Why hardwood flooring?
Ease of maintenance
Hardwood maintenance is simple. All that you need to do to ensure your hardwood continues to look great, and function well is to sweep daily. From there, you may want to use a manufacturer-approved cleaning product. You should always consult your manufacturer before trying new cleaning materials on your hardwood.
Ecological
Wood floors are a sustainable flooring option. Hardwood is a recyclable and reusable resource and many former hardwood products eventually serve as hardwood floors.
Types of Wood Floors
We offer solid hardwood and engineered hardwood flooring.
Solid Wood Floors
Solid wood flooring is thick hardwood ranging from 3/4" to 5/16. Hardwood is easy to maintain and can be resanded or refinished.
Engineered Wood Floors
Engineered wood floors are real hardwood floors manufactured with wood veneers. With varying grains used throughout, engineered hardwood is less likely to be affected by moisture and humidity. Engineered hardwood floors have a top layer of hardwood that can be sanded and finished. It is not as easy to sand or refinish as solid hardwood.
Brands We Carry
We proudly offer quality hardwood flooring from the brands that you love, like Shaw, Anderson Tuftex, and Mohawk. Shop our impressive selection of hardwood flooring today.
Hardwood Flooring Construction Basics
Solid Hardwood Flooring
Solid hardwood flooring is constructed from a single piece of hardwood. Over time hardwood can be resanded or refinished as needed. Solid hardwood will expand and contract as humidity and temperatures change. Some installers will leave an expansion gap when installing your hardwood for that reason.
Engineered Hardwood Flooring
Engineered flooring is made from 3-5 layers of hardwood. Using a cross-grain installation, the hardwood is brought together using heat. Engineered hardwood is less likely to be affected by humidity for this reason.
Most Hardwood flooring offers two different engineered constructions
Engineered with Hardwood Core
Engineered with High-Density Fiberboard Core
When considering what type of hardwood works best for you, here are a few things to consider:
Consider the location of your hardwood installation.
On Grade – at ground level.
Above Grade – any second level or higher.
Below Grade – any floor below ground level, including basements or sunken living rooms.
Consider your subflooring.
If you need to install over concrete then engineered hardwood would be the best option.
Will the room experience moisture?
If it will, then engineered hardwood is the way to go. Engineered hardwood will expand and contract less than actual hardwood when introduced to temperature variants.
Janka Wood Hardness Rankings
The Janka Hardness Test measures the capacity of a wood to withhold pressure. This is done by measuring the amount of force required to insert a 11.28 millimeter (.444 inches) diameter steel ball half its diameter deep into the wood. Doing so creates a circular indention with an area of 100 square millimeters. These particular data are expressed in pounds-force (lbf), and are side hardness data. This means that the testing was done on the surface of a plank, with the force exerted perpendicular to the grain.
Please note this is just a partial list that contains some of the more popular choices of wood flooring as well as some of the more exotic species that Atlanta Flooring Design Centers carries.
| Wood Flooring Species | Hardness |
| Ipe / Brazilian Walnut / Lapacho | 3684 |
| Cumaru / Brazilian Teak | 3540 |
| Ebony | 3220 |
| Brazilian Redwood / Paraju | 3190 |
| Angelim Pedra | 3040 |
| Bloodwood | 2900 |
| Red Mahogany / Turpentine | 2697 |
| Spotted Gum | 2473 |
| Brazilian Cherry / Jatoba | 2350 |
| Mesquite | 2345 |
| Santos Mahogany / Bocote / Cabreuva | 2200 |
| Pradoo | 2170 |
| Brushbox | 2135 |
| Karri | 2030 |
| Sydney Blue Gum | 2023 |
| Bubinga | 1980 |
| Cameron | 1940 |
| Tallowwood | 1933 |
| Merbau | 1925 |
| Amendoim | 1912 |
| Jarrah | 1910 |
| Purpleheart | 1860 |
| Goncalo Alves / Tigerwood | 1850 |
| Hickory / Pecan / Satinwood | 1820 |
| Afzelia / Doussie | 1810 |
| Bangkirai | 1798 |
| Rosewood | 1780 |
| African Padauk | 1725 |
| Blackwood | 1720 |
| Merbau | 1712 |
| Kempas | 1710 |
| Locust | 1700 |
| Highland Beech | 1686 |
| Wenge / Red Pine | 1630 |
| Tualang | 1624 |
| Zebrawood | 1575 |
| True Pine / Timborana | 1570 |
| Peroba | 1557 |
| Kambala | 1540 |
| Sapele / Sapelli | 1510 |
| Curupixa | 1490 |
| Sweet Birch | 1470 |
| Hard Maple / Sugar Maple | 1450 |
| Coffee Bean | 1390 |
| Natural Bamboo (represents one species) | 1380 |
| Australian Cypress | 1375 |
| White Oak | 1360 |
| Tasmanian Oak | 1350 |
| Ribbon Gum | 1349 |
| Ash (White) | 1320 |
| American Beech | 1300 |
| Red Oak (Northern) | 1290 |
| Carribean Heart Pine | 1280 |
| Yellow Birch | 1260 |
| Movingui | 1230 |
| Heart Pine | 1225 |
| Carbonized Bamboo (represents one species) | 1180 |
| Cocobolo | 1136 |
| Brazilian Eucalyptus / Rose Gum | 1125 |
| Makore | 1100 |
| Boreal | 1023 |
| Black Walnut | 1010 |
| Teak | 1000 |
| Sakura | 995 |
| Black Cherry / Imbuia | 950 |
| Boire | 940 |
| Paper Birch | 910 |
| Cedar | 900 |
| Southern Yellow Pine (Longleaf) | 870 |
| Lacewood / Leopardwood | 840 |
| Parana | 780 |
| Sycamore | 770 |
| Shedua | 710 |
| Southern Yellow Pine (Loblolly and Shortleaf) | 690 |
| Douglas Fir | 660 |
| Larch | 590 |
| Chestnut | 540 |
| Hemlock | 500 |
| White Pine | 420 |
| Basswood | 410 |
| Eastern White Pine |
