This is a really good question when you are considering what wood to use for your floors. Most people make the assumption that hardwoods are hard and softwoods are soft, however this is not necessarily correct. For example, Balsa wood is classified as a hardwood despite the fact that it is very soft and light. Softwood and hardwood are not distinguished by their end use or appearance they are distinguished by the type of tree. In general hardwood comes from deciduous trees,(leafy or flowering trees that generally lose their leaves in winter; and softwood comes from conifer trees that are generally evergreen. Some examples of hardwoods include maple, oak, alder, birch, cherry, hickory, mahogany and walnut. Softwoods include pine, redwood and cedar.
Wood hardness is measured by the “Janka” hardness test. This measures the resistance of a type of wood to withstand denting and wear. It measures the force required to embed an 11.28 mm (0.444 in) steel ball into wood to half the ball’s diameter. This method leaves an indentation.
| “Janka” Scale of Hardness | Rating |
| Brazilian Tiger Mahogany |
3840 |
| Brazilian Walnut |
3684 |
| Brazilian Cherry “Lite” |
3680 |
| Bolivian Cherry |
3650 |
| Brazilian Redwood |
3190 |
| Red Mahogany |
2697 |
| Brazilian Cherry / Jatoba |
2350 |
| Santos Mahogany |
2200 |
| Hickory / Pecan, Satinwood |
1820 |
| Red Pine |
1630 |
| True Pine, Timborana |
1570 |
| Sweet Birch |
1470 |
| Hard Maple / Sugar Maple |
1450 |
| Caribbean Walnut |
1390 |
| White Oak |
1360 |
| Red Oak (Northern) |
1290 |
| Caribbean Heart Pine |
1280 |
| Yellow Birch, Iroko |
1260 |
| Heart Pine |
1225 |
| Peruvian Walnut |
1080 |
| Black Walnut/North American Walnut |
1010 |
| Cherry |
995 |
| Red Maple |
950 |
| Black Cherry, Imbuia |
950 |
| Eastern Red Cedar |
900 |
| African Mahogany |
830 |
| Mahogany, Honduran Mahogany |
800 |
| Silver Maple |
700 |
| Southern Yellow Pine |
690 |
| Alder (Red) |
590 |
| Western White Pine |
420 |
| Eastern White Pine |
380 |
The relative hardness of wood and the availability will affect the price paid as will affect the performance of your floor. The other thing that can affect price is the availability of the wood. The chart below shows the availability of North American hardwood species found most often in residential applications.
*Includes Sap Gum, Basswood, Cottonwood, Hackberry, Hickory, Pecan, Birch, Beech, Tupelo, Elm, Walnut and other hardwoods.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service
Some of the more popular domestically grown and processed woods are: White Ash, Beech, Birch, Black Cherry (aka American Cherry), Hickory-Pecan, Sugar Maple, Mesquite, Red Oak, White Oak, Pine, and American Black Walnut.
Exotics/Imports species include: Bamboo, Brazilian Cherry, Bubinga, Cork, Cumaru, Spotted Gum, Sydney Blue Gum, Iroko, Jarrah, Mahogany, Brazilian Maple, Merbau, Tasmanian Oak, Padauk, Purpleheart, Brazilian Teak, Thai Burmese Teak, Brazilian Walnut, and Wenge.
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