Compare Hardness Of Engineered Hardwood Floor

Relative hardness of wood flooring species.

Compare hardness of engineered hardwood floor.

Hardwoods are better than softwoods. 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. 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. However you wouldn t make a conclusion on flooring hardness based off of a wood species alone when you re looking at engineered flooring.

Cost is not only a baseline factor with the average hardwood floor costing between 8 25 sq. If you ve already started reviewing your options in the hardwood flooring market then you ll be well aware that engineered hardwood flooring is an increasingly popular product. Solid hardwood flooring will always be stronger than hardwood veneer engineered flooring. Better still it s competitively priced compared to solid hardwood flooring.

Solid wood flooring comes in long planks usually made of a hardwood species. One negative to engineered wood flooring is its cost compared to domestic or common hardwood species. Solid wood flooring vs. Ft it is also a factor that increases the price gap between luxury vinyl vs.

Below are listed the relative hardness for numerous wood species used in flooring. Engineered wood flooring cons. At first glance bamboo flooring can be mistaken for another form of hardwood flooring. You wouldn t but mr.

The janka hardness scale determines the hardness of a particular type of wood over another. It is milled with tongues and grooves on opposite edges so that the boards interlock when installed. It is always nailed down to the subfloor a process that requires some skill. Bamboo and hardwood do have a similar look and feel and both materials are available both in 3 4 inch thick solid planks and in engineered versions in which.

Engineered wood flooring. To luxury vinyl s 2 5 sq. Select a wood from one of the high ranking species and your floors will be far more resistant to damage. And it is in fact often grouped together under the general category of solid hardwood flooring.

Upwards of 2 20 per square foot for engineered hardwood compared to upwards of 3 40 per square foot for solid. These ratings were done using the janka hardness test. The janka hardness test measures the force required to embed a 444 inch steel ball to half its diameter in wood. To properly maintain hardwood treatment and refinishing time and money must be spent.

Janka gave us an excellent way to compare how some species of wood will perform compared to others.