there is a rather nice wood floor at the Japanese American Cultural Museum in downtown LA. It is a douglas fir floor in end grain. It looks as though it was just 2 x 4's planed into sharp 90 deg. angles (versus the radius from the mill) and then chopped in sequences & intalled. It had a nice gradiation in what the wood itself did applied in sequential sections. Since the end grain is a bit more durable, & doug fir is a softer wood, it really made alot of sense. Probably any good wood guy/team could do it.

that end grain flooring is an old industrial flooring technique because it can handle an incredile compression load.

the difficulty with that type of flooring is that it expands and contracts with moisture in the plane of the floor so popping due to compression can be a real problem (not so much an issue in an industrial application.)

Just send me a gourmet smoked turkey sandwiches on a multi-grain roll with harvarti and cranberry sauce.

missed lunch treekiller?

Thanks for the suggestions...I am having fun designing this floor-good thing labor will be done by the client...

Insight - back on TC page 41, strawbeary and DCA started a tangent about turkey sandwich bearing product reps...

next time I'll check w/ TC before asking a question...can I go to the bathroom now?

only after you write on the blackboard 500 times, 'I will not....'

These are the convenctional ways to install a parquet or hardwood floor:

These are typical custom made large format wood tiles, usually already prefinished;

This may give you an idea of a parquet with a wood mosaic at its center plus borders, using different types of wood:

I like this pattern, it gives a strong 3d effect.
I've used it many times using different materials, like granite or marbles or even stainless steel as the center square tile:

Thank you for those pics matteo-although I'm going in a less traditional direction-I've been impressed by the level of texture and detail I've seen in examples such as these.

So ok, this might be my first rodeo at custom hardwood floors and all, but my client is wanting cherry, which is a "soft" hardwood and not as durable as maple or walnut...I think it won't hold up for commercial purposes. Don't say "oak" either...