ToLife Times

Floor Coverings – How Hard is Hardwood?

Posted on July 22, 2011 by ToLife Times
Posted in Design and Decor, Floor Coverings, Renovating Tagged hardness, list, site:za, wood

One of the things one also needs to consider when deciding on what kind of hardwood to put in your home is durability. And the durability of a hardwood floor is dictated by the hardness of the wood. But it’s called hardwood for a reason right, because it’s hard? Well yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s all hard enough to withstand the onslaught of constant foot traffic, moving furniture and your favourite stilettos.

Hardwood’s hardness is rated using a test called the Janka Hardness test. This test measures the relative hardness of each hardwood species which will then indicate whether the hardwood species in question is good for higher traffic or not. How they measure this is by meausing the force needed to impress a .444 inch steel ball half its own diameter into the piece of wood being measured.

Ok, so technical stuff aside, what are the hardness ratings of the various species of wood, and what does this mean to our selection process? Well the higher the number next to the species, the better it can withstand your stilettos! But of course this is just a general guideline, you still need to check that the finishes, treatments etc can handle your high heels too!

Here is a list of common hardwoods available in South Africa and their relative Janka test results.