| Great Lakes Prefinished Oak Grading |
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| Cabin Grade: Lower, More Natural Character and defect |
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This is not the lowest grade you can buy, but close to it. Cabin grade floors will contain many of the natural characteristics that consumers find attractive in wood floors: knots (sometimes large and unfilled), mineral streaks (dark black streaks in the grain), and worm holes (small holes in the surface of the wood that may or may not be filled). Cabin Grade can also contain defects in the milling or finishing process. Examples of this would include checking or cracks in the surface, finish overspray, or planer dips. The average board length can also be shorter.
Many of these defects can be cut out of the installed floor (the natural character of the wood is not considered a defect and should not be removed from this installation). This will require more time and effort on the part of the installer and will also require purchasing more material than the standard 5% waste factor. Cabin Grade floors are often desirable because they display more of the authentic beauty of wood that is removed from higher grades.
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| Lake Erie Builder Grade: Mid-Grade, Some character, color variation and defect |
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The Lake Erie line represents a popular "Middle of the Road" floor. There will be more variation and character than with higher grades, but the installation will be faster and the finished floor a little cleaner than lower grades. The Builder Grade floor will have some knots (mostly under the size of a quarter and filled), some mineral streaking and some wormholes (mostly filled). This character shows up mainly in the Natural color; the darker colors tend to hide the character more. You may also find more structural defect like checking in this grade.
As with any wood floor a waste factor of 5% should be included to allow for culling of installed product. Larger knots and significant milling defect would fall into this category. The installed floor will display much of the natural character that make wood floors beautiful.
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| HG series: More uniform color; less character and defect |
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The HG series is the top of the line in Great Lakes grading. The lighter colors will be selected to be more uniform in color. The natural character will be at a minimum as will any finishing and milling defects. Please keep in mind that since we are dealing with a natural, wood product there will still be some variations in color, graining and character. This natural variation is what make the wood "real". If all the boards looked the same, the floor would look like a laminate or a picture.
Even though the HG is the highest grade offered, you will still need to include a 5% waste factor for planks that make it through during the manufacturing process.
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