What is hardwood and what it means for you

Simply put, hardwood is nothing but wood that has been derived from broad-leaf and deciduous trees, in contrast to softwood that has been derived from conifers or cone-bearing seed plants. Do not confuse it with ‘heartwood’ though- which can be from either softwood or hardwood. As it may already be clear from the name, it is in fact harder than softwood, though there is a very large density range of such woods.

Its uses and applications

Hardwood is one of the most commonly used materials in home construction and renovation. They are employed in everything ranging from tools, boat building to fuels, cooking, barrels and construction. In fact, it is also used in making musical instruments and even in the manufacture of charcoal. Being a slow growing variety, most good quality variants are also quite expensive, which means that you need be aware of the quality of wood that you are buying to avoid being sold a cheap copy in place of the real one.

What makes it such a widely used material in furniture and construction is the fact that it adds to the performance, durability as well as the appearance of the finished product. This has been made possible due to a number of characteristics that is obvious in timbers, including but not limited to its grain and pore size, density, fiber and the growth pattern.

Where can you use hardwood and why should you

One of the most common uses of hardwood is in flooring. Flooring solutions made of this are not only better looking, but also come with a longer life than most other floors made of different materials, and this also adds to the durability and longevity of the floors. It is also easy to clean and maintain, with removing of stains in such floors a matter of just wiping it away. In contest to this, carpets are hard to maintain and their removal and installation is quite a hassle.

It can also be used to make the furniture in your house, which will look better and last even longer than most other materials, no matter how expensive they may be. Hardwood can be used in a range of areas around the house, and it will only act as a good investment for you should you chose to do so. Thus, now with all of that, making the right choice for the materials that you want to put around the house should not be a hard task for you.