This is a great question—and one we’re actually surprised doesn’t come up more often. When working with random-width flooring, the answer is typically no, you won’t install using a strict repeating pattern. That’s because unless you’ve ordered an equal number of linear feet in each width, attempting a fixed pattern (such as 6″, 4″, 5″, repeated consistently) can cause you to run out of certain widths too early—especially the wider ones, which tend to be more limited in supply.
For most projects, we aim to mill your order to include a balanced square footage across the available widths, based on what we have in inventory. However, this balance doesn’t translate into equal linear footage, since wider boards cover more area per lineal foot than narrower ones.
After your flooring is milled and packaged, we’ll know the exact linear footage of each width included in your order. At that point, we’re happy to generate a recommended installation pattern guide that uses your specific mix of widths, helping you avoid overuse of any one size.
If you would like us to provide a layout pattern based on your milled order, just let your salesperson know—once we’ve completed milling, we can email you a customized width usage guide.