Hardwood Flooring Species

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by: mjorgenson14
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Word Count: 263
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 Time: 5:17 PM
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Wood floors can be made out of many different wood types. Here are some of the most common wood types used in flooring:

Maple and Birch: Similar in appearance and performance. Both woods tend not to be very porous and are thusly very smooth. They are whitish in color and are usually just clear coated rather than stained to preserve their natural coloration.

Oak: Light brown and quite porous, oak comes in two varieties, red oak and white oak. Red oak has a pinkish hue whereas the white oak is browner than the red. The grain lines tend to be black in both, but more prominent in red oak. Easily stained and very hard it offers a very traditional look.

Ash: Similar in appearance and performance to oak, although ash has a whiter coloring. It is a very hard wood that wears very well, but does not tend to take a finish as well as oak.

Walnut and Cherry: Softer than oak, both of these woods are very attractive. Walnut is brown and is very porous, making it easy to finish. Cherry has a redder color and has closed pores so it is more challenging finish.

Pine, Hemlock and Fir: These evergreens are considered softwoods. Being softer than some of the other wood flooring materials they are far more likely to dent. Due to changes in lumber quality, a pine floor that you might lay today will not perform as well as a pine floor laid using lumber from 50-75 years ago.

About the Author

My name is Michael and I live in Atlanta. I have recently replaced by hardwood flooring in atlanta and had a great experience.