Guides / Grades and Specs

NHLA Grades Explained: FAS, Select, No.1 and No.2 Common

September 28, 2026

A hardwood grade tells you how much of each board you can cut into clear, usable pieces. It does not describe the board as a whole and it does not promise a look. Once you read grades that way, choosing one becomes a question about your cut list rather than about quality in general.

In North America most hardwood lumber is graded under the rules of the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA). European and tropical species are often graded under other rules, but buyers around the world still use the NHLA names, so they are worth knowing well. This guide summarizes the main grades. The full NHLA rulebook governs, and it has details and species exceptions that a summary cannot cover.

How a board gets its grade

A grader looks at the poorer face of the board for most grades and works out how much of it can be cut into clear-face cuttings. A clear-face cutting is a rectangle with no knots, splits, wane or other defects on that face. Each grade sets three things:

• Minimum board size. How wide and long the board must be to qualify at all.
• Minimum cutting size. The smallest clear rectangle that counts toward the yield.
• Required yield. The share of the board surface that those cuttings must cover.

The grader also limits how many cuttings may be used, based on the board’s surface measure. A board that needs many small cuttings to reach the yield drops a grade.

The yields are expressed in twelfths because the rules count clear area in units of one inch by one foot. That is why you see numbers like 83 1/3 percent (ten twelfths) and 66 2/3 percent (eight twelfths).

The main grades

Grade	Minimum board	Minimum clear cutting	Clear yield required
FAS	6 in wide, 8 to 16 ft long	4 in x 5 ft or 3 in x 7 ft	83 1/3%
FAS 1-Face	As FAS	As FAS on the better face	83 1/3% on the better face
Select	4 in wide, 6 to 16 ft long	As FAS on the better face	83 1/3% on the better face
No.1 Common	3 in wide, 4 to 16 ft long	4 in x 2 ft or 3 in x 3 ft	66 2/3%
No.2A Common	3 in wide, 4 to 16 ft long	3 in x 2 ft	50%
No.3A Common	3 in wide, 4 to 16 ft long	3 in x 2 ft	33 1/3%

These are typical values. Some species have special rules, for example walnut allows smaller boards in FAS than other species.

FAS

FAS stands for Firsts and Seconds, two old grades that were combined. It is the grade for long, wide clear pieces. Both faces must meet the yield. Buy FAS when your parts are long, such as mouldings, casings, long table rails, bed rails or stair parts, or when you need wide clear boards for panels.

FAS 1-Face and Select

These grades have one face that meets FAS and one face that meets No.1 Common. They suit parts that are only seen from one side, such as cabinet face frames or the front of a drawer. Select is the same idea on narrower and shorter boards. In practice many mills sell “FAS 1-Face and Select” as one mix, so ask what the tally contains.

No.1 Common

No.1 Common is the workhorse grade for cabinet and furniture plants. Its clear pieces are shorter, from 2 or 3 feet, so it fits cabinet doors, drawer fronts, face frame stiles, chair parts and anything else made from short clear blanks. When your cut list is mostly under three feet, No.1 Common often gives the same number of parts as FAS at a lower cost per part.

No.2A Common and lower

No.2A Common has smaller clear pieces and more knots, mineral streak and character between them. It is common in flooring, paneling, short furniture parts and rustic work where character marks are welcome. No.3A Common goes further and is used for pallets, crating and some rustic flooring.

Grade is not the same as appearance

Two boards of the same grade can look very different. The grade only checks the clear area on the graded face. It does not look at color, grain pattern or whether the defects sit in a place that matters to you.

That is why many buyers add sorting rules on top of the grade:

• Color sorts. Sap-free or 90 percent heart walnut, white maple with no heartwood, color-sorted red oak.
• Figure sorts. Rift and quartersawn oak, curly maple.
• Steamed or unsteamed. Walnut is often steamed to even out the color between sapwood and heartwood.
• Width and length specs. A minimum width, or lengths cut to the parts you make.

Each sort narrows the list of suppliers who can quote and raises the price. Put it on the RFQ as a separate line so the supplier cannot miss it.

How to choose the grade to order

Start from your cut list, not the grade chart.

1. List your parts by length and width. Note how many are longer than 5 feet, between 2 and 5 feet and shorter than 2 feet.
2. Match the lengths to the minimum cutting sizes. If most parts are short, No.1 Common is a candidate. If many are long, you need FAS.
3. Check if one face is enough. Parts seen from one side can come from FAS 1-Face or Select.
4. Add your color rules. Decide if sapwood is acceptable and say so.
5. Ask for a yield test if the order is large. Some buyers run a small lot of two grades through their own rough mill and compare the cost per usable part.

A common mix for a cabinet shop is FAS 1-Face for long face frame parts and No.1 Common for doors and drawer fronts. A flooring mill may buy No.1 and No.2A Common by the truckload. A moulding plant usually buys FAS only.

Grading disputes and what to check on delivery

Grades are judged at the mill or yard that ships the lumber. If you think a delivery is below grade, NHLA runs an inspection service that many contracts refer to. Before it comes to that, a few habits help:

• Agree on the grading rules and the grade in writing, including any color or width rules.
• Ask how the lumber is tallied, since surface measure and tally method affect both grade and price.
• Pull a sample of boards from several places in the load and check them against the grade on arrival.
• Keep the lumber dry and stickered while you check, because a grade claim is hard to make on wood that was stored badly.

Frequently misunderstood points

“Common” does not mean poor. No.1 Common is the right grade for a large share of furniture and cabinet parts.

The grade is based on the poorer face for FAS and Common grades. FAS 1-Face and Select are the exception, where the better face is graded to FAS.

Planing can show what the rough surface hid. Small checks and stain can appear after surfacing, which is one reason to buy from a supplier who knows your use.

Send a spec with the grade already in it

When you know the grade you need, write it on the RFQ next to the species, thickness and drying. If you are unsure, attach your cut list and say so. A supplier who knows the stock can suggest the grade that gives you the most parts for the money.

The grade is one line of a full order; see hardwood lumber specifications for the other lines.

You can see how each grade looks on a sample board, and check the full grade table, on the home page. When you are ready, send your lumber RFQ and we pass it to up to 3 mills or yards that carry that species and grade.

See also: FAS lumber, which shows how many clear cuttings each board size allows in the top grade.

Frequently asked questions

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