HMG HARDWOOD FLOORS will be able to guide you through the process and help you select the wood species that fits your unique tastes and environment.
Look, Color, Grain
What kind of wood a homeowner chooses for their floor depends on several things. One, of course, is the look of the floor. Some woods have a beautiful grain that can be wavy, curly, spiral or interlocked. Others are known for embellishments such as burrs or curls. Woods such as yew and amboyna burr are prized for these figures. There is a vast array of domestic and exotic wood species that will need to be review to find that right look to suit your home.
Durability
The homeowner also chooses the wood according to how much traffic it will get. Wood that is going to be installed in an entry hall or mudroom should be more durable than woods that are installed in a room that is not as heavily trafficked. Teak is a notoriously tough wood and is even used for patios and ship’s decking. Cypress is also a very durable wood.
Moisture Content
How much water a type of wood absorbs is a consideration, especially if the floor is in a place with high humidity such as the bathroom. This is also related to what’s called the wood’s movement in service. This determines how much the wood shrinks, expands or warps according to the climate. Wood that is good for flooring does not move much in service. This includes domestic woods such as American pitch pine and red maple and exotic woods such as teak and izombe.
Density
Whether a wood is easy or hard to work is also a consideration when it comes to cost. By the way, the terms hardwood and softwood can be misleading. Hardwoods come from deciduous trees such as maple or oak, while softwoods come from conifers such as cedar and pine. Elm, a hardwood, is one of the softer woods, and is even softer than some pines. Elm is only about 850 on the Janka hardness scale.
Sustainable
Also, more and more homeowners want their floors to be sustainable. Fortunately, both foreign and domestic foresters are aware of this and make sure they plant more trees than are harvested. Homeowners should check with their lumber retailer to make sure that the type of wood they want is grown and harvested in an environmentally friendly way.Wood flooring can also be engineered or solid. Solid wood flooring comes in planks made of one wood, while engineered floors have a surface of high quality wood laid over layers of inferior wood or plywood.
Here you will find some of most used wood floors species. this samples can give you an idea about color and texture of those woods.
The sapwood is creamy white with a slight reddish brown tinge and the heartwood varies from light to dark reddish brown. The amount of darker brown heartwood varies. Can contain pith fleck. The wood has a close, fine texture and is generally straight grained, but also occurs as "curly", "fiddleback", and "birds-eye". Also known as Sugar Maple, Rock Maple, Black Maple.
The sapwood is white to light brown and the heartwood is a pinkish reddish brown. The wood appears similar to white oak, but with slightly less pronounced figure. The wood is mostly straight grained, with a coarse texture. Also known as Northern Red Oak, Southern Red Oak.
The sapwood of American white oak is light colored and the heartwood is light to dark brown. White oak is mostly straight grained with a medium to coarse texture, with longer rays than red oak. White oak therefore has more figure. Also known as Northern White Oak, Southern White Oak.
The sapwood is creamy white, heartwood is light brown to dark chocolate brown, occasionally with a purplish cast and darker streaks. Walnut can be supplied steamed, to darken sapwood or left unsteamed. Generally straight grained, but sometimes has attractive wavy or curly grain. Also known as Black Walnut, American Walnut.
The heartwood varies from rich red to reddish brown and will darken on exposure to light. In contrast the sapwood is creamy white. The wood has a fine uniform straight grain, smooth texture, and can contain brown pith flecks and small gum pockets. Also known as Black Cherry.
The sapwood is light coloured to nearly white and the heartwood varies from greyish brown to pale yellow streaked with brown. The wood is generally straight-grained with a coarse, uniform texture. Also known as Northern Ash, Southern Ash, White Ash.
Brazilian Cherry, also known as Jatoba, is one of the most popular exotic hardwoods. It’s not difficult to see why: Brazilian Cherry's breathtaking reddish-brown heartwood is lined by dark black streaks, giving it not only contrast but amazing depth as well. The heartwood will darken over time to a softer red-brown. Beyond its beauty, Brazilian Cherry is incredibly strong.
Heartwood is yellowish tan to light brown. Sapwood is tan to white. Heartwood may be confused with that of Southern yellow pine. Radical color change upon exposure to sunlight.
Wood varies greatly in weight and strength. Young trees of moderate to rapid growth have reddish heartwood and are called red fir. The narrow-ringed wood of old trees may be yellowish-brown and is known as yellow fir.
