Hardness Of Engineered Hardwood Floors

Engineered flooring hardness now things get a little murky but as a general rule the more plies that an engineered floor contains the harder it will be.

Hardness of engineered hardwood floors.

The janka hardness test measures the force required to embed a 444 inch steel ball to half its diameter in wood. Engineered hardwood flooring is almost always sold pre finished and there is a narrower range of available colors and species than with solid hardwood. While the complete janka hardness listings will reveal that there are some fairly hard softwoods and some relatively soft hardwoods in the species most commonly used in flooring the identifiers hold true. Engineered hardwoods have different materials under the actual wear layer.

Certainly the species of the surface layer as well as the content of the core board determine the hardness of an engineered floor as well. With engineered hardwood floors you have the option to create upscale and on trend looks with wide and mixed width planks up to 7 1 2. Throughout the wood flooring industry the janka hardness chart is recognized as the main source for questions related to the density and relative hardness of both domestic species as well as exotic wood species from around the world. Relative hardness of wood flooring species.

These ratings were done using the janka hardness test. The janka hardness scale determines the hardness of a particular type of wood over another. Some pre finished engineered hardwood flooring has slightly beveled edges which creates slight grooves between boards while solid hardwood flooring generally has very tight seams between boards. The janka hardness rating of the hardwood used for the veneer on your engineered flooring will guide you to the best choice for your intended flooring use.

Relative hardness of wood flooring species. While there are no official studies i am aware of with engineered products the actual hardness testing reporting is done with solid wood flooring. The scale was invented in 1906 by gabriel janka an austrian wood researcher and standardized in 1927 by the american society for testing and materials depending on the room where the flooring will be installed a certain level of hardness may make it a more desirable choice. Forest service list the relative hardness for numerous wood species used in flooring.

Wide width flooring showcases the wood grain s natural beauty and can make expansive rooms feel cozier. These ratings were calculated using the janka hardness test which measures the force needed to embed a 444 inch steel ball to half its diameter in a piece of wood. When considering engineered wood flooring the hardness scale should not be taken in earnest. Vanier hard maple brazilian cherry and hand scraped oak red oak and black stained white oak are all excellent engineered floors for high traffic areas.