Hardwood Flooring-What to look for

GRADE
First of all, it is important that you are compaing apples to apples when it comes to quality rating of the wood flooring. For solid hardwood flooring sold in the United States the grading standards established by the National Wood Flooring Association for provide you will an excellent guideline. It clearly describes the characteristic appearance of the wood flooring according to grade. The best is Clear Grade, followed by Select Grade, and then #1 followed by #2. We recommend that you insist on knowing the grade of flooring your considering for purchase. Many flooring companies ahere to the strict standards and ethics of the NWFA, however many do not. Anytime you hear terms like "Cabin Grade" you should pay close attention that you are getting what you want.

CUT LENGTHS & PACKAGING
One popular method of selling solid hardwood flooring is to sell shorter length bundles, and to bundles many more short pieces too. While you may very well may get a good quality wood, the shorter overall lengths tend to create more of a patchwork looking floor. For best results look for bundles that have at least two 7ft long pieces.

 

THICKNESS
High quality Solid Wood Flooring comes in a variety of widths but the most popular are 3 inch and 5 inch. This describes how wide each plank is. The standard thickness for all widths of fine solid wood flooring, such as Brazialian Cherry, is 3/4 inch (19 mm) exactly. Be on the lookout for phrases like "about 3/4" or "18 mm" as these woods do not measure up!

 

DRYNESS
The highest quality solid wood flooring material is kiln dried to precisely 6-8 percent moisture content, the standard set by Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association (nofma.org). Why should you care? Because you want the most stable wood you can get. Too wet or dry means that your flooring will move, or worse. Unstable flooring will crinkle, warp or split.

 

MILLING STANDARD

NOFMA (mentioned above) also sets important milling standards too. These standards establish the precise dimensions of the tongue and groove portion of the flooring planks. This is important because if you ever want to add-on, or replace part of your flooring you'll know that the fit will be tight, true and compatible.