Grading Rules
When buying a hardwood floor you may be bombarded by all sorts of terms and phrases related to the appearance of the wood, known as the 'grading rules'. Most woods will have three or four different grades: a grade with lots of colour variation and knots; a grade with few or no knots, less colour variation but some grain quality; and a grade with no colour variation and a straight uniform grain pattern.
These grades are often referred to by different names by different companies. Tarkett refer to theirs as 'Rustic', 'Nature', and 'Prime'. Kahrs refer to theirs as names of different cities: 'London', 'Nice', 'Calgary', or 'Monte Carlo'. NOFMA (the North American Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association) grade their Oak as follows: 'Clear Oak', 'Select Oak', 'No.1 Common Oak', and 'No.2 Common Oak'.
Generally speaking you can expect your woods to have the following characteristics for the four grades that are available,and we will call them A, B, C and D.
A Grade - a highly uniform look with light colour variations and subtle grain patterns.
B Grade - a clean natural look with more colour variation and small, healthy knots.
C Grade - a compromise between rustic and uniform looks with several darker areas.
D Grade - a rustic look with strong colour contrast, sapwood, and knots.
Here are our tips to make sure you get the flooring you expect:
- Don't make your choice of flooring from a small sample, as these can be misleading.
- Ask your supplier to furnish you with the grading rules for their products.
- Visit your hardwood flooring supplier's show room to see larger areas of the floor concerned.
- Ask to see (pictures of) installations using the timber you're interested in, and finally...
- Remember wood is a natural material and there will be variation from batch to batch. This is part of its beauty.