JANKA HARDNESS SCALE

A big concern when purchasing your hardwood flooring is exactly how hard is the wood you have chosen.

Below is the "JANKA HARDNESS CHART" which was developed to help determine the hardness factor of different grades and types of woods.

The Janka hardness test measures the force required to embed a .444-inch steel ball to half its diameter into the wood. It is one of the known ways to test the ability and wear of hardwood flooring. The higher the number, the harder the species of wood. It has been broken up into three parts, the middle selection denotes the average species purchased.

SOLID WOOD FLOORS

These floors are one piece of solid wood from top to bottom. They generally are 3/4” thick, however also come in 5/16" thickness as well 3/8” . The most commonly recognized width is 2 1/4” strip flooring, but also comes in sizes from 1 1/2” strips to 7" wide planks. Lengths will be random from 12" – 96” long. Custom Milled solid hardwood flooring can also be milled to your specifications and usually comes in long lengths up to 14’-16’ foot long. Solid strip or plank floors can only be installed with the Nail or Staple Down procedure on a wooden sub-floor.

Part of the difference between 3/4" solid wood floors and most engineered wood floors is how the wood is cut from the tree. As the picture above (left) shows you the 3/4" solid wood planks are cut (sliced) lengthwise to the log. While most engineered type wood flooring (right) is rotary cut using a razor sharp blade into veneer sheets of up to 1/8” thick that are later glued and pressed to the top of a plywood type substrate for stability and strength. The New Satin Finish "Multi-plank" engineered flooring is sliced like the solid flooring is to give it the thickest wear surface of all engineered floors.

SOLID HARDWOOD flooring is also available in either PLAIN SAWN which is most common and QUARTERSAWN which usually has to be special ordered.

PLAIN SAWN - Plain sawn, or Flat sawn, is the standard way of cutting logs into lumber, or flooring. Plain sawn can produce wide grain patterns (depending on the wood species).	QUARTERSAWN - Quarter sawing, means that the log is cut at right angles to the growth rings. This flooring has a very decorative grain patterns and produces more stability during changes in humidity.