Birch Hardness Flooring

The birch species can be divided into two subspecies that are most often used for flooring the yellow birch and the red birch.

Birch hardness flooring.

The most durable flooring woods will be hardwoods such as oak walnut ebony maple ash and pecan. Some manufacturers of hardwood flooring offer collection of both varieties some only work with yellow birch. When birch lumber is graded the majority of the red heartwood and the yellow sapwood are separated. Wood hardness chart species alphabetical hardness species by hardness hardness mahogany honduran 800 padauk 1725 mahogany santos 2200 tabaccowood 1750 maple hard north american 1450 rosewood bolivian 1780 maple ivory 1500 bamboo carbonized 1800 maple soft 999 hickory 1820 merbau 1925 pecan 1820 mesquite 2345 yellowheart 1820.

Softwoods such as fir pine and hemlock rarely work well as flooring materials except in a shop or utility area. The janka test measures the amount of force required to embed a 0 444 steel ball into the wood to half of its diameter. The yellow birch is the most commonly used in flooring and is only slightly less strong than red oak while the sweet birch is slightly harder than hard maple. Birch floors can are known for providing the hardness and durability we expect from most hardwood flooring.

Yellow birch and red birch flooring. For the hardest woods you need to look for exotics not domestics. Red birch refers to the heartwood stock of the birch tree which is generally a golden brown color with some red undertones. Woods with a higher rating are harder than woods with a lower rating.

The scale used in the table is pounds force. The janka scale is used to determine the relative hardness of particular domestic or exotic wood species. The sapwood is referred to as yellow birch and the heartwood as red birch. Both have a 1290 rating on the janka hardness scale.

Exotics are sourced from areas like indonesia and south america. Grades of red birch flooring available. These ratings indicate that birch flooring made from either of these species is suitable for hardwood floors that will receive moderate to heavy foot traffic. Pricing is similar to other hardwoods but birch stands out for its color variations that can run from lights to darks and its natural highlights which add visual appeal.

Birch janka hardness rating 1260. Red birch is about the same hardness as white oak. The species birch can be broken down into two varieties of hardwood flooring.