Are Maples Hardwood

Homeowners attempting to match new portions of maple hardwood with older sections often find the task challenging.

Are maples hardwood.

The heartwood tends to be a darker reddish brown. Several species including acer griseum paperbark maple acer mandshuricum. Maple cannot absorb stain as well as oak mainly due to its consistency. Maples are distinguished by opposite leaf arrangement.

Harder woods can be susceptible to decay while softer wood resists it. Prefinished maple hardwood has the longevity to withstand high traffic. Janka ratings for maple range from 700 for silver maple to 1 180 for black maple. Hard hardwoods have strong and sturdy wood while the wood of soft hardwoods is more pliable.

The wood of soft maple is not as heavy or as strong as that of hard maple. If you are looking for affordable pricing and durability maple hardwood flooring is a strong option. Hard and soft hardwood maples are used to produce everything from the syrup on a stack of pancakes to the table the plate is sitting on. Bigleaf maple is moderately hard.

Softwood comes from a conifer cone bearing or evergreen trees such as pine or spruce. Maple is harder than oak but hardness doesn t always translate into durability. That would depend on the type of hardwood but generally the name comes from the tree type. Unlike most other hardwoods the sapwood of hard maple lumber is most commonly used rather than its heartwood sapwood color ranges from nearly white to an off white cream color sometimes with a reddish or golden hue.

Also note that black maple not pictured isn t quite as hard as its close relative hard maple and ranks in the mid range with a hardness of 1 180 lb f. The leaves in most species are palmate veined and lobed with 3 to 9 rarely to 13 veins each leading to a lobe one of which is central or apical. Taking the hardness data within context of other hardwoods soft maple may be used as a valid substitute for hard maple in most situations where a hardwood of moderate density is called for. Maple timber is less porous than oak making it more resistant to dents and scratching.

Where you use the hardwood is more important than its density and hardness. Hardwood maples are categorized as hard or soft hardwood trees. The texture and density of the wood a tree produces puts it in either the hardwood or softwood category. If you lean to a more contemporary look for your home maple is frequently chosen for a consistent contemporary look.

Most hardwood trees are deciduous trees which lose their leaves annually like elm or maple. The specific gravities of sugar maple and black maple are 0 63 and 0 57 respectively. Silver maple red maple and boxelder are soft maples.