Yellow, Red and Blue Tongue Flooring
Yellow, red and blue tongue flooring explained
Structural particle board flooring is colour coded, and the colour is not decoration. The tongue and the coated edge tell you the thickness of the sheet at a glance, and the thickness tells you the joist spacing and the loads it suits. Once you know the code, choosing the right board is quick.
The colour is the thickness
The most searched brand is Structaflor, and its colour code is the one most people picture. Yellow tongue is 19mm, red tongue is 22mm and blue tongue is 25mm. Thicker boards span further and carry more, so the colour is really a shorthand for how far apart your floor joists can be.
Yellow tongue (19mm) is the all purpose residential board, suited to joist centres up to 450mm. Red tongue (22mm) steps up to joist centres up to 600mm, which suits larger residential spans and light commercial work. Blue tongue (25mm) is the heavy duty board for the highest loads and the widest spans, used in residential, commercial and industrial floors.
Reducing the joist spacing also stiffens the whole floor, so a thicker board over tighter centres gives a firmer result. If you are matching an existing floor, work from the joist centres already in the frame.
Structaflor and EnduraFloor use different colours
Here is where people get caught out. The two main brands colour their tongues differently for the same thicknesses. Structaflor (Porta) is yellow, red and blue for 19, 22 and 25mm. EnduraFloor (Laminex) is green, beige and brown for the same 19, 22 and 25mm. So a green tongue and a yellow tongue can be the exact same 19mm structural board, just from different makers. Both are made to AS/NZS 1860.1 and do the same job.
Choosing the right board
Start with your joist centres and loads. Up to 450mm centres, 19mm is the standard choice. Out to 600mm, or for heavier residential and light commercial floors, step up to 22mm. For the heaviest loads and widest spans, 25mm is the board.
Over a damp or poorly ventilated subfloor, or under a timber floor you want to keep flat, the foil backed Ultimate board is worth a look. Its metallised underside holds moisture out far better than a standard board and bounces radiant heat back into the room, so the floor stays drier and the home holds its warmth in winter and its cool in summer.
Particle board is not the only subfloor sheet, of course. For how it stacks up against plywood, OSB3 and fibre cement, see your subfloor options. Still not sure which colour you need? Tell us the joist centres and the job when you build a quote and we will confirm the right board.
Tongue colour FAQs
It tells you the thickness of the structural particle board. For Structaflor, yellow is 19mm, red is 22mm and blue is 25mm. The thickness sets the joist spacing the board suits, so the colour is a quick way to pick the right sheet.
They are the same 19mm structural flooring, from different brands. Structaflor colours its 19mm tongue yellow, EnduraFloor colours its 19mm tongue green. Both are made to AS/NZS 1860.1 and perform the same, so if a plan calls for one and you have the other in the same thickness, it does the same job.
It is set by your joist spacing. 19mm (yellow or green) suits joists up to 450mm centres, 22mm (red or beige) up to 600mm, and 25mm (blue or brown) for 600mm centres and heavier loads. Tell us your joist centres and we will confirm it.
Get a price on particle board flooring
Send us your floor size and joist centres, or build a quote online, and we will work out the sheets and get a price back to you.