Choosing a wide plank floor for a Greenwich estate: species, grade, width and how the boards are made and installed.
Planning a wide plank floor in Greenwich? Talk with Joe Avila: call (908) 232-6600 or book a virtual consultation.
A wide plank floor is one of the quietest luxuries in a Greenwich home: fewer seams, longer lines and more of the wood itself on show. Every wide plank floor we supply is made to order in width, length, grade and finish, sourced from American and European mills. Here is how to choose one for a back-country estate or a colonial near the harbor.
Why Wide Plank Suits A Greenwich Estate
Greenwich houses are built at a generous scale: long center halls, open family rooms and sunrooms that meet the landscape. Narrow strip flooring can look busy across that much floor, while wide boards let a room breathe and match the proportion of the architecture. Wide plank also pairs well with patterned rooms. Plank can be ordered with matching parquet, herringbone, medallions or borders so every piece matches in thickness and appearance, a detail shown on our Greenwich wide plank page and in our herringbone guide.
American White Oak: Widths, Lengths And Grade
Most Greenwich projects begin with American White Oak (Quercus alba). In solid construction, the standard thickness is ¾ inch, standard widths run from 3 to 12 inches with wider boards on request, and lengths run from 2 to 10 feet random, with longer lengths and length groupings available. It comes unfinished or prefinished in UV oil or natural oil. Boards are custom milled on German-made molders to meet and surpass NOFMA and NWFA specifications, and our Select grade rivals the Clear grade those standards specify.
Rift And Quartered White Oak For A Calmer Grain
Where the architecture is crisp and modern, rift and quartersawn white oak gives a straight, even grain with little figure, so a wide board reads as one clean surface. A Greenwich estate on our projects page used select grade rift and quartered white oak in a wide plank chevron, 5 by 35 inches and ¾ inch thick, installed over radiant heat and finished in pure WOCA natural oil. It is a good example of wide plank scale carried into a pattern.
Choosing wide plank for a Greenwich home? Book a virtual consultation with Joe Avila.
Beyond Oak: Walnut, Ash, Cherry And Heart Pine
Wide plank is not limited to oak. The collection lists walnut, ash, birch, hickory, maple, red oak, American cherry, Douglas fir, Eastern white pine, heart pine, European pine, reclaimed and engineered options. American Black Walnut suits a library or dining room that wants depth, while ash and maple keep a coastal house light. Heart pine and reclaimed boards bring age to an older Greenwich colonial. See our reclaimed wood floors for that look.
Installing Wide Plank Over Plywood Or Radiant Heat
Solid wide plank is typically nailed, or nailed and glued, to a plywood subfloor, and with particularly wide boards, gluing and nailing is always good practice where possible. Homes with radiant heat or concrete slabs usually call for engineered construction glued down, as our radiant heat guide explains. Our Greenwich installation page covers the work we do locally, from new floors to matching existing ones.
Ready to plan your wide plank floor? Speak with Joe Avila.
Quick Answers
How wide can a wide plank floor be?
Standard solid white oak widths run from 3 to 12 inches, and wider boards are available on request.
Which species are available in wide plank?
White oak, rift and quartered oak, walnut, ash, maple, cherry, hickory, heart pine, Douglas fir, reclaimed and engineered options, among others.
Can wide plank go over radiant heat?
Yes, usually in engineered construction glued down; one Greenwich estate we show has wide plank chevron over radiant heat.
Is wide plank available prefinished?
American White Oak comes unfinished or prefinished in UV oil or natural oil.
Begin Your Wide Plank Floor With Joe Avila
Call (908) 232-6600, email joe@hugginsflooring.com, or book a virtual consultation. Explore herringbone, chevron, wide plank and parquet floors, or our sanding and refinishing and NWFA inspection services.
About The Author
Joe Avila is the founder of Huggins Wood Floor Specialist and leads New York City Wood Floors, a Huggins Wood Floor Specialist brand. He brings 26 years in wood flooring, is NWFA certified (CSI, CI, CWFI, CFS), and teaches AIA, IDCEC and ASID continuing-education courses. See his certifications.
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Contact New York City Wood Floors
Email: joe@hugginsflooring.com
Phone Number: 908-232-6600
Address: 406B West Broad Street, Westfield, NJ, 07090
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