Caring for an end-grain wood block floor
Care for an end-grain floor as you would any wood floor, with frequent dry cleaning, a barely damp mop and the finish maker's products, but…
Wood flooring, sourced
Mister End Grain
The reference guide to wood flooring: species, patterns, finishes, makers and installers.
Recently updated
Charred wood (shou sugi ban) flooring
Charred wood, called yakisugi or shou sugi ban, is timber whose surface has been deliberately burnt to a black char layer, a technique used…
Fire and slip ratings for wood floors
In Europe a wood floor's reaction to fire is given as a class from Afl to Ffl; most coated wood floors are Cfl-s1 or Dfl-s1, which depends…
Point de Hongrie (Hungarian point) parquet
Point de Hongrie, or Hungarian point, is the French name for a parquet whose blades are laid like bâtons rompus but with their ends cut on…
Smoked and fumed oak flooring
Smoked or fumed oak is oak darkened by exposure to ammonia vapour, which reacts with the tannins in the wood and turns it brown. It is a…
Usage classes 21 to 34 for wood floors
Usage classes are two-digit codes that rate a floor covering for an intensity of use: the tens digit gives the setting (2 domestic, 3…
Hardest species we cover
| Zambezi teak | 2,990 lbf |
|---|---|
| Jatoba (Brazilian cherry) | 2,690 lbf |
| Hickory | 1,880 lbf |
| Merbau | 1,840 lbf |
| European ash | 1,480 lbf |
A wood flooring reference you can check
Choosing a wood floor means weighing many things at once: the species, how the boards are built, the pattern they are laid in, the finish, the subfloor, and whoever installs it. Mister End Grain brings that knowledge together in one place. Every figure on this site, from a Janka hardness value to a recommended moisture range, links straight to the source it comes from, so you can check it yourself.
What you'll find here
- Wood species: profiles of the timbers most used for flooring. Each covers appearance, hardness, density, stability and sourcing, with a key-facts table.
- Flooring types and patterns: solid and engineered boards, end-grain wood blocks, herringbone, chevron, Versailles panels, wide planks and reclaimed timber.
- Guides: finishes, installation methods, underfloor heating, moisture and acclimatisation, maintenance, sanding and the standards behind the products.
- Hardness chart: every species we cover, ranked by Janka hardness, with a downloadable data file.
- Manufacturers: neutral profiles of flooring makers, built from their own published information and listed alphabetically.
- Installers: how to find and vet a fitter, with city listings being added over time.
How the content is made
Pages are compiled from published sources: forest products research laboratories, standards bodies, trade associations, reference databases and manufacturers' own technical documents. Where sources disagree, we show the range rather than pick a number. Photos come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences and are credited on every page. Read the editorial policy for the full method, or start with the glossary if a term is new to you.