Guide to wood flooring grades

Guide to wood flooring grades

One of the reasons we love wood flooring so much is its natural beauty and uniqueness. Each plank of wood is different with its own natural knots, cracks and colour variations.

But if you’re a first-time buyer of solid wood flooring, there is certainly a lot to consider.

Whilst researching your wood flooring, you may have seen reference to wood flooring grades. The first thing to say is that the grade does not relate in any way to quality or durability.

What are wood flooring grades?

Wood flooring grades are the categories that determine the level of character in each wood floor.

By character, we refer to the size and frequency of knots, graining, colour variation, splits, cracks and sapwood.

You’ll find two types of knots in wood flooring; a dead knot is where the core of the knot has fallen out or been removed. A live knot is where the core remains in the wood.

There is an industry-recognised wood floor grading system. The grading system in the UK contains three classifications, Prime, Natural and Rustic.

Prime Grade

True prime grade timber is supposed to be completely and utterly free of any flaws. You may see this described as an A grade.

Natural Grade

A natural or ABC grade will have knots, as well different textures, grain patterns and colour variations.

Rustic Grade

Rustic is also known as CD grade and is characterised by mineral streaks, many knots and a wide variety of colours. In addition, rustic flooring is relatively cheap compared to the other grades and doesn’t look as consistent.
However, that may be what you are looking for if you want to see the natural, raw beauty of the wood.

MyWoodFlooring wood grades

CD Rustic – equivalent to the industry standard Rustic Grade.

ABC Mixed – equivalent to the industry standard Natural Grade.

BA Select – equivalent to the industry standard Prime Grade.

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