oak flooring grades

[SJRSJR]

Does anyone know if this is decent quality engineered oak flooring for my living room:
21mm thickness (on ply) 6mm wear layer
50% mix of A&B grade, 25% C Grade, 25% D grade
(Presumably the grades are industry standards?)
Sourced in Russia, Siberia
£30 sq m

Thanks

 

[flooringman]

Difficult to comment without seeing it -
what is the width?
what are the lengths?
is it finished or unfinished?
if it is finished how is it finished?
does that price include VAT?
does that price include delivery?
what quantity are you buying?

bet you wish you never asked!!

You can pay anything between £25 and ? depending on the above.

 

[SJRSJR]

As it happens, here's one I prepared earlier:

width - 189mm
lengths - 75% are 1830mm and above, the rest 610, 915, 1220mm
finish - brushed and oiled
Price excudes VAT
Delivery £80
Area: 31sq m

Thanks!

 

[SJRSJR]

And does this help?

A Grade -live knots no more than 10mm, dead knots repaired with putty no more than 5mm. Sapwood no more than 5% of face area. Allows natural grain and colour difference.

B Grade - live knots no more than 25mm, dead knots repaired with putty no more than 10mm. Sapwood no more than 15% of face area. Allows natural grain and colour difference.

C Grade- dead knots repaired with putty no more than 25mm. Sapwood no more than 30% of face area. Allows natural grain and colour difference.

D Grade - Allows larger dead knots repaired with putty. Sapwood no more than 40% of face area. Allows obvious natural grain and colour difference. Open defects are filled.

 

[flooringman]

Appears about the right price - sounds like rustic/character grade but have look at the post "What wood floor - please help" and follow links, this might help.

 

[WoodYouLike]

And does this help?

A Grade -live knots no more than 10mm, dead knots repaired with putty no more than 5mm. Sapwood no more than 5% of face area. Allows natural grain and colour difference.

B Grade - live knots no more than 25mm, dead knots repaired with putty no more than 10mm. Sapwood no more than 15% of face area. Allows natural grain and colour difference.

C Grade- dead knots repaired with putty no more than 25mm. Sapwood no more than 30% of face area. Allows natural grain and colour difference.

D Grade - Allows larger dead knots repaired with putty. Sapwood no more than 40% of face area. Allows obvious natural grain and colour difference. Open defects are filled.

Problem is, every manufacturer has its own 'grading'. Everyone is still waiting for the European Guidelines in this. For instance, our Duoplank manufacturer doesn't allow sapwood in grade A or B.
£ 30 is IMHO too cheap for any decent product in this type of flooring.

 

[SJRSJR]

Thanks for both replies and the link - it's led me to other suppliers to compare. The spec I have is very precise whereas others aren't quite so specific but 6mm seems reasonable in that price bracket. My sample looks to be well constructed but I guess I need to see a larger areas to gauge its appearance and 'rusticity'.

 

[WoodYouLike]

My sample looks to be well constructed

Test the connection between top layer and backing by placing your sample in water for 24 hours.

 

[SJRSJR]

I've just done that with two different samples. Both are intact and there doesn't seem to be any weakness. Is there anything else I should be looking out for? The grain on the face of the brushed and oiled sample has swollen slightly, more so than the lacquered one but I presume that's to be expected?

Thanks

 

[WoodYouLike]

Can you peel the top layer of the 'water tested' samples?

 

[SJRSJR]

No, both are rigid. Is that a good sign? What's a better backing, thick layers of ply or softwood and a base of ply? Thanks

 

[WoodYouLike]

That's a good sign. If you mean thick layers of ply the backing has only 4 -5 layers of ply (on a total of 14 - 15mm) then that's not good. The product we use most in this type of flooring has 11 layers of water-resistant-plywood, making it rigid and very stable.

 

[SJRSJR]

My preferred sample has several layers of ply (I've counted 9 separate layers - can you see it in this photo? It's 15mm of ply and 6mm of oak

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• SJRSJR
• 24 Oct 2009
• 1

The other sample is 4mm oak and 9mm of what looks like one softwood layer and a very thin ply.

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• SJRSJR
• 24 Oct 2009
• 1

The supplier sent me a photo of it installed in his living room and I was a bit put off by the variation in colour. I know it's a natural product and you should expect that, but would that be one of the reasons why it's less expensive? Thanks

 

[WoodYouLike]

I should stay away from the second sample if I were you: compared with the thickness of the top layer the 9mm backing is too thin.

 

[SJRSJR]

Thanks for all your help, the thick one is my preferred one. The only problem is that it's from a timber merchant in Wales which is a couple of hundred miles away. I'm nervous buying having only seen a small sample but it is by far the sturdiest I've seen for the price.