Hard Maple Vs Soft Maple Flooring

Soft maple hard maple is the common term for two species of maple trees.

Hard maple vs soft maple flooring.

The primary difference between hard and soft maple is obviously hardness but also color. Its durable and glassy surface finishes to a high gloss that can take punishment. This is a good rule of thumb but in reality all types of maple can have a very broad range of color variation. Soft maple is a term used to describe tehse different species.

Case 7 79. Thick x 3 1 4 in. This kind of maple as the name suggest is not as hard or as strong so it is not used for flooring but is ideal for wood worked décor items furniture. Hard maple is commonly used in the manufacture of flooring furniture cabinets billiard cues and other finished wood products.

Sugar maple acer saccharum and black maple acer nigrum. Maple is commonly used for bowling alleys dance floors and high end homes. Soft maple is about 25 percent less hard than hard maple has medium bending and crushing strength and is low in stiffness and shock resistance. Even the most beautif.

Soft maple can be used as a substitute for hard maple to save money in situations where low to moderate density is called for such as profiled moldings trim plaques and carved items. Red oak and soft maple are also. Hard maple tends to be of a lighter more uniform color while soft maple tends to be a bit darker with red brown or gray streaks. The soft maple often comes in about 50 75 white sapwood with the remainder being a gray brown heartwood.

The hard maple you buy should be 99 white sapwood. Millstead hand scraped maple chocolate 3 4 in. It has good steam bending properties. Soft maple varieties are more comparable to birch in hardness and application than hard maple.

Wide x random length solid hardwood flooring 20 sq. Soft maple is used to describe four other types of maple trees. This doesn t present a problem if painting but clear finish looks terrible. Hard maple is a premier flooring material.

Both hard and soft maple are rated as nondurable to perishable and are susceptible to attack by bugs. Silver maple acer saccharinum red maple acer rebrum boxelder acer negundo and bigleaf maple acer macrophyllum.