What is Grade B Material?

Posted July 3, 2023

What is Grade B Material?

Grade B material is flooring material that was not produced to specifications of that production run at the factory level.  

Grade B material is not available for every color or at any specific time because it was not intended to be made. 

 This material is 20% off full price per price level but is highly sought after and sells out fast!

Does this mean that Grade B is unusable, damaged or defective?

There are a variety of reasons Grade B material could be out of spec during production. 

• Production run has an incorrect element to it, such as the wrong wearlayer was added (12 instead of 20) or Material was intended to be cut 9 " wide instead of 7".
   
• Production run could have spotted an imperfection during quality testing, such as the production run could have a wearlayer bubble pad issue, or a light color difference issue that did not pass quality control. 

If there is an imperfection on a plank during quality control testing, does that mean the entire production run is unusable?

• No not at all. 
• Quality testing occurs every hour at the factory.  
• 20 Pallets of material are created every hour on each production line. 
• Production runs are created in lots (or batches).  
• If we order and receive 2 pallets of Grade B material we may or may not receive the pallets (or boxes) that contained the imperfection. There is no way to know until the boxes are opened which neither the factory or Sled Dog do.

When an imperfection is found during quality testing the entire last hour of work is deemed Grade B material. The factory does not go backward to find where the issue started, they simply deem the entire last 1 hour of production of that product as Grade B, correct the imperfection and restart the lot. This process continues over and over until the defect is corrected and all quality control factors are met.  

This means you may get boxes with an imperfection or you may get 100% Grade A boxes. It all depends on how long the imperfection existed (if it was an imperfection issue).  

Where would I want to use Grade B material?

The best places to use Grade B material are: 

• Rental properties
• Flip houses
• Apartments with high turnover
• Kids areas (purchase extra boxes so it's replaceable down the road)
• Closets
• Master installers who know what imperfections to look for and can use imperfect planks for angles.