A common question we get here about how we mill our Reclaimed Wood flooring is this: Do you end-match your flooring?
Here at Appalachian Woods we don’t end-match our flooring and do not think it’s necessary for a floor that performs just as well over time as floor planks that are end matched (tongue and grooved on the ends of each plank). We do however precision end-trim all of our flooring planks to make sure they are exactly square and ready to install.
One of the reasons many flooring contractors think that end-matching is important is because they think it helps reduce the waste factor. If we didn’t heavily defect and precisely square each end of the flooring planks then this would be a valid concern. However, we do just that and we recommend only ordering about 8% – 10% over the actual square footage of floor you need to cover. This is well within the industry standards and we are confident you’ll be well please with the quality of our flooring.
Below is an excerpt from a Q&A from Wood Floor Business magazine addressing this question.
Essential End-Match?
I don’t usually install pine, but I had a customer request it. When the flooring was delivered I saw that it didn’t have an end-match. Isn’t an end-match required on all wood flooring today?
Glen Miller, manufacturer division manager at the National Wood Flooring Association, answers:
All NOFMA-certified flooring is required to have an end-match. Other manufacturers may or may not put an end-match on their flooring. A lot of pine flooring made today still does not have an end-match, and it’s not uncommon for reclaimed flooring to not have an end-match.
The function of the end-match is to just lightly secure the ends of the two pieces together. The end-match is designed to be looser than the side-match for ease in installation. It is the side-match that determines how a floor is going to perform. So, having an end-match is not essential to having a floor that performs well.
Wider-width floors may require some additional fastening to prevent some movement associated along the end-match. The NWFA’s guidelines, as well as those from most manufacturers, offer suggestions regarding how to aid in reducing movement at the ends of the flooring pieces.
Here’s the link to the original post on Wood Floor Business.
In the 20+ years of hand crafting solid plank flooring we have never had any issues because our flooring wasn’t end-matched. Browse our wide plank flooring sections and the let us know how we can help you choose the right flooring for your project.