Monday, March 5, 2012

The Janka Scale And Why It Matters When Buying Hardwood

Have you ever wondered why some hardwood flooring costs so much more than others? Well there are several things that factor into the price of the wood, but one of the main things is how hard the wood is.

   Do you know how to tell the difference in a hard wood and a soft wood? The answer is very simple, hard wood trees produce leaves and soft wood trees produce cones. So that would mean that a pine tree, for example, would be a soft wood tree and a tall oak would be a hard wood tree.

   Now different woods have different hardness ratings, and these ratings come from what is called the Janka Scale. The pounds-force Janka Rating on a certain species comes from a test that measures the wear and resistance to denting on that particular wood. I won’t bore you with the mathematical equations that are involved seeing as how I almost fell asleep reading them myself.

   If you are in the market for hardwood then you will probably want to know how the species you are looking at stack up against the competition. Want to know what ranks higher between Tigerwood or Hickory? Or maybe you want to know whether red oak or white oak is tougher. Whatever the case, check the Janka Scale out below. Remember, an educated customer always makes the right decision!


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