Compare Hardness Of Engineered Hardwood Floor

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.

Compare hardness of engineered hardwood floor.

It is milled with tongues and grooves on opposite edges so that the boards interlock when installed. However you wouldn t make a conclusion on flooring hardness based off of a wood species alone when you re looking at engineered flooring. Solid hardwood flooring will always be stronger than hardwood veneer engineered flooring. It is always nailed down to the subfloor a process that requires some skill.

Solid wood flooring comes in long planks usually made of a hardwood species. At first glance bamboo flooring can be mistaken for another form of hardwood flooring. To luxury vinyl s 2 5 sq. And it is in fact often grouped together under the general category of solid hardwood flooring.

Hardwoods are better than softwoods. These ratings were done using the janka hardness test. Below are listed the relative hardness for numerous wood species used in flooring. Cost is not only a baseline factor with the average hardwood floor costing between 8 25 sq.

Janka gave us an excellent way to compare how some species of wood will perform compared to others. To properly maintain hardwood treatment and refinishing time and money must be spent. Solid wood floors and engineered floors share the same species of wood. The janka hardness test measures the force required to embed a 444 inch steel ball to half its diameter in wood.

You wouldn t but mr. 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. Select a wood from one of the high ranking species and your floors will be far more resistant to damage. One negative to engineered wood flooring is its cost compared to domestic or common hardwood species.

Engineered wood flooring cons. Relative hardness of wood flooring species. However if you choose a harder wood like hickory you won t have to worry so much about damage most exotic engineered hardwood floors rank highly on the janka hardness scale which measures the hardness and durability of wood. Better still it s competitively priced compared to solid hardwood flooring.

Ft it is also a factor that increases the price gap between luxury vinyl vs. Upwards of 2 20 per square foot for engineered hardwood compared to upwards of 3 40 per square foot for solid. You can pick up cheap solid hardwood for the same price as budget friendly engineered flooring but it all depends on the species. The janka hardness scale determines the hardness of a particular type of wood over another.

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.