Choosing Wood Flooring at Edenside
Beautiful Wooden Floors at Edenside
How hard is Hardwood
Each type of wood has its own hardness level, which determines its volatility to scratching, denting, and aging.
Hardness is measured on the Janka hardness scale.
The Janka hardness test measures the amount of force required to push a steel ball with a diameter of 11.28 millimeters (0.444 inches) into the wood to a depth of half the ball's diameter.
The result is expressed in pounds-force (lbf).
The following is a list of Janka hardness ratings for some of the more popular floor types. Keep in mind that the Janka hardness rating only applies to hardwood floors and is not applicable to laminate flooring.
Hardness Rating by Species
3680 Brazilian Walnut
3540 Brazilian Teak
3280 Tiete Rosewood
3170 Rosewood
3060 Lapacho
3000 Brazilian Rosewood
2990 African Pearwood
2947 Amendoim
2890 Ironwood
2820 Brazilian Cherry (Jatoba)
2473 Spotted Gum
2320 Cabreuva
2300 Caribbean Rosewood
2200 Santos Mahogany
2170 Asian Rosewood
2160 Tiger Wood
2140 Sucupira
2090 Purple Heart
2048 Asian Pine
2040 Pradoo
2025 Sydney Blue
1980 African Rosewood
1950 Pyinkado
1925 Merbau
1910 Jarrah
1820 Pecan
1820 Hickory Pecan
1770 Doussie
1770 Afzelia
1725 Padauk
1725 African Oak
1710 Kempas
1654 Brazilian Hickory
1640 Thatch
1640 Balau
1630 African Wenge
1600 Peroba
1570 Timborana
1500 Brazilian Maple
1500 African Sapele
1500 Brazilian Maple
1450 Maple
1450 North American Maple
1410 Natural Bamboo
1375 Australian Cypress
1360 White Oak
1360 Red Oak
1360 Oak
1320 Ash
1320 White Ash
1300 Beech
1290 Angelique
1290 African Walnut
1290 Angelique Teak
1260 Yellow Birch
1260 Kambala
1260 Iroko
1260 Birch
1260 Yellow Birch
1195 Nyatoh
1155 Tiete Chestnut
1155 Teak
1155 True Teak
1125 Brazilian Eucalyptus
1120 Carbonized Bamboo
1018 Curupixa
1010 Walnut
1010 Black Walnut
1010 African Cherry
1010 North American Walnut
950 Cherry
950 North American Cherry
880 Tauari
880 Bangkirai
870 Pine
830 Elm
800 Larch
800 Honduran Mahogany
800 Mahogany
765 African Cedar
650 Douglass Fir
540 Chestnut
420 White Birch
410 Basswood
200 Cork
Buying advice and tips on choosing Hardwood Floors
Reasons for a Hardwood Floor
Wood floors are timeless. They add resale value to a home, and a beauty that is both warm and inviting. Woods natural look and feel enhances a room's furnishings and decor. They are durable, affordable and can last for many generations. Wood has examples in historic buildings of it lasting hundreds of years. Wood floors are ecologically friendly. Since it is a natural resource, wood is both renewable and recyclable.Types of Hardwood Floor
Wood floors come from different species of trees - from Brazilian cherry to Tigerwood, American Maple to the Classic Oak. Each type of tree will determine the look and texture of your wood floors. You can also choose to stain in different wood shades to match the specific room decors of your home.There are three main types of hardwood flooring available for home improvements - solid wood flooring, engineered wood flooring and parquet.
Solid Wood Flooring - wood pieces that are nailed to a home's sub-floor. Usually installed on the main and upper floors of a house, and not in kitchens, bathrooms or utility rooms.
Engineered Wood Flooring - each piece installed consists of several thin layers pressed together. The layers keep each wood piece stable and are more suitable for higher-humidity level areas of the home.
Parquet - Parquet wood flooring is a series of smaller wood flooring pieces that create a geometric design and/or pattern. Often considered if sub-floor level is uneven.
Tips on Buying Hardwood Flooring
- The widths of individual boards have a significant influence on the look of your hardwood floor. When selecting a type of hardwood, go for the look and width that best suits the style and architecture of your home. Wide width boards, which are called planks, can complement a large room, but can overwhelm a small area. Strips, which are narrower than planks, add length to a tight-feeling room.
- Deciding the plank orientation - Wood floors normally looks best if installed parallel to incoming light. However, hallways and very long, narrow rooms look best if the planks are installed along the length of the room, regardless of the direction of the light.
- Grade - Different species have different Grade standards, some none at all. The higher the Grade the "clearer" or more top of the line the product is with the least knots and colour variations. When shown a floor in situ you can always tell if it is natural wood because unlike laminate flooring no two pieces are alike.
- Cut - is the angle in relation to the grain as the log goes through the saw, 3 cuts are standard, plain, quartered, or rift sawn: The harder cut, quarter sawn, has closer pores, thus making moisture less of an intruder. Quarter sawing produces less board feet per log than plain sawing and is therefore more expensive. Quarter sawn wood twists and cups less and wears more evenly.
- Hardwood floors also come with different gloss levels. Depending on the look you desire, low and high gloss boards can complement or go against your room's furnishings. Low gloss tends to hide the appearance of minor surface scratches, while higher gloss floors can make such scratches much more obvious to the eye. Gloss does not affect the durability and performance of wood.
- There are many species, colors and grain variations to consider. Other than the walls, the floor represents the largest expanse of color or pattern in a room. Your wood floor should complement the fabrics, furnishings and accessories already present in the space, as well as enhancing the unique personality of the room as a whole. Consider darker woods for formal or traditional interiors, Lighter colors - country, casual and contemporary settings.
- Most hardwood flooring sold today is prefinished with several coats of UV-cured polyurethane applied. These factory finishes are tough and durable. Installing a prefinished floor eliminates the time, the dust and the odors associated with the on-site sanding and finishing of an unfinished product. A prefinished floor can be installed in a day. An unfinished flooring installation may require twice as much time for the same area.
- Penetrating Stain and Wax - This finish soaks into the pores of the wood and hardens to form a protective penetrating seal. The wax gives a low-gloss satin sheen. It is generally maintained with solvent-based (never water-based) waxes, buffing pastes or cleaning liquids specifically made for wax-finished wood floors.
- Bamboo is actually a grass that is harvested from managed plantations. Bamboo flooring comes as pre-finished engineered boards that have an exotic striped grain. It can be ordered in a variety of light to dark wood tones. Bamboo floors have a warm, natural look. They can be used in homes of any age and style. They are suitable for almost any room in the house, especially living rooms, dining rooms, family rooms, bedrooms, hallways and stairs.
- Natural Cork Floors - cork is a wonderful flooring material. There are many reasons you may want to choose cork, it is not only great for heat and sound insulation but is also extremely environmentally friendly.