Flooring Grades Oak

We already know the three most common types of oak hardwood flooring.
Flooring grades oak. Clear nofma oak is very uniform in color with very few small character. Appearance alone determines the grades of hardwood flooring since all grades are equally strong and serviceable in any application red oak and white oak flooring grades below is the national wood flooring association nwfa grade descriptions for red oak and white oak and continuing down are the grade descriptions for other common domestic. Clear red oak is the best quality and most expensive red oak tig on the market. Almost all boards sold for hardwood flooring in the u s.
Select 1 common and 2 common a k a rustic grade. After all there are lumber grades and then there are flooring grades. Most customers don t realize that there are different grades of oak flooring. This is an interesting area for shoppers retailers and manufacturers.
Select grade is generally considered the highest grade as it has the least color variation. Especially pertaining to oak hardwood flooring the 3 most commonly used grades are. It costs the more. The upper grades of tongue in groove red oak flooring are divided into clear and select grades.
Higher grades of flooring usually have longer boards so be prepared for many shorter boards if you order a lower grade of wood flooring. In this post i thought it was necessary to be a bit more specific. Wood flooring grades can be a confusing matter. Very few knots if any and no sapwood allowed.
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. Select 1 common and 2 common which is also known as rustic grade or builder s grade. Only approximately 10 of grade a in any oak tree. Grade is what controls the finished appearance of oak flooring what it looks like quality is what controls its production and performance how good it is the different grades we use for our flooring.
Under grading rules developed by nofma there are four levels of oak flooring. Select number 1 common and number 2 common. 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. For oak flooring there are 3 main grades.
It was a more generalized post about the overall grading system of hardwood floor. Since oak floor is the most popular hardwood choice for a vast majority of the united states especially here in the north east region we are going to discuss the different grades of red oak. Each grade has its own particular characteristics and appearance. Clear and consistent grain pattern.