A Guide to the Different Grades of Hardwood Flooring

Searching for hardwood floors for your home can seem daunting initially. Much like anything else, it is important to do your own research. You will notice as you are shopping around that there are various grades of hardwood flooring. Just because a specific flooring is a certain grade doesn't indicate it's a lower quality product. This grading system only lets manufacturers understand how prevalent the wood's natural characteristics are in the flooring and just how much the colour varies from board to board. With that said, let us take a peek at some of the different ranges of hardwood flooring.

Clear Grade

This floor will have quite few "character marks". The colour will be very uniform throughout the whole floor. The grain will be highly consistent. This can be somewhat difficult to locate, and it's generally far easier to get engineered clear grade hardwood than it is to receive it in wood.

Select Grade

Like apparent grade, select grade has quite few "imperfections". The distinction is that pick level is milled from heartwood and sapwood, so there tends to be a few more variation in the colour of the boards. Also, there may be marginally more variation in the grain of the timber. Select grade hardwood is still not all that simple to find, as it generally accounts for no more than 15% of a given tree. Frequently, manufacturers will package clear grade and choose grade together.

#1 Common Grade

This is the grade where the wood characteristics actually shine through. You'll notice swirls, knots, and stripes throughout these boards, even though the prominence of those characteristics will still be pretty limited. The common ranges of wood are usually best for high traffic areas and homes with pets or children because the natural wood characteristics tend to conceal the small dings and scratches which are common in a lively dwelling.

#2 Common Grade

#2 common grade is very similar to #1, however the existence of the wood's natural characteristics is a lot more prevalent. Lots of pure character marks and variation in colour would make this the beautiful focal point of any room.

Cabin Grade

Believe Rustic. Cabin grade hardwood is heavily marked by the natural characteristics of the wood. There's very seldom any consistency in grain or pattern, making cabin grade wood flooring really charming.