Where it all begins
The hardwood top layer and birch plywood sub-layer arrive separately, both sourced from FSC-certified forests across Europe. On arrival, both are carefully inspected. Afterwards the top layer moves on to grading.
No two top layers are alike. This is the natural beauty of wood: some pieces are clean and almost knot-free, others full of knots and character. Before a plank can become a DuoPlank®, every top layer is graded by appearance. Our graders inspect each top layer by eye, drawing on years of experience to read the grain, knots, and color. From the pristine calm of Prime to the robust character of Classical, each suited to a different interior style.
Stability starts long before production
The hardwood top layer, sourced in Europe, arrives fully dried, at our factory. But drying as others know it, is only the starting point. At Hakwood, every top layer goes through an additional conditioning program, created by ourselves, refining the wood to a moisture tolerance we have spent decades perfecting.
We release and balance moisture gradually and slowly, conditioning the materials in a natural way. The result is a stable product with consistent moisture levels throughout, conditioned to stay stable through seasonal changes and shifts in humidity. It is a step few others take, and one of the reasons our planks are known to perform in extreme conditions.
After our conditioning program, the top layer is bonded to the Baltic birch plywood backer using formaldehyde-free glue, then filled, sanded, and profiled. Each step takes place in a controlled environment. This is how a DuoPlank® is born.
Tailored to the last detail
Once a plank is bonded, the finishing stage begins. This is where it stops being a base plank and becomes the floor your project is built around, shaped in color, texture, and finish. The production line was designed from the desired outcome backward, with the flexibility to combine or skip stages, adjust intensity, and dial in results with a precision that a fixed line cannot offer. Every disc, every brush, every tool can be configured to manipulate color and surface in ways that go far beyond a standard range.
The result is an exceptionally wide range of surfaces, from finely sawn and hand-hewn to brushed and burned. Because every floor is made to order, that flexibility is available to every project, down to shifting a color slightly warmer or cooler. That same thinking is what makes the bespoke program possible, with over 4,300 color references developed to date and the ability to create new ones. Behind it all sits an in-house lab where new surfaces, treatments, and products are continuously developed and tested.
Seventeen quality checkpoints. No exceptions.
What happens inside our factory in the Netherlands stays fully in our hands. That is not a side note; it is the reason quality control means something here. Because we control every stage of production ourselves, we can inspect at every step, not just at the end. Each board moves through 17 dedicated quality checkpoints before it leaves, each one a thorough examination in its own right. Expert hands review every plank, parquet tile, panel, and accessory at every stage of fabrication. The projects you build deserve nothing less, and keeping production in-house is how we make sure of it.
