Prefinished Flooring – Prefinished Hardwood Flooring

Last week we compared a variety of different exotic and domestic wood species to see how they stacked up. This week we’ll continue the series with a few more wood comparisons to illustrate the differences and similarities between woods found within the US and those imported from without.

The domestic wood this is Ash. The exotic flooring will be Para Rosewood.

Let the games begin.

Ash

Janka Hardness: 1200 lbs

Moduls of Rupture: 15000 PSI

Modulus of Elasticity: 1660 PSI

Density: 770 kg/m3

Tangential Shrinkage: 7.8%

Radial Shrinkage:  4.9%

Para Rosewood

Janka Hardness Rating: 2100 lbs

Modulus of Rupture: 27600 PSI

Modulus of Elasticity: 3200 PSI

Density: 880 kg/m3

Tangential Shrinkage:  3.5%

Radial Shrinkage:  2.7%

Strength and Durability: Mechanically speaking, this week’s round is a no-contest: Para Rosewood outperforms Ash in pretty much every area.  Para Rosewood flooring is nearly 60% harder than Ash hardwood.

Movement in Service: The tangential and radial shrinkage levels of PR are not only low, but they are close together, meaning very little movement in service.

Looks: The reason that Ash could win out in this match up would be due to color; Para Rosewood has a very pronounced red coloration with distinctive brown striping. Ash, like many American domestic species, features a light and dark brown coloring that is far less dramatic than Para Rosewood’s reds and browns. For a more subtle decorative scheme, Ash might be a more reasonable pick.

So there’s the breakdown on these two contenders. Stay tuned next week (or so) for the next installment!