Having seen changes
in the hardwood flooring business over the years,
I never realized how many people were ill-advised
of how to actually go about buying hardwood
floors. Phone calls tell the story with hardness
being very near the top of the list.
What's The Best
Hardwood For Me?
One
popular question is "what's the best hardwood
for a high traffic area?" Many assume if they
choose a hard hardwood as in the imported exotic
lines, they will hold up much better than a
softer hardwood. This is true and
false. Why? The longevity of any floor
depends on the care & maintenance given. Throw
in prevention as well!
I've
seen some of the hardest hardwoods such as
Brazilian Teak look trashed after a few short
years because it was not taken care of properly.
On the other hand, a good friend owns a
beautiful American Cherry floor near the beach.
It looks good as new after ten years of use.
All Hardwoods Will
Ding, Dent, and
Scratch
While
it's true harder hardwoods are more resistant to
damaging, they will still ding, dent, and
scratch under the right circumstances. My
feeling has always been buy what you like
and take care of it. Looked from another
perspective, years ago nobody talked about
hardness. Then it was oak, oak, and more oak.
Across America red oak floors were the mainstay.
Today they still represent a large portion of
the floors people buy for their homes and they
last!
My
Thirty Year Old Oak Floor Looks Great!
With
far too much emphasis on having the hardest floor
on the planet, red oak floors have been around for
generations. Why aren't salespeople putting red
oak and this hardness thing together? Quite
frankly I'm lost on this one. Have you ever heard
anyone say.."My those are beautiful floors..and
you say they're 30 years old? How hard are they"
Engineered Hardwoods
When
considering engineered hardwoods the hardness
scale should not be taken in earnest. While there
are no official studies I am aware of with
engineered hardwoods, the actual hardness testing
reporting is done with solid hardwoods. See
link on right.
Engineered hardwoods have different materials
under the actual wear layer. Some use poplar (a
soft hardwood) while others use some form of luan
(another softie) pine, or rubberwood. It would
make sense engineered hardwoods with thicker wear
layers (more actual hardwood) will offer more
resistance to dinging than ones with much thinner
wear layers.
I'm not
implying engineered hardwoods are cheaply made
with softer hardwoods under the actual wear layer.
There are reasons manufacturers choose what they
do. Some has an effect on shipping costs (pine is
lighter than oak, etc) while another consideration
is the price of raw materials. What should be kept
in consideration, the hardness ratings should not
be the definitive guide to selecting any hardwood
floor.
True
Story. American Cherry Vs. Brazilian Cherry
I always offer this
true story example. I have a friend that owns a
condo on a Naples Florida beach. Ten years ago
they installed a beautiful American (considered
very soft) cherry floor and in that time took
extreme care of it by paying attention to care &
maintenance. It looks as new as the day it was
installed.
On the
other hand I installed a Brazilian Cherry
(considered quite hard) floor on Fort Myers Beach,
FL about six years ago. In both cases they were
less than 50 yards from the beach itself, where
sand "created a problem."
The owner of the
Brazilian Cherry floor had a very active adult
household who didn't clean up after themselves as
much as the other family of four kids and a few
pets. Today their floors need refinishing near
high traffic areas and moisture sources such as
the kitchen sink, refrigerator with icemaker.
Softer,
Stronger Hardwood
Some
consumers get the hardness of floors mixed up with
whether or not they are stronger than one another.
Hardness and softness shall not be confused with
actual feel, but rather how resistant they are to
damage potential. Softness in relation to a
comfort zone is also not applicable.
Conclusion
There
are many colors and styles available today and we
realize the choices can be overwhelming. If you're
sold on buying for hardness, do not be
disappointed unless you live in a careful
household.
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