Our Specify page turns a set of choices into a written request for quotation. It follows the same order a made-to-order factory works through a floor: how the board is built, what it is made of, the pattern, the size, the grade, then the finish, and finally quantity and delivery. This article walks through the page step by step, explains what each option means for the quotation, and lists the details that are better added by hand before you send it.
How the page works
The page is built around six decision steps, numbered 01 to 06, followed by a seventh step for quantity and delivery. Each step offers a set of options: select one to choose it, select it again to clear it. As you choose, a summary at the bottom of the page fills in line by line, and anything not yet chosen is marked as such.
Nothing is sent while you work. Your selections stay in your browser until you choose to submit them. If you are not sure where to begin, the page also links to our library of 211 colors, since many projects start from a tone rather than a construction.
01 Construction and thickness
The first step sets how the board is built:
- 2 layer: an oak wear layer bonded to a stable core. A practical choice where floor height is limited, and commonly used for herringbone and chevron.
- 3 layer: an oak wear layer over a cross-layered core with a backing layer. Well suited to wider boards and larger open areas.
- Solid: one piece of oak through the full thickness. Best suited to narrower boards and projects where repeated sanding and refinishing is a priority.
Thickness is chosen in the same step. Two builds are marked as current production: 5/8” (15mm) with a 3mm wear layer and 3/4” (20mm) with a 6mm wear layer. The others, 3/8” (10mm), 1/2” (12mm), 9/16” (14mm), 11/16” (18mm) and 13/16” (21mm), are made to order. If none fits, type the thickness you need in the “Other thickness” field.
02 Species
This step is already filled in. The page is built around French White Oak, the species we run as the standard for this range, so there is nothing to choose. It appears in the summary so the written specification is complete.
03 Format
Choose the installation pattern:
- Plank: straight lay, random length.
- Herringbone: 90-degree pattern, left and right blocks.
- Chevron: mitered ends at 45° or 30°.
- Parquet: cut to a drawing you supply.
The page records one format. If the project uses more than one, for example herringbone in a hall and plank in the rooms, select the main one and add the second when you send the request. More than one format can be produced in one order under the same approved color reference. For parquet, the drawing carries most of the specification; see custom parquet flooring from drawings.
04 Width
Width sets the visual scale of the room. Seven widths are in current production: 3-1/4” (83mm), 3-1/2” (89mm), 5” (127mm), 6” (152mm), 7-1/2” (190mm), 9” (229mm) and 9-1/4” (235mm). Eight more are made to order: 3” (76mm), 4” (102mm), 5-1/2” (140mm), 7” (178mm), 8” (203mm), 10” (254mm), 11” (280mm) and 12” (305mm). An “Other width” field takes anything else.
05 Grade
Grade controls how much natural character appears on the face, and it affects yield and price. The page shows each grade with its trade-off:
| Grade | Face | Yield and cost |
|---|---|---|
| Premium | Very few knots, limited color variation | Lowest yield, highest material cost |
| Select | Small sound knots, gentle color variation | Lower yield, higher cost than standard |
| Natural | Visible knots, natural color movement | Standard yield, standard cost |
| Rustic | Larger sound knots, stronger variation, filled features | Highest yield, lowest cost |
Our article on oak flooring grades explains how grade reads under different finishes.
06 Finish
The last decision step combines four choices, because color, sheen and texture are seen together on the finished floor:
- Sheen: Matte, Extra Matte or Ultra Matte.
- Surface: Smooth, Light Wire Brushed, Medium Wire Brushed, Wire Brushed, or Wire Brushed with Cross Marks.
- Finish system: Unfinished (sanded and supplied for site-applied finishing), Clear UV (natural oak under a clear UV topcoat, no added stain), Color UV (color stain beneath a UV topcoat, our standard route for a colored floor), or Color and Effect UV (color combined with an effect such as smoke, wash or a two-tone reaction).
- Color reference: a free-text field. Enter a library code such as VU-NR-019, or the name of the physical sample you are sending us.
Whatever you enter here is a starting point. The color is approved on a physical sample made with the intended production finish, as explained in why color is approved on a physical sample.
07 Quantity and delivery
Quantity and destination are needed for a firm quotation. The quantity field takes square feet or square meters, plus the number of containers if you know it. Give the destination port, or the full address if you want a delivered quote. Add the email address where the quotation should go.
The written specification
At the bottom of the page, the summary becomes a request for quotation with a reference in the form VU-RFQ, a date code and four characters. Use that reference in any reply so both sides are talking about the same specification. You can:
- Send the request for quotation directly from the page.
- Send it as an email, which opens your mail program with the specification in the message.
- Copy the specification to paste into your own email or a project document.
- Save it as a PDF for your file or for colleagues.
Any step left open appears in the text as “please advise”. That is a reasonable answer where you are genuinely flexible, for example on thickness, but say so in your message, so the open line is read as an invitation to propose rather than an oversight.
What to add by hand
Some details have no field on the page. Add them in your message or with the request:
| Detail | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Drawings and layouts | Reviewed together with the specification |
| A second format or width, with its quantity | The page records one of each |
| Length: random, fixed, or long boards to 118” (3000mm) | Fixed and long lengths are cut to order |
| Grain: rift and quarter, plain sawn or mixed | Specified separately from grade |
| Square edge instead of Tongue & Groove | Available on request |
| Packing, labels and private-label artwork | Agreed at order confirmation |
| Preferred trade term and named place | Changes what the price includes |
| Compliance documents for your market | Agreed before shipment |
The full list of what a complete request contains is in our hardwood flooring RFQ checklist.
Working with Vu Uy Wood
We manufacture solid and engineered French White Oak flooring to buyer specification in Song Than 3 Industrial Park, Ho Chi Minh City, and have done so since 2006. Once sent, the specification from the Specify page goes to our sales team for review, and if you include a drawing, it is reviewed together with the specification. You can also start from a tone in the color library. We normally reply within one working day.