Maple is a beautiful floor choice, when you know that this essence is the oldest that has been used for making hardwood flooring. The maple floor is a classic that has stood the test of time. However, there are two main distinct categories of maple wood: hard maple and soft maple wood. The most commonly installed maple floor in homes is hard maple wood, also known as rock maple and sugar maple.
Many species are known to fall into the soft maple category. Also, soft maple is commonly called silver maple. However, a distinct species is known as the Americas hard maple – Acer saccharum. Mainly native to North America, but mostly Canada and the north-eastern United States. With a Janka rating of 1450, the sugar maple floor is harder than the red oak floor, which has a Janka rating of 1290, and the white oak floor, which has a Janka rating of 1360. However, silver maple (acer saccharinum) is a softer wood with a Janka hardness of 950.
Hard maple flooring (commonly called Sugar Maple) is a popular choice mainly because of its light cream color and fine grain. The maple hardwood floor made from the aubier is slightly creamy blonde, while the heartwood has darker reddish-brown tones.
The sugar maple floor offers a linear grain pattern with minimal waves and swirls, which is not as pronounced as oak grain. The sedning of a hard maple floor is finer and more delicate than oak flooring. The maple floor also has much less color variance than the cherry floor.
With a uniform texture and thin and slightly contrasting growth rings, maple floors are the favourites of homeowners who want to combine comfort and beauty. They are very often used on basketball and gymnastics floors also for reasons of hardness, durability and its incredible shock resistance.
Hard maple floors are made in a range of different qualities. Although light cream maple flooring is the most common on the market, you can buy a sugar maple floor with more heartwood features if it suits your style better.
To help you choose the best floor that works best for your home, here’s a look at the different types of hard maple flooring shades that vary depending on the grade of the selected wood:
Select and Best Quality Maple Floor This is the highest quality maple flooring you can buy. With a light beige color, this floor has few color variations, no knots or dark colors of heartwood. These maple floors are very light and soft for the eyes, making it the ideal floor choice for a modern and contemporary design concept due to their minimalist character.
Grade 2 Maple Floor The maple floors in this category look a bit like hickory and have beautiful natural colour variations ranging from cream to dark brown. This maple floor has a fine, linear grain with minimal waves and swirls, with little knot.
Grade 3 Maple Floor The maple floors in this category have the most variations in colour and natural imperfections of the wood. With its many knots, this parquet floor will give you a beautiful country look. They are perfect for a rustic design of your cottage, cabin or farm.