calico cat on Oregon white oak wide hardwood flooring

“What’s the widest flooring you have?”

It’s a question we hear a lot. Many of our customers love the look of those extra wide planks and want them in a local product. As of this year, we have a floor that fits the bill: introducing Zena Wide Rustic!

It’s taken a long time and a lot of work to develop wide flooring that lives up to our high standards. Wide flooring is more prone to change shape with the seasonal temperature and humidity swings we get here in the Pacific Northwest. We didn’t want to make gorgeous flooring that wouldn't hold up over time.

One of the primary benefits of our site-finished flooring is that the seams between the boards disappear, leaving a monolithic and mostly impervious surface. With too much seasonal movement, the floor cannot maintain this surface, and it becomes rough, full of gaps and squeaky. Finding a way to make this flooring stable was not just a high priority - it was the only way we could feel comfortable making it.

The good news is that, after years of experimenting, we found a recipe that works. We take a 3/16” hardwood wear layer and laminate an 11 layer plywood core on the back. The plywood provides the necessary stability in the floor, meaning it can even be installed over concrete or radiant heat. The extra thick wear layer means the floor can still be sanded and finished just as many times as our traditional solid floor.

An extra thick wear layer provides plenty of sandable material, while the strong plywood core keeps everything stable.

This best of both worlds construction is the result of years of experimentation and some key support from others in the industry. A big thanks to Trillium Pacific Millwork, our manufacturing partner in this project. They patiently put up with endless small batch runs with funky specifications. Scott Leavengood at the OSU Wood Science Lab deserves a huge thank you as well. Scott gave us access to the wood testing lab, so we were able to run our flooring through a full suite of tests in order to find the right combination.

The last critical ingredient in the production of high quality and stable wide flooring is the endmatch, the tongue and groove profile on the ends of the boards. Narrow flooring does not require an endmatch, but it is a requirement for flooring over 5” wide. Read here to learn about what it took to get an endmatcher up and running at Zena.

This tongue and groove profile on the ends of the boards - also called an endmatch - gives the floor even more stability.

The Details:

3/16” Hardwood wear layer
11ply Underlayment rated Baltic Birch Core with Type II waterproof glue, meets CARB II compliance with no added urea formaldehyde.
Meets HPVA & NHLA specifications for engineered wood flooring.
FSC certification available.

View our Spec sheet for more information

Three Species: Oregon White Oak, Western Maple & Oregon Ash

Three Widths: 4.25”, 5.25” & 6.25”

One Amazing Rustic Grade showcasing all of the amazing character, color and figure that our local trees have to offer.

But enough words - this flooring speaks for itself. Enjoy these pictures, or read more on our website.