Hardwood Flooring Hardness

What's The Best Hardwood For Me?

One popular question is "what's the best hardwood for a high traffic area?" Many assume if they choose a hard hardwood as in the imported exotic lines, they will hold up much better than a softer hardwood. This is true and false. Why? The longevity of any floor depends on the care & maintenance given. Throw in prevention as well!

I've seen some of the hardest hardwoods such as Brazilian Teak look trashed after a few short years because it was not taken care of properly. On the other hand, a good friend owns a beautiful American Cherry floor near the beach. It looks good as new after ten years of use.

All Hardwoods Will Ding, Dent, and Scratch

While it's true harder hardwoods are more resistant to damaging, they will still ding, dent, and scratch under the right conditions. My feeling has always been buy what you like and take care of it. Looked from another perspective, years ago nobody talked about hardness. Then it was oak, oak, and more oak. Across America red oak floors were the mainstay. Today they still represent a large portion of the floors people buy for their homes and they last!

My Thirty Year Old Oak Floor Looks Great!

With far too much emphasis on having the hardest floor on the planet, red oak floors have been around for generations. Why aren't salespeople putting red oak and this hardness thing together? Quite frankly I'm lost on this one. Have you ever heard anyone say.."My those are beautiful floors..and you say they're 30 years old? How hard are they?"

Engineered Hardwoods

When considering engineered hardwoods the hardness scale should not be taken in earnest. While there are no official studies I am aware of with engineered hardwoods, the actual hardness testing reporting is done with solid hardwoods.

Engineered hardwoods have different materials under the actual wear layer. Some use poplar (a soft hardwood) while others use some form of luan (another softie) pine, or rubberwood. It would make sense engineered hardwoods with thicker wear layers (more actual hardwood) will offer more resistance to dinging than ones with much thinner wear layers.

I'm not implying engineered hardwoods are cheaply made with softer hardwoods under the actual wear layer. There are reasons manufacturers choose what they do. Some has an effect on shipping costs (pine is lighter than oak, etc) while another consideration is the price of raw materials. What should be kept in consideration, the hardness ratings should not be the definitive guide to selecting any hardwood floor.

Softer, Stronger Hardwood

Some consumers get the hardness of floors mixed up with whether or not they are stronger than one another. Hardness and softness shall not be confused with actual feel, but rather how resistant they are to damage potential. Softness in relation to a comfort zone is also not applicable.

Conclusion

There are many colors and styles available today and we realize the choices can be overwhelming. If you're sold on buying for hardness, do not be disappointed unless you live in a careful household.