Building a hutch or putting down wood floor for the living room are two jobs that can be completed with relative ease. The most important question to answer is what type of hardwood lumber you want to use. First you will want to learn a few things about hardwoods. Then you will be able to make an educated decision.

Hardwood is wood that comes from broad leaf trees or two that produce nuts. Walnut, Maple and Cherry trees are the ones that are used mist frequently in North America. The climate in North America is perfect for the trees so they grow in great abundance. Lumber from any of these trees is labeled hardwood.

However, this generic label is somewhat misleading because there are major differences in the types. Industrials groups have worked hard to give rating to various lumbers to help differentiate between them. Different strengths and grades are defined to let consumers know which ones are the hardest and which are soft. Knowing the difference between the grades is extremely important because it should be taken into account when choosing which wood will be used for which applications .

The hardest hardwoods are hickory and Pecan. Hardness is measured by how many pounds if pressure it takes to mar the wood. These two woods require about 1,820 pounds of pressure to mar them.

Aspen soft and it takes only 350 pounds of pressure to mar this wood. Hard maple needs 1450 pounds before it is marred and white oak needs 1360 pounds. This is a good way to gauge which woods would work best for flooring. Since floors must stand up to a lot of traffic and pressure from furniture, the harder one are best for this application.

All wood alters even after it has been turned into furniture or flooring. Hardwoods contract and expand in order to adapt to the environment. Trees are living things and they live on, in a sense even after they are in floor form. Before the lumber is used it is kiln dried to take out as much of the moisture as possible in an attempt to stabilize it. That is why the finished product holds a truer size and shape during manufacturing.

Top manufacturers of lumber are aware of the alterations in the wood. They take that into account when they are manufacturing the wood. This is why you will find certain woods designated for certain purposes. Pay attention to this. Do not choose woods for applications that they will not hold up well under. Windsor plywood is used for sub-flooring and interior wall bases while Drum, Carter, Lowes and Siegel lumber have rough cut lumber for all jobs. Other retailers, like Lumber Liquidators keep lumber for finished flooring applications.