What To Expect

We all want to see value with any purchase we make. The best hardwood flooring from a reliable source can be one of the most beautiful and valuable investments made to your home. Customers’ expectations, though, can be vastly different. Some people like uniform coloration within hardwood flooring, others like a lot of color variation. Some do not like knots and/or pinholes, others think this adds beauty. Quality differences between all wood flooring can be considerable, depending on the type and grade of hardwood flooring purchased as well as who the manufacturer is.

Commonly, the consumer is under the assumption that their new wood flooring will look exactly like the small sample they have seen at the flooring store, but this is not always true. Wood, as we all know, is a "Product of Nature." Each individual board is like a fingerprint: no two are exactly alike. Hardwood has natural varied grain patterns, color variation, and character such as knots, pinholes and mineral (darker) streaks. Different wood species and the region of the country they are grown in create certain nuances in the resulting character of a board. This is part of what makes wood flooring so appealing to so many homeowners.

Making The Grade

When hardwood lumber (raw material) is cut from the forest, the boards are segregated by appearance, color and clarity within the graining and labeled with a grade. The most expensive raw material has a lot of clarity and uniformity in color and are usually gobbled up by very high-end furniture companies. The remaining grades are then purchased by other manufacturers, including those within the hardwood flooring industry. Wood flooring manufacturers will purchase these other grades with respect to the cost, quality and/or grading they want their specific flooring collections to have. Within this article, I will focus on Oak which is the most popular wood flooring species sold. The same references and guidelines for Oak mentioned here are also typically true for most all other wood species available, All wood species will have different grades and appearances specific to that particular tree. Some species, for example Hickory, have highly varied coloring naturally and unique character no matter what grade the put into.

At the manufacturer's plant, the raw material continues to be graded into more specific categories. Usually, hardwood flooring manufacturers produce 3-6 grades within their entire line of hardwood production. The names wood flooring manufacturers give these grades can be unique to the particular manufacturer, but the best grade of hardwood flooring is typically called Clear. The next best wood flooring grade is typically called Select and Better. Lesser grades generally are labeled as Select, Prime, Traditional, Pacific, Rustic, Country, etc. Lowest graded flooring is typically called Cabin, Value or Tavern. All of this grading happens on a production line, where we are all at the mercy of the graders who are trying to follow that particular manufacturer’s grading guidelines. But, as we are all human, some boards may slip by the inspection process and end up in an incorrect grade.

The beauty and true value of having wood flooring in your home is extraordinary, but if you want something very particular, we would suggest that you choose a man made (laminate or vinyl) floor covering option other than real wood flooring, as, like we mentioned before, wood flooring is a product of nature that can contain imperfect boards or character that is not appealing to everyone.

What's In A Name?

Use the listing below only as a guide to help explain the differences in the names and appearances of the grades. Remember that manufacturers can name their wood flooring grades anything they like. The guide below basically reflects NOFMA industry grading standards, to which most (but not all) higher quality, brand name manufacturers adhere to. Most manufacturers also offer grades called seconds that have imperfections within the boards and cannot be sold under the grades named below. These 2nds are typically purchased and sold by liquidation-type retailers. Not all wood flooring manufacturers belong to NOFMA, so their grading and appearance can vary greatly. 

I also do not want to lead you to believe that boards with a lot of character and knots are any less quality than the clearer grades. Somerset Character Collection (solid and engineered available), for instance, produces a very high end specialty character floor that duplicates that older style rustic charm and offers some of the highest quality product made within the USA.

All the brand name manufacturers' flooring that we retail here at Hosking Hardwood Flooring is 1st Quality hardwood flooring (the same hardwood flooring sold in high end retail stores nationwide). The only difference is our low pricing. We can heavily discount the product we sell because of our purchasing power, low profit margin and high volume sales and we pass these savings down to you. 

