What are the NWFA or NOFMA standards or tolerance for overwood on prefinish. Do they publish such or is it private info? Or do they want their money for training first?
Roger, once it is installed, you can not test it,,,, no way to see the subfloor if level or flat, irregularities, NOFMA standards only apply to NOFMA mills,, NWFA standards, well, they are writting some but, if a mill is not NOFMA, they can set their own, and many will not put them in writting,, also, please remember, NWFA can not make the mills, like NOFMA can with thier members, follow standards,,,, and dealers, installers and distributors who are not members are under no type or kind of obligation at all, legal or ethical, to follow the NWFA standards,, not a member, does not apply in either organization
Selva, I did not ask about testing. I only asked if the standards are available. Let's not confuse the issues. I have reasons I'll explain later. Thanks!
Roger, not talking about testing, talking about milling and grading,,,, and also installation standards,, while the govt. says to follow NOFMA standards, it is not law, NWFA standards are voluntary, the NOFMA standards are followed by its members,, ok, to test for the overwood tolerances, you have to have un installed boards/planks,,,,, then, put them together on a flat surface, mirror smooth,,,,,,,,,but, again, we have to know the manufacturer, most have their own standards, that can be proprietary,,,, it gets kind of, hairy,,,, all standards or tolerances that are proprietary for products sold should be published for the consumer,,,, ask for it,
I just inspected one where they ran short of floating wood flooring. The new shippment was taller then the first installed shippment. They said I could not measure overwood on an installed board. I said yes I can, and I did, and the weaved in new shippment of locking floating flooring is .087 proud of the original installed shippment. But in my conclusion, I stated it was the installation professionals choice to install those boards. Personally, I would have stopped right there. They didn't and it wasn't the main reason I was asked to look at the job, just one of her many legit concerns.
I cannot find my NOFMA sheet that has the figure for unfinished wood, but think it is 1/64". Dan may have the exact figure. It makes no difference who the mfg. is to answer your question. I cannot find anything on pre-finished. We know that one reason pre-finished edges are beveled is to hide overwood. Therefore, my guess is at this time there are no NWFA OR NOFMA standards on pre-finished overwood. You can go to the NOFMA web site and pull up tons of technical information, but I could not find anything on pre-finished wood.
Tandy, I know you have (well for unfinished at least) that one. I guess I should kinda hush, as I can't find my copy of it either. I have a bit of an excuse though, I moved into a new office about a year and a half ago. Several things were misplaced during that move. Remember seeing the different tolerances for each grade?
The only thing I could find came out of a manufacturer's internal book for claims analysts. As it was given to me in confidence, I will not divulge the manufacturer. Their comments are as follows: "The industry standard for acceptable overwood (height difference) is .012". Proper measurements of overwood should be performed using a feeler gauge. Lay the feeler gauge on the floor next to the higher edge." Before anybody gets their shorts in a bunch, I am not endorsing this, but simply posting what one of the largest flooring manufacturers in the world uses for their own evaluations. They do go to say subfloor conditions, acclimation, seasonal changes, factory milling and "aggresive" installation can cause this.
