What is the hardest wood to scratch?

The hardest and most scratch-resistant species, such as ipe, cumaru and jatoba, come from the tropics, and they typically score 3,000 pounds or more. Domestic hardwoods and raw bamboo, on the other hand, are about half as hard.

What is the best grade of wood flooring?

Prime Grade
Prime Grade is the highest grade of wood flooring. It is also often described as AB-high grade. Cut from the centre of the log, this grade of wood is uniform in its appearance and has very few knots. If this quality of wood grade does contain knots, they tend to be small and unobtrusive.

What are the grades of hardwood?

The standard grades of hardwood lumber are:

Grade	Trade Name	Min. Area of clear cuttings required
FAS One Face	F1F	83-1/3%
Select	SEL	83-1/3%
No. 1 Common	1C	66-2/3%
No. 2A Common	2C	50%

What are the three grades of hardwoods?

Especially pertaining to Oak hardwood flooring, the 3 most commonly used grades are: Select, #1 Common, and #2 Common, which is also known as “Rustic” grade, or “Builder’s” grade.

What is 1st quality hardwood?

(1st) First Quality Hardwood Grading We can offer Red Oak, White Oak, Hard Maple, and Hickory hardwood floors as a high-graded product in a multitude of colors and widths, all at a great price, not in spite of all of our other grades, but because of it.

How can you tell the quality of hardwood floors?

The thickness of the hardwood floor determines its wear layer. The wear layer is the top layer; the surface that is exposed to foot traffic. The thicker the wear layer, the more durable is the floor. Ideally, you should consider hardwoods floors with a wear layer that is more than 3/16 inches.

Is #1 or #2 lumber better?

#2 or better is the grade supplied by lumber companies. It meets code and there is no noticable difference for deck applications. Generally #1 “only” is used when specified by a structural engineer. So the general rule of thumb for lumber grades is this: the lower the number, the more strength and better appearance.

What size is the highest grade of hardwood?

FAS (First and Second) is the highest grade of hardwood lumber. It’s usually 6-inches x 8-inches and is 83 percent defect-free on its best side. Select is 4-inches x 6-inches and 83 percent defect free on its best side.

What are the highest grade of hardwood you can purchase?

The highest grade boards are FAS and Select, followed by #1 Common and #2 Common. What grade you choose depends on your project. Some projects, such as tabletops and high quality furniture, may dictate the highest grade available.

Which is harder hard wood or soft wood?

Hardwoods are better than softwoods. While the complete Janka hardness listings will reveal that there are some fairly hard softwoods and some relatively soft hardwoods, in the species most commonly used in flooring, the identifiers hold true: hardwoods are harder than softwoods.

Which is the hardest wood in the world?

The wood is stubbornly hard, and the tree is protected by giant sharp thorns. Sometimes called Argentine Lignum Vitae, this wood is a gem: inexpensive, great olive-green color, beautiful feathery grain pattern, and it takes a great natural polish on the lathe.

Which is the best description of an Aspen?

These species are called aspens: 1 Populus adenopoda – Chinese aspen (China, south of P. 2 Populus davidiana – Korean aspen (Eastern Asia) 3 Populus grandidentata – Bigtooth aspen (eastern North America, south of P. 4 Populus sieboldii – Japanese aspen (Japan) 5 Populus tremula – Eurasian aspen (northern Europe and Asia)

What’s the difference between softwood and evergreen wood?

Evergreen trees yield softwood, which is easier to cut and work with, whereas deciduous hardwood trees are denser, sturdier, and relatively more difficult to work with. Hardwoods also attend to split when you drive in a nail, which is not the case with softwoods.

Is the Aspen tree hard or soft wood?

Aspen is not as hard as the middle-of-the-road oaks, cherries, maples. A ‘soft hardwood’ sounds like a contradiction in terms, right? Well, it’s not. Hardwood species are defined as being deciduous; they lose their leaves seasonally. So, their hardness can vary.

What kind of wood is soft or hard?

Yellow Buckeye Other Soft Hardwoods Soft Hardwood Buckeye (Other) Other Soft Hardwoods Soft Hardwood Ailanthus Noncommercial Soft Hardwood Serviceberry Noncommercial Hard Hardwood Pawpaw Noncommercial Soft Hardwood Birch Sp. Other Hard Hardwoods

Is it OK to use Aspen hardwood flooring?

If you are looking to create a space with a hardwood floor as a stylistic element, grain patterns in a hardwood floor add a lot of visual value. This is certainly true of an aspen hardwood floor, noted as it is for fine, detailed patterning unlike the more traditional choices in hardwood.

Which is softer, Douglas fir or aspen hardwood?

Well, it’s not. Hardwood species are defined as being deciduous; they lose their leaves seasonally. So, their hardness can vary. Getting back to aspen, it scores a pretty low 420 on the Janka Hardness Scale. That’s even softer than Douglas fir, which is a softwood (and therefore doesn’t lose its leaves seasonally – you get the idea).