We conduct a unique grading process. Whilst some in the industry like to grade the product by a robotic specific, we grade our veneer by years of experiences and guidelines, because we don’t believe applying a rigid label is the right thing to do to natural products. Just as you can certainly put the acidity content of wine on its bottle, but that has no bearing on the taste. The winemakers, with their expertise and a well-trained taste bud, can make a subtle determination of their products. The same as in flooring, we leave that to our veneer graders. Some of our graders in the factory have over 30 years of experience and with a minimum of five passes during our grading process, they can ensure the undertone and the characteristic of the wood matches the expectations of our customers.

Grading information are essential and are provided for all our products. For our prefinished ranges, this serves as a general direction for design needs, but offers little relevance as those veneers are specifically selected for the product we developed. Take the Grouse Feather for example. The sound knot is made into a “Cardioid” shape design. [Figure X]. Another example is our Slate [Figure Y], the sapwood on both sides of the planks forms a unique character, and therefore knotty or sappy is immaterial. However, end-users often are misguided by the grading information and misinterpret them as a quality reference. In fact, they are only a character reference. It’s true that higher grades are often associated with a higher price tag, but this is due to the rarity and the availability of clean boards. The overall structure and finishing quality remain consistent throughout our products.

For our unfinished range, however, grading is crucial. Please see the grading page for information so that you know what you would expect. In addition, we have an Allowable Miss Grade. We introduce this as part of our grading process by design, since there are circumstances and up to a certain percentage, where we would allow slightly lower grade veneers into the product. This can be a sound knot that is a little exceeded the diameter of an ABC grade but located right at the end and side edge of the plank. Over the years, our grader has came to the decision and determined that it will not affect the undertone of the flooring as a whole. The fitters should also always liaise with end-users on how they wanted to portray the floor and the arrangement of the furniture, so the allowable missed grade could place in either a less conspicuous area or used for cutting areas or just lose that bit completely. In any circumstances, a small amount of wastage is inevitable. For more information, please see our Allowable Miss Grade table or contact us directly on grading information.