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Common Commercial Woods Usage and Characteristics

Ash is widely used in furniture-making and as flooring. It has a straight grain and fairly coarse texture and is tough enough for all-purpose use. The paler shades of cream and biscuit are moset typical, but some varieties are darker. Durability: elastic, hard, excellent shock resistance. Workability: Sawing; Good Nailing; Good holding; good resistance to splitting sanding. Color change: medium changes to tans.

Bamboo is strictly speaking a woody grass, not a true wood, but it is finding fafour as a good alternative to hardwood. The plant is the fastest growing in the world and the canes are sufficiently woody and hard to be harvested after only five years. Bamboo boards are made of layers of bamboo strips, laminated under high pressure. Flat-pressing produces boards with a nodular pattern; side-pressing produces boards with a narrower stripping of canes. Bamboo flooring is stronger than oak, maple or beech hardwood flooring, and is very stable. Bamboo panels are also available as wall cladding.

Australian Jarrah is a hard, durable wood with a color that ranges from light red to dark red. This color variation tends to diminish as Jarrah ages to a deep burgundy color. The grain of Jarrah is usually straight, but can be interlocked or wavy. Frequent black streaks and flecks occur in the red heartwood and add to Jarrah's decorative appeal. A standard in fine homes "down under", Jarrah makes a rich, refined statement in flooring. As the timber ages it gets harder. It is almost impossible to drive a nail into old jarrah beams without pre-drilling.

Beech is a popular wood in contemporary design, both for furniture, worksurface and flooring. Warm and light in color, it is very durable and can be even stronger than oak when it is dried under pressure. Durability: elastic, hard; excellent shock resistance. Wears wells, stays smooth when subjected to friction - popular for factory floors. Workability: Sawing: good with machine tools, difficult to work with hand tools. Nailing: good holding ability has tendency to split.

Birch is not particularly strong, and is commonly used as a facing for plywood. It is pale and fine-grained. Grain: medium figuring, straight, closed grain, even textured, occasional curly grain or wavy figure in some boards.

Cedar of Lebanon is an aromatic softwood with a mellow reddish color and a resistance to pests. Because it acts as a natural moth-repellent, it has commonly been used to make drawer linings, linen cupboards and chests. Commercial cedar, which derives from another type of confier, is widely used to make shingles and panelling.

Types of wood: 1-European Oak, 2-brown oak, 3-American red oak, 4-padouk, 5-British Columbian pine, 6-Baltic pine, 7-plane lacewood veneer

Brazilian Cherry (Jatoba), when first milled is a tan/salmon color w/black striping, which turns a rich deep red color over time. This species is the most popular imported species given its inherent beauty, rich coloring and superior hardness. Color Range: Brazilian Cherry varies from yellowish hues to pink/reds to dark reds with black striping. Quartered selection yields the most uniform look/color range. Water based finishes tend to retard the color change while oil based finishes enhance it. Color Change: Over time the colors change to dark red-brown burgundy.

Cherry has a fine grain and rich, rosy color. It is often used as a flooring material or to make a contersting border. Color Changes: Dramatic change to darker reds and brown.

Chestnut is a strong, durable wood available in a number of different varieties.

Ebony is one of the hardest of all hardwoods. It is characteristically very dense, fine-grained, and near-black in color.

Elm is generally a very strong timber, with a grain that varies form straight to wavy. Colors vary enormously, from creams to rich greenish or purplish browns.

Types of wood: 1-European walnut, 2-African walnut, 3-American walnut, 4-teak, 5-wenge

Iroko is an African hardwood very similar to in appearace and performance to teak. It is an endangered wood.

Mahogany is a dark, richly colored tropical hardwood that is fine-grined, naturally resistant to woodworm, strong and easy to carve. Mahogany is in demand for flooring, decorative uses, and to make interior features such as doors. It is an endangered wood.

Maple is a near-whit wood. It is exceptionally durable, resistant to wear and is often used as a flooring material in havy-traffic areas, such as scools and museums.

Oak is very hard, durable and long-lasting. Its grain is rather open and coarse; with time and weathering, it mellows from pale or mid-brown to a velvety grey. Varieties include English, French and American oak.

Pine, a generic term for many types of softwood, is pale in tone, acquiring a characteristically honey color when sealed. Widely used in construction, it is one of the most economic types of wood.

Teak is a very durable tropical tropical hardwood with a high degree of weather resistance. Uses include flooring, decking and garden furniture. It is an endangered wood.

Walnut is a wood of immense beauty, traditionally highly valued for its rich color and wavy grain. It is not particularly strong, however, and is prey to woodworm. In the past, walnut was most commonly used for furniture making. American walnut is often used as flooring.

Wenge isi a dark African hardwood, now often assiciated with fusion styles of ecoration.

Exotic woods include karri, wandu, jarrah, merbau, sucupiara, panga, padouk, moera, mutenye, lapacho, incienso and jatoba. Many of these species are strikingly colored and grained. Exotic Hardwoods — Exotic & Imported Wood Flooring products are becoming more and more popular as consumers search for a wood floor product that is a cut above the rest, making a statement about their taste and lifestyle. These products are the World's most treasured and beautiful woods used in wood flooring, stairs and custom moldings. Most of these Exotic Hardwood products, originate in South America, Australia, the Far East and Africa. These exotic wood floor species come in a variety of grains, grades, sizes and colors. Exotic Wood Floors can be used with any decor. From rustic country, to dazzling contemporary, making even the most traditional interiors well suited for these exotics. These products are fast becoming the latest and "hottest" trend in wood flooring. Exotic hardwoods offer unique wood graining and colorations. Most exotic floors are available in engineered wood construction but some are available in solid hardwood planks as well.