Solid hardwood

SOLID HARDWOOD (PREFINISHED AND UNFINISHED)

Solid hardwood floors are made of planks milled from a single piece of lumber, generally 3/4″ thick with a wear layer that can be sanded and refinished many times. Hardwoods are deciduous trees, produce fruit or nuts and are generally dormant in winter. Common species of solid hardwood are those readily available and very hard such as Oak (white and red), Maple, Cherry, Walnut, Ash, Mahogany, Hickory. Tropical hardwoods include Mahogany, Teak, Wenge not native to North America, with variations in colour and grain and are typically very hard

Solid Hardwood is available both prefinished (many colours and finishes including distressed) and unfinished (ready for custom staining and finishes) as well as different grades and sawn types.

Grades:

#1 Common (more variation in light/dark colours from board to board, knot holes, length of boards)

#2 Common or Rustic/Cabin Grade is as the name suggested very rustic in appearance, mineral streaks, larger knot holes, lots of shorter boards

Select & Better, which is slightly lower than clear grade, still presenting uniform colour and little to no knots or pinholes

Clear, which is the best grade because there are few colour variations; board lengths are not widely varied, and there are little to no visible knots or pinholes

Sawn:

Flat or Plain Sawn by far the most commonly used cut. It contains more variations than the others

Quarter Sawn which is the logs are cut into quarters before being cut into strips of wood to make the flooring boards

Rift Sawn which is logs cut at a different angle than the quarter sawn before being cut into the wood for the flooring boards. Though it is more expensive than the other methods, it also is more stable providing higher quality flooring