The 7 Grades Of Solid Oak Flooring

Solid oak flooring is supplied in one of 7 different grades which are listed below in rising order of cost.

Barn grade

Commonly known as rustic or pub grade oak flooring, barn grade oak displays a large number of fissures, deep knots and color streaks. When laid, a barn grade floor tends to look darker than the finer grade oak boards. This characteristic has made barn grade ideal for use in public houses, clubs and farm shops where a rural or agricultural look is required.

Character grade

Character grade oak flooring is a very popular choice and is the perfect floor for almost all renovation projects, barn conversions and older family homes where some character is desirable but a more uniform look is required than barn grade oak provides. Character boards have a few, well spaced, smaller knots and fine cracks and when laid, a mellow tone of floor is achieved.

Select grade

Select grade oak boards have a reduced number of knots and any fissures and cracks are hairline when compared with character grade. This flooring is the first of the finer grades and looks great when laid in modern and contemporary settings, giving a clean, uniform look to large open plan spaces. The overall effect of a select grade floor also lighter than character grade.

Classic grade

Classic grade oak displays the same level of knotting and fissuring as select grade however where select grade boards have an even, regular grain, classic grade boards additionally display medullary rays. These silvery features, also known as figuring, result from genetic imperfections and the side effects of viruses while the oak tree is alive and growing.

Distressed grade

Distressed oak boards are essentially character grade boards which have been artificially aged or antiqued and have the appearance of being "singed" as if having been recovered from a burned building. Structurally, they are as sound as standard character grade boards and the distressing is purely cosmetic. These boards are not to everyone's taste but can look very striking in the correct setting.

Prime grade

Prime grade oak boards are the finest of the plain sawn boards available and can look very like the much more expensive quarter sawn boards. With no knotting or fissuring and little to no discolouration, these boards look perfect in minimalist settings where an absolutely uniform finish is essential. Prime grade floors are the lightest in colour of all the solid oak floor grades.

Quarter Sawn

Quarter sawn oak flooring is the most desirable and equally most expensive oak flooring. Each board is manufactured by cutting across quartered oak butts resulting in glorious figuring and medullary rays combined with a super tight, super dense grain. This is the physically strongest solid oak board and was traditionally used only the most opulent houses.