Hardwood Flooring Grades Explained

This grade of solid hardwood is what our flooring professionals always recommend installing.

Hardwood flooring grades explained.

For complete details the grading rule book can be purchased from the national hardwood lumber association. 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. Can you tell the difference especially between 1 and 2 common. 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.

In order to separate hardwood flooring in to different groups well defined wood flooring grading system was introduced. This is thanks to the various different grading agencies and retailers giving different terms to essentially. Here are some different grades of oak hardwood floors that we have installed sanded and stained with darker colors. Wooden floors are graded to enhance the natural beauty of each individual timber by taking in to consideration three following major factors.

For a more complete description please see actual products. This is meant only to give a general idea of each grade and not intended to be a complete list of all aspects of the grade. Domestic hardwood flooring grades. With a natural floor the differences in grades of oak are more noticeable.

The people who created the grading system nofma do not consider quality to be a factor that differs throughout the different grades although many installers and contractors would beg to differ. Explore the use of the common grades to achieve the most value considering lumber cost and yield. Size and number of knots colour variation amount of sap present in the wood. This is an interesting area for shoppers retailers and manufacturers.

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. The different grades of hardwood flooring explained. Below is a general description of grades for other domestic species such as walnut hickory maple ash and american cherry. 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.

Although there are only a few different grades that as a floor consumer you need to concern yourself with it doesn t help that each grade is often referred to in different ways.