Janka Hardness and White Ash
I read a lot about all of the upsides of exotic hardwood flooring and I feel as if they've been pretty well documented. Most of what you've heard about them is true—they're incredibly hard, durable and fantastic looking. And almost all of them are ranked high on the Janka Hardness Scale which is used to measure the hardness of wood. But these can also be true of domestic hardwood flooring as well. I want to look at a popular flooring choice: White Ash.
Using Janka hardness to choose between 2 hardwood species
White ash is great for flooring and it is sought after for several reasons. It is an easy wood to work with and it machines well, sands well and accepts finishes well. It also holds nails well and is resistant to splitting. What you will see a lot of times with exotic flooring is the need to glue the flooring down to avoid splitting from nailing. The wood is shock resistant, durable and used often in high stress applications--such as baseball bats and tool handles.
In terms of its Janka hardness, White Ash is one of the highest ranking domestic woods available. It's also less expensive than most exotic woods as well. You can take a look at some examples of White Ash in the home and look through some more domestic woods here.
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