"Quartersawn" and "Riftsawn" are sliced cuts at different angles.
"Plainsawn" is a term
for a rotary cut.Wood flooring is usually made from Oak. Some species used in flooring are:
Ash --- genus Fraxinus of the olive family, tough elastic wood.
Beech --- genus Fagus.
Birch --- genus Betula, hard close-grained wood.
Black Cherry --- genus Padus serotina.
Brazilian Cherry (i)
Australian Cypress (i) --- genus Cupressus, an evergreen related to cedar.
Douglas Fir --- genus Pseudotsuga taxifolia, also called Origon pine and red fir.
Antique Heart Pine --- genus Pinus, durable, straight-grained wood.
Hickory --- genus Carya, a North American juglandaceous hardwood.
Jarra (i)
Santos Mahogany (i) --- looks reddish-yellow in hue, mid. saturation, low brilliance.
Hard Maple --- genus Acer, light-colored, close-grained hardwood.
Merbau (i)
Mesquite (not just for barbacueing) --- Prosopis juliflora, a mimosaceous tree.
African Paduak (i)
Pecan --- genus Carya illinoensis, a south-central U.S. hickory.
Purpleheart (i) --- genus Copaifera, strong, durable, elastic wood that is purplish, what else.
White Oak --- genus Quercus.
Red Oak --- genus Queraus borealis-velutina-texana, a hard, cross-grained wood. THE wood for flooring.
Southern Yellow Pine.
Teak (Thai/Burmese) (i) --- genus Tectona grandis, of the verbena family, a hard, yellowish-brown wood.
American Black Walnut --- genus Juglans nigra, reddish-yellow in hue with saturation and brilliance from low to medium.
Wenge (i) --- another darker colored wood.
The appearance of wood determines it's grade. Although every grade is the same strength and usability in a floor, each grade has its own look or style. Now, grading wood is a little more involved than grading diamonds. For one thing, lumber was once alive, while diamonds are just patterns of carbon crystals with more or less defects. Impurities, knots, pin holes and various mineral concentrations can effect appearance. All of these naturally produced details enhance the charm and beauty of the wood (and carbon).
Clear -- free of defects, but can have minor imperfections.
Select -- has more natural color variations and wood features like knots.
Common 1 -- even more natural wood characteristics such as knots, worm holes, grain angles called flags, and noticeable light and dark spots.
Common 2 -- Downright rustic look, but structurally sound.
First -- Looks the best. Has natural variations in color and some marks of the species.
Second -- more pronounced characteristic of the species, variegated appearance.
Third -- rustic with the features of the species you would expect.
"BACK AT THE SAWMILL--The Villain ties the Heroine to a log and rolls her towards the menacing buzz saw. As she struggles to release her binds, the Hero arrives in the nick of time. The Hero saves the Heroine, but the log is still sliced in two." That would be the "sliced" cutting technique which a.) shows the fine grain of the wood, b.) wears more evenly because of the even surface exposure of the harder fibers of the wood, c.) generally allows less twisting, and cupping than rotary cut wood. (Tangential shinkage is greater than radial shrinkage on wood that is curing.) The sliced cut produces the least number of usable board feet per log, and is therefore more expensive. To maximize the board feet of flooring produced from each log, the mill operator will use the "rotary" cut. (The log is rotated as it is cut into. With each rotation, the cutting is deeper into the center of the log.) The rotary cut will seem to stretch out the natural variations in the wood, like flags, mineral stains, and heartwood lines, (growth rings of the tree). Imagine you are playing baseball. You are at the plate. Look down at the wood bat- that is a rotary cut look. Now turn the bat so you are looking at the part which hits the ball- that is a sliced cut look.
"Quartersawn" and "Riftsawn" are sliced cuts at different angles.
"Plainsawn" is a term
for a rotary cut.
A Strip is less than 3/4 an inch high and up to 3 inches wide.
A Batten is at least 3/4 an inch high to 1.5 inches high and from 1 to 3 inches wide.
A Board is 3/8 inch to 1.5 inches high and 3 or more inches wide.
A Plank or Scantling 1.5 to 4 inches high and over 6 inches wide.
Now Baulk, Flitch, or Heavy Scantling is over 4 inches high and/or over 6 inches wide.
Unless you are having a wood floor custom milled, (especially from recycled wood), the widths of the floor boards will be limited to standard sizes that take advantage of the qualities of each wood species, for both structure and good looks. History and regional differences may effect widths. For example, European and American wood floors of the same species may be milled at different widths to suit what people are used to.
In my opinion, some species of wood are better off with the natural color, (Maple and Teak, for examples). Most wood flooring you are likely to find is made from Red Oak. Now Red Oak starts as a light look, (more or less pinkish- not red as in warning red), and can be stained to a wide variety of colors. Stain allows the features of the wood to show through while providing a general color or hue to complement your room. Solid stain and floor paint will cover the grain of the wood, and may also be used to cover over less that attractive looking wood floors. A renovation project that involves removing a center island or cabinets from a wood floor may leave an ugly, uneven looking floor. One can sand 'til the cows come home, or one can paint the floor with floor paint. Solid stains are a thinner film than Paint and may be used to show more of the rippled surface of older floors.
For your convenience, I have added a sub-page that is a .GIF image of Graph Paper with one line of text for returning to this page. All you need do is click, PRINT, then return click.
It pays to look closely at any labor estimates to see what is included. When you have a low estimate, look for things not included. A Flooring estimate will have basically four parts.
The cost of materials should be itemized for your benefit. The labor charges must be itemized if you are to compare different installers and to protect yourself from sloppy work. If you pay for something that was not done, the written estimate is what you take to small claims court. Please remember that an estimate is subject to alteration if the installer encounters a situation that was not known at the time the estimate was first written. For example; the installer scrapes up two layers of vinyl flooring to discover a damaged or unsuitable subfloor.
At this point I would like to explain a typical lobar estimate. Note: Remove and Re-install is abbreviated as R/RI Install is abbreviated as Ins. Prepare is abbreviated as Prep.
By adding a detailed list of materials supplied by the retailer, with cost and sales tax if applicable, you have a full estimate.
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