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My question is aren't they supposed to be strong or hard? I mean, my 18 month old drops his sippee cup from his high chair and it leaves dings in the wood. There are several dings around where is high chair sits and next to the fridge.
Is that normal? Is there some sort of top coat that we should put on to protect the floor?
We recently moved. The new house has a hickory hard wood floor. I've never had hardwood floors before, so I don't know much about them. Any help/advice would be great. Thanks!
Well....sort of.....
Hardwoods are actually rated on what is called the Janka scale. It's simply a number that rates the hardness of all varieties of most hardwoods:
Flooring Species - Hardness
North American Cherry 950
North American Walnut -1010
Carbonized/Caramel Bamboo - 1010
True Teak - 1155
Iroko/Kambala - 1260
Yellow Birch - 1260
Red Oak - 1260
Beech - 1300
Ash - 1320
Amendoim - 1340
White Oak - 1360
Australian Cypress - 1375
Royal Mahogany - 1400
Caribbean Walnut - 1400
Natural Bamboo- 1410-
North American Maple - 1450
Brazilian Maple - 1500
Timborana - 1570
Kempas - 1710
Padauk, African - 1725
Doussie - 1770
Hickory - 1820
Pecan - 1820
Jarrah - 1910
Merbau - 1925
Tigerwood - 2160
Santos Mahogany - 2200
Caribbean Rosewood - 2300
Chestnut, Southern - 2670
Tiete Rosewood(Guibourtia) - 2800
Brazilian Cherry(Jatoba) - 2820
Brazilian Teak(Cumaru) - 3540
Tiete Chestnut - 3540
Brazilian Walnut(Ipe) - 3680
The higher the number, the harder the wood. In this case, hardness actually is measured by impact/pressure resistance. Red Oak is the most commonly used hardwood and measures around 1260 - 1290. (Test results vary a bit, but not much) Hickory comes out at around 1800 - 1840, so it's harder than red oak.
If the floor in your new house was installed as raw hickory, then sanded and finished, it was probably coated with a urethane finish (2-4 coats), and can be buffed and re-coated about every two - three years. If it is a prefinished product, it was probably coated in the mill with a urethane that is infused with aluminum oxide, which is harder than the urethane alone. That finish should last a minimum of ten years.
All of the above info is based on a standard 3/4" thick solid hardwood floor. If your new floor is an engineered hardwood, the hardness ratings will adjust downward some.
All that being said, hickory is a pretty hard, and should give you no issues under normal conditions.
CAVEAT: If your or your friends wear spike heels on the hardwood floors, all bets are off. Spike heels damage more floors than anything else.
Regards,
Streamer1212
Last edited by Streamer1212; 02-16-2010 at 12:50 PM..
Whow!!! Streamer you starting to give answers like I do. I know all the wood species by heart and their degree of hardness but long story short, Hickory is the second hardest wood next to Walnut. If a kids cup put a dent in this floor then it is either not Hickory or it is a fake imitation Hickory like that junk Pergo garbage.
Are these dings, like indents or just scratches? Cherry is a very soft wood and can dent easily. Did some one tell you you have Hickory or are you guessing
A clear coat really does not give any additional anti dent strength. Something else is going on. There seems to be more to this story.
Thanks for the responses. We found out who installed the wood floors and called them. They looked it up and told us that it "rustic walnut". So unfortunately it is pretty soft. But still a child dropping his cup can ding it?
The installer is going to come over and take a look at it.
If the floors are engineered, then they will usually only be as strong as the core layers, which is usually poplar for American made floors or Chinese imports could be balsa wood core layer, so it would be very soft. The Janka scale is only relevant when dealing with solid hardwood.
Whow!!! Streamer you starting to give answers like I do. I know all the wood species by heart and their degree of hardness but long story short, Hickory is the second hardest wood next to Walnut. If a kids cup put a dent in this floor then it is either not Hickory or it is a fake imitation Hickory like that junk Pergo garbage.
Are these dings, like indents or just scratches? Cherry is a very soft wood and can dent easily. Did some one tell you you have Hickory or are you guessing
A clear coat really does not give any additional anti dent strength. Something else is going on. There seems to be more to this story.
Ha! I read this and went up to see who wrote that detailed response. I was sure it was you!
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