Carpet Express' Flooring Blog

Cabin grade hardwood flooring, also called “tavern grade,” is a very popular alternative to fully warrantied wood flooring. A good quality cabin grade wood will produce a good-looking floor, but it will be more rustic and have more character than better grades of wood. In other words, it will have more light and dark boards, more mineral streaks, pin holes, and small knots holes. When purchasing cabin grade wood, you will need to purchase 15% extra material than the square footage  you are covering. This allows your installer to discard unusable boards or cut out bad sections.

Cabin grade wood is a huge market in Dalton, Georgia and throughout the country. Many customers shop long and hard for cabin grade wood without ever considering first quality, fully warranted, American grown and milled hardwood. Bruce’s Dundee Strip and Plank is an example of a first quality, 25 year finish and structural warranted hardwood floor that can usually be purchased for less than 10% more than the tavern grade Dundee (Timberland) or a Chinese import.

If you like a rustic look with color variations, knot holes, and heavy mineral streaks, then the tavern or cabin grade may be right for you. Just be open minded to a first quality, fully warranted floor without missing tongues and more uniform color. In many cases, the cost is about the same.

Read the full report:
Cabin Grade vs. First Quality: Which is cheaper?

Question: A great informative site. I sure wish I had seen it before my install. I laid Bruce’s cabin (tavern) grade. I knew about all the minor imperfections it could have, in fact I even like them. Makes it look a bit more real. What I do not like though is the edging where the planks come together. The lock and fold is not nearly engineered as the 1st quality. Overall, it is nothing like the 1st quality Bruce flooring I have used in the past. Is there any thing I can do to make the seams more level? As they are right now, not all of them, you can catch a toe on it if not careful.

Thanks so much for you valued input,
Jim – Garland, Texas

Answer: Jim,

There are some things that can be prevented during the time of the installation to help level the ends or edges but it would be very difficult for me to give a correct answer without actually looking at the floor.  One way I personally like is rolling the wood with at lest a 75 lb roller when setting it in the adhesive.  This helps give a smooth surface and it will also give a better adhesive transfer or bond.  You will always have what we refer to in wood the business overwood and in the cabin grade quality it will be a little worst.  Still it should be something that you could live with.   One way to test your overwood problem is to take a credit card and set it on the lower side of the wood and match it up to the higher side.  If the height difference is less than the credit card then it should be within the industry standard. One problem with overwood is that in some of the darker colors you can actually see the wood where it is not stained.  In this case you can get a stain marker pen that matches the existing stain and color the edges.

You can purchase the markers at a local Home Depot or Lowe’s.  Be sure to take a piece of your wood to match the proper stain color.

Thank you for your question,

Mike Jones

First of all, I believe a consumer needs to understand what cabin or tavern grade wood is. It will consist of mineral streaks, knots, worm holes, missing tongues, off-shades, splits, and other blemishes. Always allow 15% for waste when using a Cabin or Tavern grade.

When installing this type of material, work out of 5-6 boxes at a time. You need to inspect each board before installing so you can cut out major defects and use those boards for either starter boards or end boads. Try to use the best looking boards in the middle of the room and in main traffic areas.

Use all other boards closer to the outer walls where they will be covered by couches, chairs, TVs, or other furniture. If possible, put the most defective boards in closets or underneath appliances.

The main thing is to be willing to accept the natural characteristics of the wood. If you take the time to preplan your installation, you should end up with a floor that you will enjoy and admire.

Above, Mike Jones demonstrates a nail down installation to a group of Do-It-Yourself students. Besides squaring the room properly and correct installation techniques, Mike shows how to get the least waste and the best look out of cabin grade wood. The students were pleased to learn that with proper tools and expert advice, hardwood installation is a fairly easy procedure.