16 Types of Hardwood (with Pictures)

Hardwood is a wooden variety frequently used in creating, building, or Do it yourself initiatives. It’s prized due to its charming, organic look and high durability. Hardwood is tougher than softwood, as you can tell by the title, and a variety of trees fall into the hardwood group.

Each variety of hardwood has characteristics that established it apart from the other individuals. Some search much better, and some are far more cost-effective or sturdy. To support you discover all of their rewards (along with the negatives), here’s a listing of sixteen varieties of hardwood. Go through on underneath to find out more about their distinctive attributes and distinctions.

The 16 Types of Hardwood

1. Oak Wood

Oak is 1 of the most common hardwoods, with more than 600 various species used for assignments all over the entire world. All Oak specimens are robust, durable, weighty, and dense.  They are insect, h2o, and fungi-resistant, producing them excellent for out of doors use. Oak is a hardwood often employed for flooring owing to its positive aspects and seems to be.

Other than flooring, you can make furniture, paneling, decking, joinery, and veneers from Oak. It is less prone to cracking and warping than other hardwoods. Oak has a natural, charming physical appearance, so many folks use it to enhance their home’s control appeal. Oak will make your house lovely for a long time to occur if taken treatment of effectively.

2. Cherry Wood

Cherry is an additional exclusive hardwood species that appears sophisticated and has numerous reasons. Because of to its exceptional workability, toughness, and longevity, it is utilised for making home furniture, cabinets, flooring, doors, paneling, carvings, and molding. Various Cherry types vary in colours, from gentle-pink tones to brown-purple shares with golden hues. It has a fantastic shock, rot, and decay resistance.

Cherry wooden can be harmed by sunlight, and it will modify its colour when exposed to too much daylight. It is also not as h2o-resistant as some other hardwoods, so it is best to use it for the inside. This beautiful hardwood species demands much more routine maintenance than other folks due to the fact it speedily collects dust and dirt.

3. Rosewood

Rosewood is a tough hardwood that comes in different versions and has a whole lot of excellent characteristics. Rosewood is difficult, dense, and delivers very good security. It’s typically used to make furniture, musical instruments, cabinetry, flooring, and paneling. Rosewood is effortless to perform with and has medium shock resistance. It’s excellent for improving your residence with its stunning prosperous colour. This wood variety can be costly, however, particularly Brazilian Rosewood because it is a exceptional hardwood species.

4. Walnut Wood

Walnut is an cost-effective hardwood that will come in many special shades. It will get lighter with age, attaining a beautiful golden/honey shade. Folks mainly use Walnut for flooring, furnishings, cabinets, and carvings. It’s decay-resistant, but it is susceptible to insect attacks. Walnut wood is straight to irregular grained and can at times have a curly or wavy composition that boosts its search. Whilst working with Walnut, you might perception a delicate odor from the wood. Thanks to its attraction and affordable price tag, numerous men and women choose Walnut wood for their initiatives and renovations.

5. Maple Wood

Maple is a properly-acknowledged hardwood with extraordinary toughness. Like other hardwoods, it has diverse species, but the one particular that stands out most is Tough Maple (Sugar Maple). That is the most sturdy Maple species, so individuals go for it because of its beautiful seems and simple power.

Maple is simple to function with, although softer kinds are much more workable than difficult Maple. Men and women use it for development, furniture, musical instruments, toys, and carving. Maple wooden can cause allergic reactions and skin discomfort, however, so consider that if you have well being problems.

6. Mahogany Wood

Mahogany is a fascinating hardwood with a unique look because of to its deep pink or reddish/brown color. This wood species is not inclined to warping and bending, and it is really dense, making it excellent for cabinetry, decking, flooring, home furniture, musical devices, and veneers. Mahogany is rot and decay-resistant as properly as drinking water-resistant. It’s resilient but still simple to function with, creating it wonderful for a variety of tasks and construction. Mahogany does adjust colour when uncovered to sunlight and can be difficult to uncover thanks to the substantial demand from customers.

7. Ash Wood

Ash is an superb hardwood species that is sturdy and has a substantial-quality feeling. It is very robust and not susceptible to scratches and dents. It is a hardwood species with a score of 1320 on the Janka scale, but it is light-weight, no matter of its hardness. Ash is also shock-resistant, and because of to its very good workability and organic charm, people use it for household furniture, cabinetry, doors, and flooring. Other issues like sports activities products and resource handles are also created from Ash wooden.

8. Hickory Wood

Hickory is a hardwood indigenous to the United states of america. It’s the strongest, stiffest, and hardest domestic species in the US. This beautiful hardwood species is a popular option for flooring, cabinetry, and household furniture. Thanks to its wonderful longevity, Hickory is also utilised to produce wood ladders, device handles, and sports items. It is also shock-resistant.  The downside of this hardwood is that it’s rather difficult to work with, so it demands extra endurance and caution.

