End-matched Flooring

Here is some of our Rustic Cherry flooring waiting to be end-matched.

What exactly is end-matched flooring?  End-matching refers to milling a tongue on one end and a groove on the opposite end of the individual planks of flooring so that when the planks are butted together, the tongue of one piece engages the groove of the next piece.



Flooring piece coming through end-matcher. 
Note the groove that has been milled on the
end of the board.

Why end-match flooring if it alreaady fits together with a tongue and groove lenth-wise?  Individual flooring boards expand and contract at different rates both in width and thickness.  If the flooring boards are not end matched the changes in thickness could result in height differences in the flooring, making the boards vulnerable to chipping. 

With end-matched boards, the height differences are greatly reduced.