Wide Plank Oak Flooring: Pros, Cons and When It Makes Sense

Wide plank oak flooring suits big rooms and long runs, where fewer, larger boards make the floor look calmer and show more of the grain. The trade-offs are that wide boards need a flatter subfloor, show each board’s seasonal movement a little more, and can look oversized in a small room. Our wide board is 2200 × 220 × 15 mm engineered European oak, against 1900 × 190 × 15 mm for our standard plank.

The two formats side by side

Both boards are built the same way. The difference is size, which changes how the floor looks and a few practical things about laying it.

	Wide board	Standard plank
Size	2200 × 220 × 15 mm	1900 × 190 × 15 mm
Wear layer	4 mm European oak	4 mm European oak
Surface	Matte brushed, micro bevel	Matte brushed, micro bevel
Joint	Tongue and groove	Tongue and groove
Pack	6 boards, 2.904 m²	6 boards, 2.166 m²
Colours	7	11

Each wide board covers 0.484 m², against 0.361 m² for a standard plank, so a wide board floor uses about a quarter fewer boards for the same area.

What fewer boards means in a real room

Take an open living and dining area 7 metres long and 5 metres wide, with the boards running the long way.

• Across the 5 metre width you get about 23 rows of wide boards, against about 27 rows of standard planks. That is four fewer long joint lines running down the room.
• Each 7 metre row needs just over three wide boards, against nearly four standard ones, so there are fewer end joins too.
• The whole 35 m² takes roughly 73 wide boards before waste, against roughly 97 standard planks.

You don’t consciously count joins when you walk into a room, but you do notice the effect. A big floor in wide boards looks quieter and more solid. The same floor in narrower boards has more lines and more rhythm, which some people prefer. Both are valid choices.

Where wide boards work best

Large open-plan rooms

This is the main case for them. In a knock-down rebuild or a long rear extension where the kitchen, dining and family room run together, standard planks can start to look busy over that distance. Wide boards help the space read as one floor.

Long hallways

A wide board down a long hall in a bigger period house pulls the eye towards the end of it. It works best where the hall is generous; in a narrow corridor, a board this wide can leave you with only four or five rows.

Showing the grain

A wider, longer face shows more of the oak’s figure, including knots and colour changes along the board. If you like a floor with some character, the wide format gives it more room.

The downsides to weigh up

Subfloor flatness

A longer, wider board is less forgiving of dips. A low spot that a shorter board would bridge can leave a wide board rocking slightly or sitting proud at the joins. The installer should check flatness carefully and level where needed, and that work should appear on the quote. Our floor removal and subfloor page explains what that preparation involves.

Seasonal movement

All timber moves across its width as the air gets drier or more humid. Each wide board moves a little more than a narrower one, so in a dry Melbourne winter with the heating on, any gaps that open show as fewer but slightly wider lines. Engineered construction keeps this movement small, which is why wide formats are almost always engineered, but it doesn’t remove it.

Cupping

Cupping is when the edges of a board rise above its centre, usually because the underside has taken on more moisture than the top. Any board can cup if moisture comes up from a slab or a damp subfloor, and a wider board shows it more. The protection is the same for every floor: a moisture test on concrete, a barrier where needed, and ventilation under suspended timber floors.

Small rooms and fewer colours

In a small bedroom or study, wide boards can look oversized, and you may only see a few full-length boards in the whole room. The wide board also comes in seven colours, against eleven in the standard plank.

Wide boards on different subfloors

On a concrete slab, which covers most new builds and extensions, the wide board is normally glued down. That gives it the solid feel wide boards suit, but it means the slab has to be moisture tested first and ground or levelled where it falls outside the flatness limit. New slabs in particular can hold moisture for a long time after they look dry.

On a timber subfloor, such as particleboard upstairs or old boards on joists in an older house, the tongue and groove board is fixed over the top once the base is firm and flat. Old floors on stumps often have cupped boards, soft spots or a hump over a bearer. A standard plank can tolerate a little of that, but a 2200 mm board generally can’t, so please allow for more preparation in an older house if you would like wide boards.

The seven wide board colours

• White Smoke: our palest, whitewashed oak look. See the White Smoke wide board.
• Blank: sits with our light oak and blonde tones. The name doesn’t describe the colour, so it is best to see a sample.
• Natural Oak: the straightforward oak tone that suits most houses. See the Natural Oak wide board.
• Light Tan: a light, warm oak.
• Mink: a muted neutral that falls between grey and brown.
• Nero Brown: a deeper brown oak for large, well-lit rooms. See Nero Brown.
• Edgey: one of our darker, more characterful oak colours.

White Smoke, Natural Oak, Light Tan, Edgey and Blank also come in the standard plank, so you can use the same colour in both formats. The whole range is on our engineered oak page.

How we would decide

1. If the main living area is large and open, and the subfloor can be made flat, wide boards are a good choice.
2. If the job is mostly bedrooms and smaller rooms, stay with the standard plank.
3. If the house has both, use one format through each continuous floor rather than switching width at a doorway. Changing size mid-floor tends to look unintentional.
4. Run the boards along the longest dimension of the main space, or towards the main source of light, so the joins don’t cut across the room.

Working out quantities is simple once you have the areas. Wide board comes in packs of 2.904 m², and our guide on how much flooring you need walks through the waste allowance and pack maths.

What going wide changes on the quote

Prices aren’t published on our site, because the board is only part of the total. Choosing wide boards does affect several lines on a quote, and it helps to know which ones before you compare.

• Boards. Priced per square metre, sold by the pack. Compare the price per m², not per pack, since the packs cover different areas.
• Levelling. Often the line that moves most, because the flatness tolerance is tighter.
• Waste. In large simple rooms, wide boards cut efficiently. In rooms with lots of corners, cupboards and doorways, the longer offcuts are harder to reuse, so allow a little more.
• Labour. Fewer boards per square metre, but each one is longer and heavier to handle and fit.

We recommend asking for an itemised quote so you can see these lines separately.

Next step: see a full run

A single sample doesn’t show what a wide board does to a room. Our showroom has large wall displays, so you can see a good run of each board, wide and standard, next to each other. You’re welcome to visit us at 2/1386 Toorak Road, Camberwell, take samples home and book a free measure and quote when you’re ready. We’ll check the subfloor flatness and give you our recommendation on whether wide boards suit your rooms. You can also call us on 1300 690 160.