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| Name: | Northern Hard Maple |
| Flooring Trade Name: | Hard Maple |
| Botanical Name: | Acer spp. |
| Lumber Name: | black maple, black sugar maple, hard maple, rock maple, sugar maple, white maple |
| Grows In: | Maple (Acer spp.) contains about 120 species native to Asia [16], North America [13Mexico and Guatemala [1], and the European/Mediterranean region [6], with the rest in Eurasia, Malaysia and northern Africa. The Maples can be separated into two groups based on the ray widths of their microscopic anatomy, the soft maple group and the hard maple group. Species within each group look alike microscopically. |
| Color Range: | The sapwood of the maples is commonly white with a slight reddish-brown tinge; the heartwood is light reddish brown, but sometimes is considerably darker. |
| Color Change | moderate |
| Hardness: | Hard Maple has a Janka hardness rating of 1450 compared to 1260 for Red Oak. |
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Working Properties: The wood turns well, is harder to work than softer woods, and has high nail-holding ability. It stains and polishes well, but is intermediate in gluing.
Durability: Rated as slightly or nonresistant to heartwood decay Preservation: Moderately resistant to penetration with preservatives
Uses: Lumber, distillation, veneer, crossties, paper pulp, flooring, furniture, pallets, boxes and crates, shoe lasts, handles, woodenware, novelties, spools and bobbins, bowling alleys, dance floors, piano frames, bowling pins, cutting blocks, pulpwood and turnery.
Northern Hard Maple is a dense, strong, remarkably hard and supremely durable product. Offering a wide range of uses and color possibilities, Northern Hard Maple is close-grained, hard-fibered, free from slivering and splintering, and polishes well under friction. When given a clear finish its natural beauty stands out. Because wood is a natural product, it is subject to color variations resulting from differing growing conditions. The color of maple heartwood is brownish — the sapwood is much lighter.
Hard maple has an unusual ability to resist pointed pressure without abrasion. It is easily covered with attractive finishes.
Wood flooring is quickly regaining a strong market share in the floor covering industry. More and more homeowners and commercial tenants are turning to the natural beauty of wood for aesthetic and health benefits. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is currently working to regulate indoor air quality. According to their list of poor air quality sources, carpeting, among many other sources inside the home and office, contributes to poor air quality due to its makeup of alcohols, formaldehyde, 4-methylethyl-benzene, 4-phenylcyclohexene, and styrene.
Within the selection of wood floors, consumer preferences are shifting toward lighter colored woods. Northern hard maple is regarded as a premium specie among domestic hardwoods. Northern hard maple is dense, strong, remarkably hard and extremely durable. Its unique character offers a wide range of uses and a natural lighter color that complements all home furnishings from ultra contemporary to country decor. The quality of this premium hardwood begins in the northern forests above the 35th parallel where shorter growing seasons and longer winters produce a densely-grained maple with rich, consistent color and fewer imperfections. |
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