August 6, 2025
6 Products that Raise the Standard of Wood’s Performance
Few materials combine warmth, versatility, and good looks like wood. But it does have some drawbacks—it’s susceptible to movement as well as warping with prolonged exposure to water and moisture. High-traffic applications can also be problematic. As a result, more companies are finding ways to improve the durability and wood performance of the product while maintaining its aesthetics.
Quartile Collection
Spinneybeck
A collaboration with designer Lars Beller Fjetland, the Quartile Collection consists of 12-inch-square blocks of hardwood that come together to create striking decorative wall cladding reminiscent of midcentury breeze block facades. Available in two designs—Quartile 1 and Quartile 2—the collection comes in beech, Douglas fir, maple, sapele, walnut, and white oak.
Ekoa Panels
Lingrove
Made with rapidly renewable flax and plant resins, these biocomposite sheets offer an eco-friendly alternative to finished wood veneers and laminates. Designed for hospitality, health care, workplace, multifamily, and higher education spaces, the panels are free of Red List chemicals and are available in 14 wood-grain options.
Acrylic Infused Flooring
Nydree Flooring
An alternative to traditional hardwood flooring, Acrylic Infused Live Sawn White Oak is an engineered product made with acrylic resin. The process results in highly durable flooring for commercial and residential applications that is 300 percent stronger than natural hardwood. It utilizes seven plies of Baltic birch plywood glued together with marine-grade adhesive, making the flooring highly stable and water resistant.
TimberTones
Armstrong Flooring
Armstrong Flooring’s TimberTones Densified Hardwood begins with real hardwood that is treated with heat and pressure—without acrylic fillers or chemicals—to close its open cells and densify the veneer. The result is a floor that’s six times more dent-resistant and four times more scratch-resistant than traditional wood.
Red Oak Veneer
Urban Evolutions
Sourced from underutilized wood, this live sawn red oak veneer paneling is an eco-responsible alternative to white oak. Cut from select at-risk, mature, or diseased trees, the veneer is applied to medium-density fiberboard made with up to 80 percent recycled material. Panels measure two or four feet wide, eight feet tall, and three-quarters of an inch thick.
Mass Timber Wood Panels
Mid-Atlantic Timberframes
The Pennsylvania-based company offers mass timber wood panels made either from cross-laminated beams or glued laminated timber. Each can be engineered for walls, floors, and roofs. Growing in popularity for commercial and midrise multifamily buildings, the panels are strong, dimensionally stable, and visually appealing.
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