What does end matched mean?

End matched flooring is when a tongue-and-groove is milled on one end and a groove milled on the opposite end.  The t/g is still on the sides but end matched floors have it on all four sides. The idea is that when the floors are butted together, the tongue of one piece fits into the groove of the next piece.

Why do  it?

End matching is done so that shorter boards be put together, like a puzzle. With longer boards, staggered for stability, end matching is an unnecessary expense. This subject is more interesting in the hardwood market where you better ask up front if that 24″ average length floor has flat ends. Wood flooring offers more ways for its distributors to fool you than car dealers, but we just keep telling the truth.

Long length floors with ends matched

To clarify, we can match ends on any of our SYP floors, just add .90 per square foot. It does not make sense for the very few times they will come in “handy”. The best example of a long length floor with its ends matched is Caribbean Heart Pine. The 12′ bundles you see in the photo have an average length of 7′, more than twice the industry average. If you have never heard of CHP, it is worth a look.