Clear grade (rare to find) hardwood flooring has the most color uniformity, longer board lengths, no knots or black mineral streaks. A 5% waste factor should be added to your actual square footage to cull any boards you may not want to use. Cabinet quality flooring with a very formal clean look. Full warranty offered. Not many manufacturers offer a clear grade.
Select and Better grade of hardwood flooring (sometimes called Prime) has some color variation, longer board lengths, may have some minor infrequent dark mineral streaks and tiny knots. A 5% waste factor should be added to your actual square footage to cull any boards you may not want to use. This grade is the most popular style with consumers. Full warranty offered.
Select grade of hardwood flooring (sometimes called Selected) has some color variation, longer board lengths, may have some infrequent dark mineral streaks and tiny knots. A 5% waste factor should be added to your actual square footage to cull any boards you may not want to use. This grade is a very popular style with consumers. Full warranty offered. Many manufacturers will use the Select Grade for stained products, as the stain helps to reduce color variation from board to board and this Select Grade is typically less expensive. This keeps costs down, in turn, for the end consumer (you).
#1 Common grade of hardwood flooring (sometimes called Traditional or Exclusive) offers moderate color variation between boards, with some dark mineral streaks, and small to medium knots. A 5-10 % waste factor should be added to your actual square footage to cull out boards you may not want to use. This style can be very unique and interesting. Usually little or no warranty offered.
#2 Common grade of hardwood flooring (sometimes called Rustic or Country) offers a lot of color variation between boards, shorter board lengths with dark mineral streaks, and medium size knots. A 10 % waste factor should be added to your actual square footage to cull out boards you may not want to use. Usually sold with no warranty.
A Utility grade of hardwood flooring offers full light and dark color variation between boards, short board lengths, dark mineral streaks, medium to large open knots, checks, chips and splits,  A 15 % waste factor should be added to your actual square footage to cull out boards you may not want to use. This type of flooring is usually sold by Liquidation retailers with no warranty. (Flooring that is called 2nds generally falls within this type of grading area).

Don't Come Up Short

When measuring your rooms for hardwood flooring, it is standard practice to add 5% or more as a waste factor, depending on grade chosen. This waste factor is to allow for boards that you may not want to use. Remember that customer expectations can vary and all wood flooring is not perfect. You may receive some boards that have slipped by the inspection process at the mill and do not quite meet that particular grade. Professional installers will use most of these boards by cutting the defect out and using the rest of the board. The waste factor also includes the cutting and fitting waste.

When evaluating your new wood flooring the National Oak Flooring Association states that all wood flooring inspections be done at a standing position, (not on your hands and knees). The installer must use reasonable selectivity, as the waste factor is not covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. 

Another important thing to remember is that all manufacturers’ “milling” of their wood flooring is not the same. Some manufacturers spend a great deal of time making sure their milling machines are accurate and produce near perfect milling, but others do not.

Hosking Hardwood Flooring has been in business for over 70 years. We only retail 1 st Quality flooring. We have used hundreds of different types of hardwood flooring and are able evaluate the overall quality of a particular manufacturer.

Matching Moldings

There are few flooring manufacturers that make their own moldings. In cases where molding production is subcontracted out by these hardwood flooring manufacturers, these transitional pieces are made by independent molding companies. This means that moldings are pretty generic and may not be an exact match to your flooring color. Moldings are sold as a complimentary item and are matched as closely to the flooring color as possible. We suggest planning your installation ahead of time and installing particular floorboards that best match the molding color next to where the molding is going to be installed for a gradual color match. Moldings may have slight design variations depending on the manufacturer and the time in which they were produced.


What's In A Warranty?

If your hardwood flooring is sold with a warranty, you will be covered for anything that may arise within and under the guidelines of that particular manufacturers warranty. Hardwood floor manufacturer warranties DO NOT cover - damage to the flooring caused by abnormal environmental issues such as higher or lower than normal moisture conditions causing buckling, cupping or contraction within the wood, improper installation or indentation damage (including damage from spiked heels, scratching or any damage caused by items being dropped, rolled or dragged on the flooring). Please see our Floor care section of Hosking Hardwood Flooring for tips on proper care of your new hardwood floor. All products retailed by www.hoskinghardwood.com are, unless otherwise stated, warranted by their respective manufacturer. Hosking Hardwood Flooring makes no further implied or expressed warranty.

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Under each of our manufacturers’ product listings at www.hoskinghardwood.com, we offer our own 5 Star Rating System to try and help you determine what the quality of this flooring is. If you click on the blue question mark located next to the star rating, you can read how we make decisions in the rating of a particular product.
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Hosking Hardwood Flooring
805 South Washington St.
North Attleboro, MA 02760
Customer Service 877-356-6755