Hardwood Order & Fitting Sheet

The room

Room

Date

Length

Width

AREA

Coverage per box

Waste %

BOXES

Coverage bought

Spare

Perimeter

Batch / lot number

Figures and rules

Boxes

area x (1 + waste) / coverage per box, rounded UP

Waste — simple rectangle

10%

Waste — diagonal / herringbone / angles

15%

Why more than laminate

random lengths · natural defects · stagger limits offcut reuse

Expansion gap

around 1/2 in, around the WHOLE perimeter

⚠ Acclimation

days, in the ROOM — follow the manufacturer

⚠ Order in

ONE batch — colour varies between runs

⚠ Keep the spare

matching a board later is near impossible

Before and during

• Coverage per box read off the LABEL
• Waste allowance matched to the LAYOUT, not to habit
• Whole job ordered in one batch; lot number written down
• Boxes ACCLIMATED in the room for the stated time
• Subfloor checked: flat, dry, and moisture-tested
• Expansion gap planned around the whole perimeter
• Board direction decided — usually along the longest wall or the light
• Stagger pattern planned so joints do not line up
• First row checked dead straight; everything follows it
• Spare boxes kept somewhere dry

Acclimation is where floors fail

Wood moves with humidity. Boards taken from a cold lorry straight onto a heated subfloor will change dimension over the following days — and if they are nailed down when that happens, the floor gaps in winter or buckles in summer. Bring the boxes into the room, open or cross-stack them, and wait the manufacturer's stated time.

Leave the gap, keep the spare

Half an inch around the whole perimeter, hidden by skirting, so the floor can move seasonally — laying tight to the wall is invisible until the first humid summer and then means lifting the floor. And keep the leftover boards: colour varies between production runs, so a board bought later will not match.