Why should you choose birch wood for flooring?
Flooring can make a huge difference in your home’s atmosphere and visual appeal. While there are a variety of materials available on the market today, wood flooring remains a top choice for many. It offers the perfect balance between aesthetics and durability, adding depth and creating a warm environment for your home. Of all the hardwood species to choose from, birch wood flooring is one of the most popular. Aside from being strong and durable like other hardwoods, birch wood is unique since no two boards are completely alike. Your floors will each have slight variations to create more dimensions in your floors and prevent them from looking too flat.
So, if you have been thinking about what wood to use for your home, read on to learn more about why birch wood flooring would be a great choice.
What Is Birch Wood?
As its name suggests, birch is a type of wood from the birch tree. It has been used for many generations, dating back to centuries when Native Americans used birch to cover canoe shafts.
As mentioned, flooring is one of the most popular uses of this wood species. Similar to how oak wood has red oak and white oak as popular varieties for flooring, birch wood also has specific sub-species that work well for floors.
These include:
Yellow Birch
The most common type of birch used for flooring is yellow birch. Its sapwood has a creamy yellow color—almost like off-white or pale white, while the heartwood has a brown color with some hints of red.
Sweet Birch
If you prefer a darker or richer color for your floors, you can opt for sweet birch instead. It is sometimes also called red birch since it has light brown sapwood with dark reddish-brown heartwood. Sweet birch is also harder than yellow birch, making it suitable for heavier foot traffic areas.
Paper Birch
Paper or silver birch is another variant used in flooring, though it is not as popular as yellow and sweet birch. It is the softest of the three and has the lightest color, with almost-white sapwood and light reddish-brown heartwood.
Why Choose Birch Wood for Flooring?
Birch is a popular choice for solid hardwood flooring for many reasons, including:
Durability
While birch wood is slightly softer than oak wood, it still makes for a strong and durable wood flooring option. It is harder than maple and has Janka ratings ranging from 910 to 1470, with paper birch at 910, yellow birch at 1260, and sweet birch at 1470. This means that the wood can overall withstand medium to heavy traffic.
Another great characteristic of birch is its natural resiliency. It is resistant to dents and scratches and does not splinter or shatter as easily as other woods. This is particularly important for hardwood floors, since you naturally want to invest in something that holds up to wear and tear and remains sturdy.
Visual Appeal
It should be no surprise that birch offers plenty of aesthetic benefits, providing warmth and a rustic look to your home. In addition, this wood species has a neutral color, which helps brighten up any space and balances out cool tones to make your place look cozier. It also allows your furniture to be the main highlight, with the floors acting as a backdrop.
Aside from this, one of the unique things about birch is its color. Generally, the wood exhibits a vibrant color variation due to the lighter sapwood and darker heartwood. This creates a beautiful contrast that stands out from other wood options and makes your floors more eye-catching and striking.
Workability
Birch is already beautiful on its own, but if you want to enhance its look, the good news is that the wood is easy to work with using machinery. Since it has a dense and tightly packed grain, it has a uniform surface that responds well to paints, stains, polishes, and lacquers. Sweet birch holds dark stains particularly well, so you can use this if you prefer darker floors.
Similarly, birch is easy to nail down since the wood grips the nail effectively, allowing a level floor. This tends to concern wood flooring, since nails often get uprooted when water and moisture enter them. However, you will not need to worry about it when using birch wood since it has a strong and sturdy holding ability.
Value for Money
This is perhaps one of the most attractive things about birch wood flooring. It offers great value for money since it is on the more affordable side compared to other hardwoods.
Considering the quality, durability, and aesthetic you can get from the wood, it certainly makes for a great investment.
Low Environmental Impact
Finally, birch is known to be a more environmentally friendly choice since it grows rapidly and survives even in forests hit by calamities.
To give you a more concrete idea, birch trees take about one-third of the time it takes oak trees to grow. Also, since they produce larger harvests, you can get twice or thrice the amount of material from birch trees in the same timeframe.
Get High-Quality Birch Wood Flooring for Your Home Today
As you can see, birch wood flooring suits just about any home, giving your space a warm and neutral atmosphere. So, if you are looking for high-quality birch for your floors at home, Peninsular Lumber is here to help you!
As a one-stop-shop for lumber, we have all the wood and building materials you need for your project. Visit our lumber company in Tampa Bay and get all the birch wood and materials you need to compete your projects!
