The Janka Hardness Test

There are over 60,000 species of trees in the world, and determining which one is going to make the perfect floor for your space can be tricky.

In its most simple terms, the Janka Hardness Test is seeing how much effort it takes to push a steel ball into a piece of wood.  Once the .44” ball is half of its diameter deep – the measurement of the force used to reach said depth is taken and written down.  After some repetition and testing from different sides, the average of all the tests becomes the wood’s Janka Rating.

The hardest wood on Earth is Australian Buloke with a Janka rating of 5,060.  This means it took 5060 pounds of force on that steel ball to press it into the wood.  By comparison, the softest wood (Cuipo) clocked in with a mere 22.

For hardwood floors, the industry median is set at about 1290 on the Janka scale. This happens to correspond to Northern Red Oak.  There is an abundance of wood species options on either side of that standard from which you can choose your floor.  Understanding the day-to-day activity that will take place on your floor will help you make the best choice for your space.

There are over 60,000 species of trees in the world, and determining which one is going to make the perfect floor for your space can be tricky.

In its most simple terms, the Janka Hardness Test is seeing how much effort it takes to push a steel ball into a piece of wood.  Once the .44” ball is half of its diameter deep – the measurement of the force used to reach said depth is taken and written down.  After some repetition and testing from different sides, the average of all the tests becomes the wood’s Janka Rating.

The hardest wood on Earth is Australian Buloke with a Janka rating of 5,060.  This means it took 5060 pounds of force on that steel ball to press it into the wood.  By comparison, the softest wood (Cuipo) clocked in with a mere 22.

For hardwood floors, the industry median is set at about 1290 on the Janka scale. This happens to correspond to Northern Red Oak.  There is an abundance of wood species options on either side of that standard from which you can choose your floor.  Understanding the day-to-day activity that will take place on your floor will help you make the best choice for your space.