What Is The Difference Between Hardwood And Softwood Floors
Classifying wood as either a hardwood or softwood comes down to its physical structure and makeup and so it is overly simple to think of hardwoods as being hard and durable compared to soft and workable softwoods.
What is the difference between hardwood and softwood floors. When it comes to a comparison between softwood vs hardwood the former offer varying degrees of resilience but is more prone to general wear and tear. This layer of wood is 100 percent hardwood. Re coating sanding staining and or painting solid hardwood floors can be done numerous times with little concern. This happens to be generally true but there are exceptions such as in the cases of wood from yew trees a softwood that is relatively hard and wood from balsa trees a.
When it comes to choosing a wooden floor consider which will suit your home and lifestyle better hardwood or softwood. Solid hardwood generally has very tight seams between boards and there is a great range of colors and species than is found with engineered hardwood flooring. According to a national wood flooring association survey 99 percent of participating. One of the biggest differences between solid and engineered hardwood is that solid hardwood can be sanded and refinished several times.
Bamboo and hardwood do have a similar look and feel and both materials are available both in 3 4 inch thick solid planks and in engineered versions in which a finish quality natural veneer is laminated over man made core layers. The major difference between the hardwood and engineered wood flooring is that the hardwood flooring consists of a single layer of hardwood cut and placed for acting as a floor. The main difference between hardwood and softwood flooring is durability which in turn affects their rates. Solid hardwood is available in both pre finished and unfinished boards.
Hardwood flooring is a good investment. If that is not you softwood flooring is a good choice for a room that does not see a ton of foot traffic in order to limit the wear on the flooring. The difference in hardwood and softwood flooring isn t in the name or the density it s the structure and origin of the tree. I am often asked what s the difference between hardwood and softwood and will hardwood last longer.
The first part of that question is fairly straight forward to answer. This means owners have the option to change the look of their hardwood over time. Hardwood is timber from broad leaved usually deciduous trees that is a tree that looses its leaves each year and belongs to the botanical group angiosperms not all hardwoods are hard though most british species are. On the other hand hardwoods are generally denser and considerably more durable.
Solid hardwood flooring boards tend to be narrower than engineered hardwood flooring. And it is in fact often grouped together under the general category of solid hardwood flooring.