WASTE FACTOR WITH SPLITS AND CHECKS

When installing hardwood flooring, it’s essential to account for a “waste factor” to ensure you have enough material to complete the project, particularly when cutting boards to fit irregular spaces or accounting for installation patterns. This waste factor can vary depending on the width of the boards and other factors such as room layout and material quality.

• Straight Lay Installations (Standard Widths 2″- 4″): Most professionals recommend adding 5-7% to your total flooring square footage for waste. This accounts for small cuts, errors, or minor material defects in the wood.
• Wider Boards (Over 4 inches): For wider boards, which are more prone to defects and waste during installation, you should increase the waste factor to 7-10%. This is particularly true if your layout involves diagonal installations or multiple parallel walls.

• Room Layout: lrregular spaces, diagonal patterns, or multiple rooms may require a higher waste factor to accommodate the additional cuts.
• Wood Quality: The type of wood used can also affect waste. Higher-quality wood may have less variation and defects, reducing waste, while lower-quality or reclaimed woods could require up to 15% extra due to imperfections.
• Material Width: Wider planks tend to require a higher waste factor (7-10%) compared to narrower planks (5-7%), as they often need more precision during cuts, especially in tight spaces or for non-standard patterns like herringbone or chevron.

Character Grade Woods (Variation Plus Knots, Character, Country and Eco): If using a character-grade wood (which features knots and other natural variations), you may want to increase the waste factor by another 1-2% to allow for persona! preferences and culling of undesirable pieces.

Future Repairs: lt’s advisable to order an additional 1-2 boxes beyond the waste factor to accommodate future repairs. This ensures you have matching material on hand, especially for discontinued lines.

Splits and Checks: Ali wood flooring can have split or checks, open, closed and filled. Grade, wider widths, and species can exacerbate the percentage of splits or checks. When you choose to cull during installation or replace boards after exposure to environmental stress, you may want to increase the waste factor to allow for persona! preferences.

For most residential projects, planning for 5-10% waste is a good practice, depending on the layout, wood quality, and plank width. For intricate patterns or wider boards, 10% or more may be necessary to ensure the installation goes smoothly and without shortages.

• Narrow (up to 4 inches): 5-7% waste factor
  Wider (over 4 inches): 7-10% waste factor

lncluding extra material for future repairs is always wise to ensure consistency in the flooring over time.

This technical bulletin is intended for professional contractors and homeowners planning hardwood flooring installations, ensuring adequate material is ordered upfront to account for typical installation waste factors.

For any further questions on this subject, please contact your local sales representatives, Preverco autorised dealer or write us an email to [email protected]