A hardwood flooring specification page gets its evidence from an approved finish record tied to particular rooms and a current revision. Match each public material description to that record. Label photographs, alternatives and unresolved details separately so buyers can distinguish a documented selection from the appearance of a finished room.
Which record names the floor?
Start with the record your team uses to approve floor finishes. Identify the room, the approved description and the revision that supports it. Keep the internal product reference available to the reviewer, even when the website uses a generic material category. Write only the description that the record supports.
A photograph can suggest a wood appearance without identifying the material. Do not turn that appearance into a hardwood claim. If the approved description says only wood-look flooring, keep that wording until the responsible reviewer confirms more. Leave solid or engineered construction unknown when the source does not establish it.
Separate the material question from the scope question. An approved selection can identify flooring for one project without making it your current standard. Your standard specifications page explains the broader categories. This flooring page connects those categories to rooms and their supporting records.
The Federal Trade Commission explains that advertising must be truthful and must not mislead. Its guidance also addresses evidence for claims when appropriate. That principle supports checking material wording before publication. The worksheet here is an editorial proposal, not an FTC requirement. See the FTC truth-in-advertising guidance.
How should conflicting descriptions be handled?
If a selection record and an older specification use different terms, ask the responsible project reviewer which record applies. Do not choose the more attractive phrase. Record the answer with the relevant revision. Hold the disputed material label until you can connect it to a confirmed source.
Keep the public question narrow: which description can you support for this room? Product suitability, installation methods and technical performance need their own applicable evidence and qualified review. A content worksheet does not settle them.
Where does it apply?
Create a separate row for each room or clearly identified area. Do not copy one flooring description across an entire level because the photographs look continuous. Match room names to the approved record. If your public plan uses a different room name, record that relationship before writing the caption.
Describe transitions as boundaries in the public scope. You can say that the living room record ends at the adjoining room when that boundary is confirmed. Do not invent the transition material, profile, height or construction detail. Those details remain unresolved unless the responsible record supplies them.
Use the following floor finish schedule as a copyable editorial worksheet. Keep sensitive project identifiers in your internal record. The public page needs the approved description and scope, not the entire selection file.
Floor finish schedule
Room:
Approved generic material description:
Source revision:
Scope status:
Image reference:
Unresolved detail:
Caption:
| Field | What to record | What to withhold |
|---|---|---|
| Room | The space named in the approved finish record | Assumed coverage in adjoining spaces |
| Approved generic material description | The supported material category | A category inferred from color or grain |
| Source revision | The applicable record and revision | An unsupported claim that an old record is current |
| Scope status | Current standard, project selection or proposed alternative, when confirmed | A builder-wide inclusion copied from one project |
| Image reference | The approved image associated with this room | A photograph borrowed from another selection |
| Unresolved detail | The unanswered question and responsible role | A guessed product attribute |
| Caption | Material, room and supported scope status | Unverified performance or installation language |
Read the table across each row before combining rooms into prose. If two rooms have different statuses, keep their public descriptions separate. If the image reference is missing, you can publish verified text without assigning a photograph that suggests a broader scope.
What would a fictional room record show?
This worked example is fictional. It describes no actual builder, product or home. Suppose an approved finish record names hardwood flooring in a living room as a project selection. The same record describes the adjacent study as pending. It does not identify solid or engineered construction. A separate media record approves a living-room photograph.
The living-room row can carry the documented generic material category. The study row stays pending. The image reference belongs only to the living room. Neither row establishes a current builder standard. The unresolved-detail field asks the project reviewer to confirm the flooring construction category before any narrower claim appears.
A fictional public excerpt could read: “This completed-project photograph shows the living room. The approved finish record identifies hardwood flooring as a project selection for that room. The adjoining study finish remains unconfirmed in this example. The record does not identify solid or engineered construction.”
Do not reuse that excerpt as a claim about your work. Replace every statement with verified project information. If your records support less detail, publish less detail.
What does the photograph prove?
