Hardwood Flooring Grades Explained

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.

Hardwood flooring grades explained. This is an interesting area for shoppers retailers and manufacturers. In order to separate hardwood flooring in to different groups well defined wood flooring grading system was introduced. This grade is slightly lower than the clear still presenting uniform color and little to no knots and pinholes. Domestic hardwood flooring grades.

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. The different grades of hardwood flooring explained. This is thanks to the various different grading agencies and retailers giving different terms to essentially. Size and number of knots colour variation amount of sap present in the 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. 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. With a natural floor the differences in grades of oak are more noticeable. For a more complete description please see actual products.

With a dark stain much less noticeable. 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. Wooden floors are graded to enhance the natural beauty of each individual timber by taking in to consideration three following major factors. Below is a general description of grades for other domestic species such as walnut hickory maple ash and american cherry.

The common grades are likely to be most suitable for the cabinet industry most furniture parts and flooring. 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. 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. For complete details the grading rule book can be purchased from the national hardwood lumber association.

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