The Softest Hardwood

Softwoods such as fir pine and hemlock rarely work well as flooring materials except in a shop or utility area.

The softest hardwood.

The most durable flooring woods will be hardwoods such as oak walnut ebony maple ash and pecan. The actual number listed in the wood profile is the amount of pounds force lb f or newtons n required to imbed a 444 11 28 mm diameter steel ball into the wood to half the ball s diameter. If we can not help you with your wood floors then we will send you in the right direction. There are some hard softwoods as well as soft hardwoods.

The hardest commercially available hardwood is hickory and it is five times harder than aspen one of the soft hardwoods. We have been in business for decades and are here to work for you. The most common test for testing wood hardness is known as the janka hardness test. Similarly wood from the yew tree which is one of the toughest woods and is harder than most types of oak is classified as softwood.

Exotics are sourced from areas like indonesia and south america. Depending on the type of your project you may need either or both of the different kinds of wood. A hardwood named quipo cavanillesia platanifolia is commonly reported as the softest known wood with an alleged janka hardness of 22 lb f 98 n. Indo gemstone indogemstone when we think about hardwood we think of hard and dense material.

For the hardest woods you need to look for exotics not domestics. This means manufacturer backed warranties expert advice and professional installation. For example balsa wood is known as one of the softest and least dense types of wood yet it is categorized as hardwood. Universal hardwood is a real store.

On a hardness scale alder ranks just above pine and poplar. Hardwood comes from angiosperm or flowering plants such as oak maple or walnut that are not monocots. Wood is categorized as either softwood or hardwood based on physical structure and makeup. This happens to be generally true but there are exceptions such as in the cases of wood from yew trees a softwood that is relatively hard and wood from balsa trees a hardwood that is softer than softwoods.

Softwood hardwood table image. Similarly we expect softwood to be soft and light. However the wood is omitted from this list for two main reasons. Other soft hardwoods.