Edge styles

Many hardwood floor manufacturers offer different edge styles for hardwood planks. This is to add another level of customization to your floors or to make the planks more suited to different kinds of subfloors. Hardwood Direct wants to help make your flooring decisions easy, so we have created a handy guide to the different kinds of hardwood floor edges.

The first question that homeowners often ask is, “Why are the edges important in the first place?” When hardwood planks are cut, it is often difficult to get the thickness of the floorboards to match exactly. Getting the thicknesses as close as possible is important to ensure that the planks fit for a seamless look. Each manufacturer will have their own milling methods, so the difference between floorboards will vary based on the technology that they have available.

Different edges are used to interlock the planks evenly. Traditionally, square edges were used. Today, beveled edges are becoming more popular with manufacturers due to reduced production cost. No matter what, homeowners should expect that there is going to be some difference between the levels of the planks. It should not be noticeable underfoot or to the naked eye.

Another question that our flooring customers might ask is, “Is choosing beveled edges over square edges a disadvantage?” Beveled edges are normally small enough that they will not be detected. Even though square edges are meant to fit snugly, there will always be a slight seam between floorboards. Choosing one type over the other is not necessarily a disadvantage.