Hardwood Lumber Pillar

Broader applications of hardwood include furniture-making, joinery, and other custom millwork such as custom molding and custom trim. The many uses of hardwood lumber make it an essential part of the timber industry.

What Is Hardwood Lumber?

Hardwood lumber is easily identifiable from softwood lumber because they come from deciduous trees. It means all lumber sourced from trees that lose their leaves annually during fall is hardwood. These trees are also slow growing but come with a much higher density. Thus, they tend to be stronger and more expensive than most softwoods.

Aside from structural use, hardwood is also used for several visual applications due to its attractive colors and grains. They make stunning furniture pieces and flooring. High-quality hardwoods are used as lumber and veneers. Low-quality hardwoods like aspen, on the other hand, are used as oriented strand board (OSB). OSB is lightweight structural wood panels from woodcuts of small logs.

How to Identify Hardwood Lumber

Hardwood species are further categorized into tropical and non-tropical. Tropical hardwoods are found in places like Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Meanwhile, North America, Europe, and Russia, with their northern climates, house non-tropical hardwoods.

Hardwood lumber is identifiable because they are porous wood as opposed to non-porous softwoods. That means that hardwood contains vessels or pores when cut across the grain.

Factory lumber is sold in various lengths, thicknesses, and widths and is further broken down into cuttings based on their grade specifications.

Common Examples of Hardwood Lumber

Hardwood lumber comes from different deciduous tree species. The most common examples of hardwood lumber are the following:

Maple

The lumber from maple trees is one of its prized products secondary to maple syrup. A hard maple tree can reach up to 150 ft tall and is one of the heaviest hardwoods in North America. Many colonial American furniture is made from maple lumber.

Other uses of hard maple are in sports equipment such as bowling pins, baseball bats, and pool cues.

Oak

Oak has more than 60 species found all over the United States. But, the two most common hardwood lumber are red oak and white oak. Perhaps the most useful of hardwoods, oak can be used in many different things, from wall panels, tongue and groove, box beams, floating stair treads, and any custom millwork.

Oak lumber is used in furniture pieces due to its high durability and resistance to insect and fungal attacks. Additionally, oak lumber is used in making wine and whisky barrels due to its tight grains.

Walnut

Another important hardwood in the industry is walnut. Just like oak, there are more than 60 species of walnut across the globe. The most common are Japanese walnut, white walnut, and black walnut. In the US, black walnut is the primary source of lumber and slabs.

Walnut lumber is lighter than oak but still very durable and hard. This hardwood's color differs from one walnut species to another, ranging from creamy white to dark brown. With its spectacular color variations, walnut found its place among furniture and cabinet makers. It is also used for church seats and other altar items. Moreover, it works well for custom millwork and makes a good turn blank when making bowls.

Other hardwoods that make good lumber are ash, box elder, catalpa, cherry, elm, greenheart, hackberry, hickory, and locust. Woods like poplar, pecan, poplar, sassafras, and sycamore are also great wood lumber.

Hardwood vs Softwood

Hardwoods and softwoods are easily identifiable from each other. They also have different characteristics, which make them more applicable in certain situations than others. While you can use both in the same applications, there is a massive difference in strength, durability, and density.

Microscopic Structure

As said earlier, hardwoods have pores. This more complex structure gives them heavier and more distinctive grains than the non-porous softwoods.

Workability

Given the higher density of hardwoods, they may be harder to work with. Hand and machine tools need to be sharp. You may also find it more challenging to finish or treat hardwoods than softwoods.

Wood Strength

The structure of the woods is critical in determining their strength. Since hardwoods have pores and a more condensed structure, they are stronger with greater density.

However, some hardwoods and softwoods are exceptions to this rule. “Soft” hardwoods and “hard” softwoods are terms used to refer to these exceptions. For example, yew is a softwood with a higher density and is harder than the “soft” hardwood American cherry.

Balsa wood is also a hardwood but with a very low density compared to other softwoods at 110-140 kg/m³. Meanwhile, butternut may be a northern hardwood, but it has the same density as western red cedar at 380 kg/m³.

That is why when determining the strength of the wood, it is best to learn their densities rather than simply base it on whether they are hardwoods or softwoods.

Durability

Durability depends on each wood’s specific characteristics. Most hardwoods are stronger and more durable, but some softwoods fare well. Western red cedar, for example, is less dense than other hardwoods, but it has a fantastic ability to withstand external elements even without treatments making it a good choice for outdoor furniture. On the other hand, most hardwoods must be treated to ensure that they stand the test of time and exposure.

Pricing

In general, hardwood lumber is more expensive because they are slow-growing. Softwood trees grow faster and, thus, are easier to source sustainably. However, the final costs of hardwoods and softwoods differ on the species of wood chosen, lumber grades, as well as the size and amount you need. Some rare softwoods may be more expensive than domestic hardwoods.

Sustainability

Responsible logging equates to sustainability. Whether you choose hardwood or softwood, always ask where the lumber was sourced from and how sustainable the process was.

FAQs

Is hardwood better than softwood?

It depends on the woodworking project you are doing. Due to its lesser density, softwood may be easier to work with. It takes in screws and nails without or with very minimal splitting. Hardwoods, however, are great for applications requiring strength, such as posts and beams, stair treads, shelves, and flooring. Some hardwoods are also excellent tone wood for musical instruments.

How expensive are hardwoods?

The cost of hardwoods is dependent on the species it was sourced from, as well as the availability. Rare hardwood lumber with the highest grade will fetch a higher price tag than common and readily available hardwoods.

Where to Buy Hardwood Lumber

Sustainably sourcing hardwood lumber should be the primary consideration. Buy lumber and other timber needs in specialty stores that care for the environment, such as Alderfer Lumber Company Inc.

At Alderfer, we source ours from sustainably-managed forests. They are kiln-dried and stored correctly to minimize warping and cracks. We provide high-quality lumber at reasonable prices to guarantee that all our customers get their dream woodwork for a fair price.

Give us a call to know our current lumber inventory. Due to the quantities changing daily, the lumber listed on our website may not be up to date. Calling or sending us an email with the specifications of the lumber you need gives us more detailed information so we can personally check our on-hand stocks.