Originating from Indonesia and often used in the past for shipbuilding, teak hardwoods are renowned for their strength and resistance to the elements. Teak's uses beyond flooring include fine furniture, interior construction, canoes, and tables.

The sapwood of teak is white to pale yellow, while the heartwood is dark-brown to dark golden-yellow to rich brown in color with darker chocolate-colored brown streaks. The species has a straight, occasionally wavy grain and is fairly coarse and uneven in texture. The wood itself can be greasy with shiny white pockets, and possesses a dull luster. Glue holds well and easily with teak flooring, and the wood stains well with a solvent applied prior to the staining to ensure that the natural oils in the wood are not affected.

Teak hardwood floors are somewhat hard and durable. It falls between black cherry and black walnut in hardness, is about forty percent harder than Douglas fir, is thirty-one percent softer than sugar maple, is roughly sixty-nine percent as hard as hard maple, and is just over forty-five percent as hard as santos mahogany's ranking of 2200.

See additional hardwood flooring types.