Frogwise

The green home · 02

Floors: gietfloor vs wood

The largest surface in the home. Poured resin and wood both have a place, but their environmental profile, comfort and lifespan are very different.

Reference material, not advice for your specific build. Last reviewed September 2026.

The floor receives more wear than almost any other surface, and it sets the thermal feel of a room. Two materials come up most often in contemporary Dutch interiors: gietfloor — a poured, seamless floor — and wood, either plank or engineered.

Neither is automatically the green choice. The right answer depends on what is underneath, who lives there, and how long the floor is expected to last.

Gietfloor (poured floor)

  • Seamless and easy to clean; no grout lines or gaps for dust to collect.
  • Can be applied thinly over existing substrates, reducing demolition waste.
  • Material range is wide: from epoxy-heavy systems to bio-based and cementitious options. Ask for the specific resin content and any VOC emissions datasheet.
  • Hard underfoot and cold in winter unless paired with underfloor heating.
  • Damaged areas are difficult to patch invisibly; a full recoat is usually needed after many years.

Wood

  • Warm to the touch and naturally comfortable to walk on.
  • A renewable material when sourced with a credible certification such as FSC, PEFC or an equivalent chain-of-custody label.
  • Solid wood can be sanded and refinished several times, extending its life across decades.
  • Engineered wood is more dimensionally stable in damp Dutch winters but has a shorter refinishing life than solid planks.
  • Requires care with water; not ideal for bathrooms unless specifically treated and designed.

A simple decision rule

For dry living areas with underfloor heating, a thin gietfloor or engineered wood both work. For rooms where you want warmth underfoot and the ability to repair rather than replace, wood is usually the longer-term choice. For wet rooms, neither raw wood nor a standard wood floor is appropriate; there, a properly specified gietfloor or tile is the practical option.