9. Beech Wood

Beech is an intriguing species of hardwood that can be discovered in a lot of elements of the world. Several people go for this wood type because of to its good workability and various makes use of. It is very best to use Beech indoors since it cannot bear intense temperature and moisture. You can use Beech Wooden for flooring, home furniture, and doorway development, but it’s fantastic for anything meat, vegetable, or ham cigarette smoking. It’s a sustainable species that will assist make your house much more eco-helpful.

10. Elm Wood

Elm is not a resilient hardwood species. Nevertheless, household furniture manufactured of Elm tends to be very robust and substantial-high quality. Elm is yet another species that you shouldn’t use outdoors, and you must only incorporate it in interior layout. That is due to the fact it’s not h2o-resistant and reacts to dampness. You can make home furniture, carvings, paneling, parquet flooring, and stairs out of this wooden variety. Considering that it is lightweight, there are also other Elm makes use of like creating containers, device handles, and paper generation.

11. Teak Wood

Teak is renowned for its color and toughness. It is water, termite, and decay-resistant, so both indoor and outdoor usage is suitable. It is not way too tough to perform with Teak wooden, so many woodworkers pick it for their projects. You can make Teak household furniture, decking, build boats, or use it to make Plywood. It’s high-priced in comparison to some other hardwoods, but it is much more practical since it will come in big dimensions.

12. Balau Wood

Balau is a hardwood indigenous to Malaysia, recognized for its density. Its primary utilization is in hefty building, but it’s hard to function with because it’s quite dense. Individuals also use it for decking, flooring, boat creating, and furniture. Balau is used worldwide and numerous folks go for it thanks to the reasonably priced value. It is quite resilient lumber which is drinking water-resistant but not insect and decay-resistant. If taken treatment of properly, something manufactured from Balau will very last you for a life span.

13. Poplar Wood

If you’re seeking for a hardwood which is effortless to function with, you need to attempt employing Poplar. It’s a species used primarily for home furniture and woodworking projects, but you can also use it for cabinetry, doorways, and light building. It is a strong wood, but it’s softer in contrast to some other hardwood alternatives. That’s why you need to select suitable finishes that will make the wood a lot more durable. It demands a moisture-totally free setting simply because it can be effortlessly broken by h2o.

14. Alder Wood

Alder is a flexible hardwood with a unique appearance. Its common use is in cabinetry, moldings, doorways, paneling, and home furniture. It is light-weight and simple to perform with, so it’s a fantastic alternative for Do-it-yourself assignments. This is another hardwood that is really soft but not prone to cracking and warping. Alder is an additional inexpensive wooden variety, and it’s amongst the most eco-pleasant hardwoods. It’s not water-resistant, and it is not 1 of the most sturdy options on the market place, though.

15. Pecan Wood

Pecan is a hardwood that belongs to the hickory household. It’s a rigid and challenging species, which tends to make it hard to operate with. Pecan’s use is to make cabinetry, flooring, and household furniture. It can also be utilized as firewood or for smoking meat and other foodstuff. It is not a tough wooden, but the floors and home furniture manufactured out of it tend to be of excellent good quality. Pecan is hard to stain, so you are going to need to have to adhere to its all-natural shades.

16.  Birch Wood

Birch is another hardwood species that is widespread and has various employs and needs. It’s tough, so individuals use it broadly for furnishings and flooring. Birch has an attractive visual appeal due to its straight grain and good texture. It is decay-resistant, lightweight, and inexpensive, which can make it extremely well-known. Still, it can crack and warp simply, and it’s pricey compared to other hardwood kinds.  It’s also not insect-resistant, so it is greatest to use it indoors only.

Which hardwood is the most popular for flooring?

Oak is the most well-known hardwood for flooring. Men and women change to it owing to its lovely appearance and aesthetic attraction plus its toughness and lengthy-lasting mother nature. Oak serves a beneficial purpose in flooring due to the fact it’s dense and not vulnerable to scratching and hurt, generating it practical, especially for families with pets or youngsters.

Soon after Oak, the two runners-up are Maple and Cherry, which are also quite well-known for flooring. If you choose to put in new flooring, always examine all the floor functions you did or did not like. Make a careful choice since they can provide rewards or a bunch of troubles if not properly selected.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are various hardwoods on the market. They all have distinct attributes, and every one particular is exclusive in its own way. It is always ideal to think about all professionals and negatives before determining which wooden kind you will use. There is one thing for everyone’s price range, so just evaluate your needs and needs, and pick the hardwood for your unique undertaking.

Featured Picture Credit: Gorlov-KV, Shutterstock