Width changes a room more than colour does. The same oak, in 90 mm or 220 mm, produces two entirely different floors. Here is how to choose without regret.
What width actually does
A narrow board multiplies the joints. The eye reads many lines, the floor looks busy and traditional, and the pattern draws attention to itself.
A wide board reduces the number of joints. The surface reads as calm and continuous, and the grain of each board becomes visible as a feature rather than as texture.
The ranges
| Width | Character |
|---|---|
| 70 to 120 mm | Traditional, busy. Suits period restoration and small rooms. |
| 130 to 180 mm | The versatile middle. Works almost everywhere. |
| 190 to 240 mm | Contemporary, generous. Needs floor area to breathe. |
| 250 mm and above | Statement floor. Large volumes only. |
The rule of proportion
A simple guide that rarely fails: the wider the board, the larger the room needs to be. In a 12 m² bedroom, a 240 mm board leaves you with four visible planks and no pattern at all — the floor looks unfinished rather than luxurious.
Below 15 m², stay under 160 mm. Above 40 m², wide boards come into their own.
Stability: the trade-off
Wood moves across its width. Double the width, and you roughly double the movement in millimetres. This is why:
- Wide solid boards are difficult and demand very stable humidity.
- Wide engineered boards are fine, because the cross-bonded construction restrains the movement.
- Over underfloor heating, staying at or below 180 to 200 mm is the sensible ceiling.
Price
Width raises price sharply, and for a real reason: a 220 mm board requires a larger, straighter, older tree than a 120 mm strip. It is a different raw material, not a marketing tier. Expect a significant step up above 190 mm.
Length matters too
Width gets all the attention, but length does half the work. Short boards — under 1 m — read as busy however wide they are. Long boards of 1.8 to 2.4 m stretch the room and calm the surface. A wide but short board rarely delivers what people expect from “wide plank”.
A practical warning
Wide boards are less forgiving of an uneven substrate. A rigid 240 mm board does not follow a dip in the floor — it bridges it, and the board rocks. Levelling is not optional above 200 mm.
The short version
Small room, or period property: 120 to 160 mm. Modern family home: 180 to 200 mm, the sweet spot for most projects. Large, bright open space with a level substrate: go wide, you will not regret it.