Janka Floor Rating Hem Fir

Similar to a laminate ac rating the hardwood floor hardness determines the durability of the species.

Janka floor rating hem fir.

To learn the basic hardness of different common woods used in flooring check the chart below. A common use of janka hardness ratings is to determine whether a species is suitable for use as flooring. Although some tests have shown bamboo and eucalyptus to be over 5 000 on the janka scale the truth is that janka hardness ratings can vary from lot to lot even when produced by the same factory. The janka hardness scale determines the hardness of a particular type of wood over another.

With that said as a general rule of thumb wood species used in flooring should generally have a janka rating of 1 000 or higher. The species grow in stands along the pacific coast from northern california to alaska and inland along the us canadian border as far as montana. Janka hardness ratings of wood species. It reflects the force in pounds required to push a small steel ball into the wood.

Second only to douglas fir in abundance hem fir accounts for 22 per cent of solid sawn production from the western woods region. The janka rating scale was created to rank the various degrees of hardness throughout the different species of hardwoods. Strand woven bamboo and eucalyptus flooring on average have janka ratings upwards of 3 800 which is much higher than traditional wood flooring. Ebony measures 3 220 on the janka scale.

What does janka rating mean. This isn t to say that wood species with a janka rating in the hundreds will not work. The janka hardness test from the austrian born emigrant gabriel janka 1864 1932 measures the resistance of a sample of wood to denting and wear. The janka hardness rating measures wood to rate its suitability for flooring.

Does that make doug fir a bad choice for flooring. It s more immune to abrasive wear tear than other softwoods and it offers some resistance to decay. Because of that the term for this unit of measure is pound force. Balsa wood measures 100.

It measures the force required to embed an 11 28 millimetres 0 444 in diameter steel ball halfway into a sample of wood. So there is a variation between the janka rating and the final hardness of any hardwood flooring. Tests are conducted on woods at 12 percent moisture. Janka hardness rating for douglas fir is 660.

This puts it fairly low on the scale. The scale was invented in 1906 by gabriel janka an austrian wood researcher and standardized in 1927 by the american society for testing and materials depending on the room where the flooring will be installed a certain level of hardness may make it a more desirable choice. The janka number is found by pushing a steel ball into a 2 x 2 x 6 wood plank.