Popular Wood Types
Red Oak is a beautiful reddish-brown wood with a unique grain. It’s is a slow growing tree and for that reason it produces hard, dense, heavy and tough wood. It is prized for its wearability. The color of the wood ranges from nearly white cream color sapwood to a beautiful warm, pale brown heartwood, tinted with red. The close, even grain is distinguished by rays which reflect light and add to its attractiveness. Red oak is a dream to work with. It will not split when nailed and holds screws forever. It finishes beautifully because of its smooth surface and appealing color.
> Go to the Red Oak Flooring page
Traditional and warm, it’s the perfect choice for an elegant and beautiful home. The wood of the mighty White Oak lives up to the reputation of the tree itself, a symbol of strength and dependability. The best oak timber comes from the tall forest trees, which produce even, straight-grained wood that is hard, heavy, strong and durable. It is insect and fungi resistant. The sap conducting pores are naturally plugged with the glistening water repellent substance. This virtual waterproofing sets white oak apart from all other native hardwoods. It also machines beautifully, glues well and holds nails and screws very well. Its handsome color ranges from nearly white sapwood to a darker gray brown heartwood. It is much paler than its relative, red oak.
> Go the the White Oak Flooring page
Maple has a unique light colour and fine grain that will brighten your home. In the lumber industry it is referred to as hard maple for good reason. The very hard wood is heavy, strong, stiff and shock resistant. It works beautifully with both machine and hand tools. The sapwood is cream color tinged with pale brown. The heartwood is deeper reddish brown with dark mineral streaks. The most distinctive surface feature of maple, however, is the rare, highly figured grain patterns found with more variety than in any other domestic hardwood. They include: wavy, curly, quilted, blistered, fiddle-back, leaf figure, maple burl and of course, the famous bird’s eye. Although, often stained to bring out these unusual patterns, maple wood is never painted. Its color and grain is too beautiful to be covered.
>Go to the Maple Flooring page
Warm, beautiful with the color of cinnamon, Brazilian Cherry grows throughout Central and South America. It is red-orange in color and over time the color will mellow to a more russet.
>Go to the Brazilian Cherry Flooring page
Cumaru/Brazilian Teak
Cumaru also know as Brazilian Teak or Southern Chestnut is a dense hard wood with a range of colors varying from a tan brown to a reddish brown with some pieces offering a black striping. Extremely durable.
> Go the the Cumaru/Brazilian Teak Flooring page
Santos Mahogany
Santos Mahogany is a dark reddish-brown wood commonly found in South America. It is a very durable and strong hardwood.
> Go to the Santos Mahogany Flooring page
Hickory
A narrow, up-right woodland tree, shagbark hickory is a true Native American, found nowhere else. The color of this Hickory’s wood is pale cream to a light reddish tan with a fine inconspicuous brown line. A very hard wood, hickory is exceptionally tough, strong and resilient. Like its cousin Pecan, it shrinks considerably in drying but once stable is a very useful, reliable wood. Hickory combines strength with flexibility and is a good choice, like ash, where high shock resistance is required.
> Go to the Hickory Flooring page
American Walnut
Walnut exhibits a medium to high degree of colour change with the dark brown heartwood lightening over time to a more golden brown with the muting of the colour variation found when freshly milled.
> Go to the American Walnut Flooring page
Brazilian Walnut/Ipe
Ipe heartwood is light to dark olive brown, often with attractive lighter or darker striping and striking contrasts with the lighter color sapwood. It has a fine texture, medium luster, and a somewhat oily appearance. Ipe is very hard (two to three times as hard as oak), very strong and very heavy. Ipe is rated as extremely durable.
> Go the the Brazilian Walnut / Ipe Flooring page
Bamboo floor is the new product for the 21st century. Naturally beautiful and durable alternative to our limited global supply of hardwood. It is comparable in strength to northern red oak and posses similar hardness to that of maple, yet is remarkably stable with 50% less contraction and expansion.
> Go to the Bamboo Flooring page
Floorhardwoods carries a variety of domestic woods and exotic or foreign woods. Click on the links to learn more.