Typically, our tongue and groove planks will come end-matched. End-matched means that the ends of the board are machined as well as the lineal profile of the board. One end of the board has a tongue and one end has a groove. When the planks are pieced together, they lock in on all four sides. Not only does this pattern have visual appeal, it has some other tangible benefits as well.
Less Waste. With end-matched planking, you minimize your waste. When you reach the end of our course, simply make your cut and use your off-fall piece to start the next row. Planks are fastened by nailing through the tongue to a stud or rafter. The planks do not have to start and end on stud, simply nail where they meet. If you run into a plank that is too small to meet a stud at any point, you can float it, since it is locked in on all four sides it won’t go anywhere. An alternative to floating would be to simply save the piece until you get to spot where it would meet a stud. We receive numerous comments from customers each year relating to how surprised they are to just have a small bucket of scrap at the end of the job.
No Patterns. There’s nothing worse than turning a fairly simple DIY project into a ginormous math problem by trying to calculate a pattern, or creating more work for yourself with the additional cutting a pattern invariably creates. The end-matched product goes up without any additional thinking and minimizes the number of cuts you need to make. Just keep grabbing pieces until you get to the end of the row, cut and repeat.
100% Useable. During the end-matching process, defects and other undesirable characteristics are cut out, leaving you with 100% useable material. This also creates dimensional stability. End-matched paneling saves you time by eliminating the need to inspect and defect the pieces yourself and saves you money by reducing the amount of waste overall.a pattern, or creating more work for yourself with the additional cutting a pattern invariably creates. The end-matched product goes up without any additional thinking and minimizes the number of cuts you need to make. Just keep grabbing pieces until you get to the end of the row, cut and repeat.
End-Matched planking is a win-win for everyone. It maximizes use of the material coming out of the mill, reduces waste and saves the installer time. Not to mention, it looks beautiful when installed.