Decide what the photograph contributes before you write around it. It may show the room's visible floor appearance or the relationship between adjacent spaces. It does not identify hidden product construction. Use the finish record to support the material category and the media record to confirm the image's project relationship.
Keep the caption beside the photograph. State whether it shows a completed project, a sample or another approved reference. If the approved caption concerns a project selection, preserve that label wherever the image appears. The project gallery page guide explains how captions connect photographs to documented decisions.
For an informative image, describe the meaning it adds in context. W3C's overview and second example explain this approach to text alternatives. See the W3C informative images tutorial. This guidance concerns image presentation; it does not verify flooring materials or performance.
Write alternative text after reviewing the surrounding copy. Avoid repeating the entire finish schedule in that field. Keep selection status in visible text so readers can find it beside the photograph. If a close crop hides the room boundary, do not let the caption imply that the same finish extends beyond the frame.
Should samples and completed rooms share a label?
Label each according to what it is. A sample image can illustrate a proposed appearance without documenting an installed floor. A completed-room photograph can illustrate a recorded selection without confirming current availability. Keep those image roles separate, even when their colors appear similar.
How are alternatives labeled?
Give a proposed alternative its own status. Do not replace the selected material silently while keeping a completed-project caption. Identify the room and the record under review. If the alternative is not approved for public discussion, leave its product details out and state that the selection remains unresolved.
Separate a confirmed change from a possible substitution. A confirmed change needs the applicable record revision before the page describes it as selected. A possible substitution stays proposed. Do not describe it as equivalent, interchangeable or available without the evidence and review those claims require.
Use this process when preparing a flooring page:
- Collect the applicable finish record and approved image references.
- Create one schedule row for each room or defined area.
- Copy the approved generic material description into the matching row.
- Record the scope status and unresolved questions separately.
- Ask the responsible reviewer to resolve conflicting records.
- Draft the public wording from confirmed fields only.
- Compare the rendered caption, page text and alternative text before publication.
If a substitution changes only one room, update only the claims that apply to that room. Review linked project descriptions for the same selection. Keep a historical photograph's label tied to the recorded project. A new current standard does not change what an older photograph documents.
The exterior siding specification page guide applies a related method to elevation areas. Keep those records separate from the room schedule. Similar editorial methods do not establish identical material or approval requirements.
Who updates the page?
Assign a publishing owner and a source reviewer. The publishing owner manages the page and captions. The source reviewer confirms material wording, room scope and revision applicability. Keep those responsibilities explicit even when one person fills both roles. Record unresolved questions before sending a draft for review.
Review the page when the source description changes, a selection is confirmed or an image moves to another page. Check the actual public text after the edit. A revised internal record does not update a caption automatically. Keep an internal note of which claims changed and which remain pending.
The Owned website stage places specification and project content within your website structure. Use the custom builder website pages guide to decide where the flooring explanation belongs. The builder websites article library covers neighboring page questions.
Keep the page useful at the buyer's reading level. A reader should find the room, material category, scope status and unanswered question without interpreting an internal product code. Maintain the detailed record behind that explanation for the person responsible for confirming it.
What else should a flooring specification page explain?
Can a photograph establish that flooring is solid hardwood?
A flooring photograph alone does not establish solid hardwood construction. Use an applicable approved material record for that claim. If the record does not distinguish solid from engineered construction, leave that detail unknown in the public description.
Does a project selection belong in the current standards list?
A project flooring selection belongs in a current standards list only when the applicable current specification supports that status. Otherwise, label it as a project selection and identify the rooms it covers.
How should a pending floor substitution appear?
Keep a pending floor substitution labeled as proposed or unresolved. Identify the affected room without claiming approval, equivalence or availability. Update the public selection description only after the responsible reviewer confirms the applicable record.
What if the adjoining room has no confirmed flooring record?
If an adjoining room has no confirmed flooring record, state that its finish is unresolved or omit its material description. Do not extend a photographed room's flooring into another space without supporting evidence.