Product Spotlight

Hardwood?

You have a need for a hardwood edge on a counter or for a specific piece of trim. What are you really asking for and does it matter to you which hardwood is used? Before you answer, it is important to know what really a hardwood is.

Hardwood trees are angiosperms, trees that have broad leaves that produce seeds with some sort of covering. This might be a fruit, such as an apple, or a hard shell, such as an acorn, and generally go dormant in the winter. There are hundreds of hardwood species in the United States such as oak, maple, or walnut. Together they represent 40 percent of the trees in the United States. This is opposite for the rest of the planet where hardwoods make up 60% of the world’s production of lumber. Hardwood is not named because it is hard, nor is it named because it is hard to work with. Most hardwoods tend to be more dense, and therefore sturdier. There are exceptions, such as balsa (a hardwood) demonstrates. There is no minimum weight requirement to be recognized as a hardwood.

Knowing now that the classification of wood as a hardwood does not describe function, you should realize that picking the proper species for the job will create better results rather than just calling for a generic hardwood. Consult CCI Group for advice on this issue as well as all your casework/millwork questions.

James Hodges
CCI Group
Director of Customer Relations and Education
TAWI 2015 president