Floors are almost becoming a fashion item. Wide plank flooring has tended to be sold at the top end of the market in Ireland but the long, wide plank look is now booming in Europe and manufacturers have responded by making products for the mass market at a lower price. This will filter through to Ireland. The next big thing colourwise is darker, warmer wood, such as walnut - knotted pine is out.

Let it breathe

The major advantage with natural finishes is that they are healthier. Lacquer is essentially a glorified glue with a hardener in it and it restricts the wood's ability to breathe. Naturally coated wood will breathe for up to 40 years and then it calcifies (surface calcification is the reason pitch pine has a reputation for being tough). Unlacquered wood helps to regulate humidity and neutralises up to 98 per cent of harmful air-borne bacteria. For this reason wood with natural finishes is the best finish to use in bedrooms - you don't want to lie for eight hours breathing in toxins that are expelled from many lacquers.

Just click for DIY

People are saving costs by laying floors themselves which has seen the expansion of the market for tongue and groove composite planks, with a wooden veneer, that click together with no glue. They are easy to lay and modern manufacturing techniques ensure they fit perfectly. Products include a light, 9mm HDF (high density fibreboard).

Look, it's layered

Engineered wooden flooring comprises different layers of wood - for instance, our Admont floor is made up of three layers of wood glued together. They are carefully balanced so the finished product lies completely flat. Solid, or single layer, wood will either have a slight cup or bow so that wear and tear is uneven. You have to sand off a lot of the top layer, when the surface becomes worn, to achieve a flat floor. Engineered wood wears more evenly so you will need to sand only around half a millimetre.

Get afloat

Certain types of wooden floor are now often laid directly onto concrete (with a thin underlay) or other surfaces - in what's known as a floating floor - rather than being screwed to batons, as they were tradition

ally. A floating floor is quicker and easier to install and doesn't raise the floor level very much so it's compatible with tiles and carpets. You often don't even have to take up the old floorboards but can lay the new ones straight on top. You do have to buy a special type of engineered, multi-layer board to do this although Junckers makes a solid wood floating system.

Price the finish

When choosing a floor you need to compare like with like. People often say their pine floor was only £12 a square metre but when you consider the cost of finishing and laying the wood the price is nearer to £40 a square metre and for that price you may have been able to buy a higher standard, finished floor.

Stay in fashion

You can follow the trends by using a dark oil to colour your existing floor and then use an oil remover if you want to lighten it at a later date. If you want your floor to last for a very long time, choose a perennial wood such as oak. It won't ever be at the height of fashion but it'll never be a complete no-no.

Wear it well

When buying natural wood you must expect some degree of wear and tear. I don't think a wooden floor looks right until it is a bit worn, but wood suffers from abuse. Put floor mats down in key areas, such as by the front door, to remove gravel from shoes. You must put pads on furniture legs. People say they will lift things but, let's face it, we all drag furniture.

Relative humidity

The vast majority of problems with wooden flooring are moisture related. Wood is essentially a sponge - if it's filled with water it expands and if it's too dry it goes brittle. If you're not sure whether your base is dry enough get it checked scientifically - it will take a flooring contractor five minutes to do this with special tools. As a general rule, if you are floating wood over a concrete floor there should be no more than 5 per cent moisture in the screed (most screed settles at 1 to 2 per cent). If you put polythene onto a wet screed to protect the floor, the moisture will have to go somewhere - for instance, into the doors or skirting - so you still need to make sure the screed is dry. A relative humidity of between 45 and 65 per cent in a room is ideal. If the relative humidity in your home is less than 40 per cent you, as well as the wood, will suffer from bronchial problems.

Lacquer, oil or wax

There are pros and cons to using a lacquer or a natural finish on a wooden floor. Lacquer (or varnish) in its various formats is fairly low maintenance and easy to clean, but when it has worn you have to sand and relacquer the entire room. When you clean it you aren't replenishing it in any way, which you can do with a oiled floor. A natural oil or wax finish wears off more quickly but you can wash it once or twice a year with a special oil wash which replenishes the surface. You can also make local repairs, such as around a door threshold, where the floor has worn - you don't need to repair the entire floor as you do with lacquer.

Derek Ennis is the managing director of House of Woods in Dublin. Tel. 01 842 0377