While the history of wood flooring may not be a glamorous journey, it demonstrates the evolution of the role of the home. Wood flooring made its first recorded appearance in the Middle Ages. The remarkable thing is that some of the oak flooring examples from this period are still in a useable condition today. Prior to this many households used reeds/rushes as a removable floor covering that they simply changed rather than cleaned.
The change in flooring came as developments in wooden architecture were made, as houses with upper floors required sturdy flooring. Flag stones were too heavy for the new smaller multi-floored urban homes and so solid wood flooring was employed. For the richer classes the floors were stained with exotic colours and the wood was laid in various patterns and parquets. For the lower class the method of decorating the wood flooring, was to paint directly onto the surface. The designs varied; however, popular themes were Celtic patterns and animals.
As time progressed so did wood flooring, with the joinery becoming more sophisticated, allowing for further development of styles and patterns. By the late 1700's wooden flooring had become common place, as had intricate patterns such as diamonds. These were used primarily in hallways and dining rooms. While for grander houses solid wood and oak flooring were commonplace with more expensive cuts of wood and intricate inlayed designs being limited to the formal rooms of the manors.
In America the 19th century became characterized by unfinished pine that evolved to being stained and finished by mid-century. As the industrial revolution took hold pine soon became subflooring as parquet got popular, with prefabricated parquet patterns being sold to install on cloth yielding "wood carpet" With the new technologies, accurately measured flooring panels could be made on mass, thus reducing cost. Herringbone oak flooring parquet patterns abounded with the emergence of custom borders featured in dining rooms, libraries, and drawing rooms.
By the 20th century trends had changed again and lighter wood flooring styles had come into fashion, such as walnut flooring and welling oak. However, alternative floor coverings were now becoming popular in the post war wave of prosperity including linoleum. Peaking in 1956, wood flooring was overwhelmed by carpet following the FHA's acceptance for new home construction. Throughout the 1900s and 1970s solid wood flooring was a specialty surface utilized very selectively. Back in the modern era wooden flooring is making a comeback, as people appreciate its ease to clean and natural beauty.
