Hardwood Flooring Grades

Almost all boards sold for hardwood flooring in the u s.

Hardwood flooring grades.

Select grade hardwood flooring is top of the line in terms of both appearance and in terms of cost and comes from the heart of a tree. Each grade has its own particular characteristics and appearance. Grading of hardwood floors is more prevalent with unfinished flooring as it is with prefinished. Reasons being you will find prefinished manufacturers prefer to stay within a defined area of flooring that is basically more uniform in appearance unless otherwise specified.

The first is to address aspects of strength and serviceability when flooring is to be laid in structural applications such as over joists. There are grades on engineered but not regulated standard and all sorts of names that manufacturers use and often inconsistently. While the national wood flooring association or nwfa has established a grading system it only applies to certain domestic species there is no universal system for international grades of hardwood. Grading rules have two specific purposes.

This grade is slightly lower than the clear still presenting uniform color and little to no knots and pinholes. Because of this the wood s sap content is very low which results in very uniform color very few knots and the smoothest finish of any grade wood. Especially pertaining to oak hardwood flooring the 3 most commonly used grades are. Are graded according to standards originally laid out by the national oak flooring manufacturers association nofma to help create consistency in the quality of oak flooring in the u s.

Select 1 common and 2 common which is also known as rustic grade or builder s grade. This is the best grade of hardwood flooring because there are few color variations board lengths are not widely varied and there are little to no visible knots or pinholes. Qualities meaning aesthetically whether they have a lot of knots wormholes and open grain lines or pretty evenly toned and without natural blemishes. The graining is a bit distorted due to how it s.

Among the many qualities that influence the appearance of any particular hardwood flooring is the grade of the wood. This is an interesting area for shoppers retailers and manufacturers. I m beginning to realize that a lot of people out there don t know that there are different grades of hardwood flooring. Also many engineered woods especially cheaper ones are rotary sawn think of an apple peeler and these tend to be weaker and certainly look cheaper i e.