrooveNot Compatible
Marlow Solid Unfinished Oak Parquet Blocks 18 x 90 x 30018mm x 90mm x 300mm18mm thickTongue & GrooveNot Compatible

Room by room

Solid Wood in Exeter, room by room

  • Room

    Period Living Rooms

    Solid oak in hand-scraped finishes suits St Leonard’s and Pennsylvania’s Georgian and Victorian properties. For homes with underfloor heating, engineered oak in matching country tones offers the same character with better stability.
    Living Room flooring in Exeter

Our Devon delivery covers: Exeter city centre, St Leonard’s, Heavitree, Pinhoe, Topsham, Pennsylvania, Exwick, St James, Newtown, Polsloe, Whipton, Cranbrook, Newcourt, Alphington, Exminster, Exmouth, Dawlish, Tiverton, Honiton, Crediton, Newton Abbot, Cullompton, Ottery St Mary and surrounding Devon

See it on the map

Local fact sheet

Exeter's homes, by the numbers

Exeter in the 2021 census: 52,551 households, 73% houses, 26% flats.

Private renting reached 24.9% of Exeter households in 2021, up from 21.0% a decade earlier, while owner-occupation slipped to 57.2%. Terraced housing is the largest single type at 31.3%, spread through Heavitree, Exwick, Newtown and St Leonard's and St David's, with EX1, EX2 and EX4 all served. A rented terrace argues for floors that go down without wrecking what is underneath: click-fit vinyl planks or loose-lay carpet tiles lift again at the end of a tenancy. Suspended timber ground floors are common in stock of that form, and loose boards want screwing back to the joists with a plywood overlay before anything rigid goes on top, or deflection opens gaps within a season.

Exeter combines elegant Georgian and Regency terraces in St Leonard’s and the Cathedral Close with characterful Victorian villas in Pennsylvania and Heavitree, riverside conversions in Topsham and modern family developments at Cranbrook and Newcourt. The cathedral city’s mix of heritage, university and growing tech economy drives consistent demand for quality renovations.

The city centre was rebuilt after the war and its ground floors are solid; Pennsylvania, Duryard and the older terraces are not. That split runs through the middle of Exeter and decides whether the first job is a levelling compound or a look at the joists.

Delivery times and options depend on the delivery postcode. See Delivery & Returns for the applicable estimate.

Guides

Before you choose

Before you order in Exeter

  • A timber base, not a slab Solid boards are nailed or screwed to joists or to a ply overlay. Over concrete the answer is a battened floor or an engineered board.
  • Moisture of the base and the boards The boards acclimatise in the room until their moisture content matches it; the base is checked with a meter. A solid floor laid into a damp house will cup.
  • The expansion gap stays A solid floor moves with the seasons more than any other. The perimeter gap under the skirting is what lets it.
  • The void under the floor Check the airbricks. A terrace with a blocked void has damp joists, and a new solid floor will follow them.
  • The lease first A solid floor cannot be floated on an acoustic underlay. If the lease has an impact-sound clause, the engineered range is the route.

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Questions

Solid Wood flooring in Exeter: questions, answered

Is solid oak a good idea for a Exeter house?

For a room with a timber floor structure and a steady climate, yes: it is fixed to the joists as the original floor was, and it can be sanded and refinished for decades. For a concrete ground floor, a flat with a sound clause or a heated screed, the engineered range is the right oak.

Can solid wood go over underfloor heating?

The solid range is not listed for underfloor heating. Every engineered board in the range is, so a heated floor in Exeter points to that range.

How do I look after a solid oak floor in an older Exeter house?

Keep the room climate steady, keep grit off the surface with a mat at the door, and clean it dry or barely damp. An oiled floor is re-oiled where it wears; a lacquered one is recoated when the film dulls. The care guides linked below take each finish in turn.

Is solid wood suitable for Topsham riverside homes?

Near the water the ground stays damper for longer and a solid plank moves with it, so engineered board is the safer wood in a Topsham house. Where the ground floor is solid, ask for a moisture reading before ordering rather than after.

Do you deliver solid wood flooring to Exeter?

Yes. We deliver across Exeter and Devon from our UK warehouse, including the EX1, EX2 and EX4 postcode districts. Delivery cost and timing depend on the delivery postcode and are shown at checkout, and samples come by post first so the floor can be seen in the room before the full order.

Can I see a solid wood sample before ordering in Exeter?

Yes: cut samples are £1.99 each, up to two per product, posted to your Exeter address. Two or three side by side on the floor, in the room's own light morning and evening, settle the colour faster than any photograph.

The same range nearby

Solid Wood flooring nearby

Distances are straight-line miles from Exeter. Each link opens the solid wood page for that town.

TorquayTauntonPlymouthBarryBristolBathBournemouthExeter

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