Everything You Want to Know About Our European White Oak Floors

If you’ve been following along with our English Tutor Construction home build, you already know how much thought I put into every detail—and our hardwood floors were no exception! Choosing the perfect European white oak flooring took time, patience, and a whole lot of samples. I wanted to create a home that felt timeless, warm, and uniquely us, and the flooring played a major role in setting that tone.

In this post, I’m answering one of the most-asked questions I get: What wood floors did you choose?

Choosing Our Hardwood Floors

I knew I wanted a natural white oak floor that was:

A touch darker than the floors in my last house
Not too gray, but not too warm
Full of tone variation and character
Durable enough to lay throughout the entire home
Complementary to (but not matching) my wood kitchen islands

After narrowing it down, I chose Provenza Park Place from the New York Loft Collection. It’s a European white oak with just the right balance of rustic charm and elegant finish. The wide planks have beautiful variation and a wire-brushed texture that makes them feel lived-in—but in the best, most sophisticated way.

This is the same brand I used in my previous home (in the Liverpool color, which is now discontinued), so I already trusted Provenza for its quality and durability.

What Is Radiant Heating?

We installed radiant floor heating throughout the main level of our home—and it’s one of the things I’m most excited about!

Radiant heat works by circulating warm water through pipes (or electric coils) underneath your floors. Instead of blowing hot air through vents, the warmth rises evenly from the floor, creating a cozy and consistent temperature in every room. It’s totally silent, energy-efficient, and so comfortable—especially on chilly mornings.

Because of this system, we had to approach our flooring installation a little differently.

How We Installed Our Hardwood Over Radiant Heat

There are three typical ways to install hardwood flooring: nail-down, floating, and glue-down. Since we were working with radiant heat, glue-down was the only safe and effective option.

Here’s what the process looked like:

Gyp-Crete, a self-leveling compound, was poured over the radiant coils. It encases the system and creates a smooth, stable surface.
Once cured, our Provenza wood floors were glued directly on top.
Nailing wasn’t an option—nails could puncture the heating coils and damage the system.

Incorporating Pattern Play with Parquet

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I love pattern play! In our previous home, I installed a herringbone pattern in the basement (you can revisit that post here), and in this home, I wanted to bring that same custom feel—but with a different twist.

I chose a parquet pattern for our main corridor and placed similar details in strategic spots like the stair landings. These intentional breaks in the flooring layout help define each space while tying everything together in a way that feels elevated and cohesive.

The Perfect Timeless Floors

This blog post is less of a how-to guide and more of a heartfelt share—a place I can direct you whenever I get asked about our flooring (which is often!). I truly feel like Provenza Park Place was the perfect choice for our forever home. It’s warm, timeless, full of character, and totally works with the radiant heating system we installed.