Oak Floors Online talk about some different oak flooring grades that are available

What one person may consider as an unsightly knot or split, another person would call natural character. The same goes for natural colour variance between sapwood (the newer oak in the tree) and heartwood (the older oak), so when it comes to choosing the grade of your oak floor, it’s really a personal decision.

The grade of the oak flooring should not be mixed with the quality… the two have nothing at all to do with each other. Grade refers to the amount of natural features that are allowed whereas quality mostly comes down to the selection of the materials being used in production and during manufacture. Such things as dimensional machining tolerances are also an important quality element because if the oak floor boards you’re trying to install all vary in width or thickness, that’s poor quality and will end up either looking terrible as a finished floor or will cost you a small fortune to put right.

There are several grading systems around the world but Oak Floors Online like to keep it as simple as possible for the potential purchaser, by using the ABCD and below grades;

• A grade is completely clear with no knots, sapwood or excessive grain features.
• B grade allows some small knots, more grain variance and a small percentage of sapwood.
• C grade allows bigger knots, more natural grain variance and features, and a bigger percentage of sapwood across the face of the board.
• D grade allows even more of what’s allowed in C grade, and also some of the knots may be filled and sanded.
• Below D grade (usually classed as ‘character’ or ‘rustic’) may include all of the above and also some splits and cracks within the surface of the oak planks, usually filled and sanded but sometimes left ‘open’.

So you can buy a very high quality oak flooring product but it can be a low grade, such as CD and lower or rustic grade.

All the above grades are acceptable but the finished floor appearance will obviously depend on the percentage mix of these grades.

Price is also dependent on grades too, usually the higher grades costing more because of the grading process its selection requires.

Having said that, some of the rustic grade oak flooring can cost more because of all the work it requires during manufacture to ‘prepare’ all the natural defects that are considered as acceptable.

So the selection of your new oak flooring is really a matter of personal choice and budget but the environment it will be installed into should also be very carefully considered, some examples of this being;

• A light coloured floor usually makes a room look bigger
• High traffic areas will need more maintenance
• Areas subject to humidity fluctuation should be floored with engineered oak
• Rooms with Under Floor Heating should have an engineered floor that’s no thicker than 15mm if the UFH is a primary source of heat

Most of the oak flooring that Oak Floors Online supply is a mix of ABCD grades because that’s what they consider to provide the most natural looking floor… not too clear and yet not too rustic.

Oak Floors Online also stock an A grade oak board that they call ‘Prime Grade A’ in 21mm thickness, which is available as a 21 x 189 engineered board in Unfinished and also as Brushed & Natural Oiled. The 21mm thick engineered boards have a full 6mm wear layer of oak.

At the other end of the ABCD grading system, Oak Floors Online also stock what they call their Celtic Character Rustic oak flooring, available in 15mm and 21mm thickness, which emphasises every natural feature within each oak board for a finished floor with lots of character.

So choosing your oak flooring is all down to your personal preference and where and how you’re installing it. Just please be aware that oak is a natural product that’s grown as a tree and then cut, so it’s never going to be perfect in appearance… Oak Floors Online believe that this fact is its most alluring feature.