What is Special About Maple As A Species?
Frequently we get asked, “what is the best flooring to buy?” What a doozy of a question! When considering your best flooring option, qualities like hardness, price, and quality come into play. And sometimes, you want all of that, and more! Maple can be a great option for you!
A Maple hardwood floor offers a unique look that appeals to a wide section of today's consumers.
Maple offers a different look than any other floor. Want a solid colored floor, without grain lines? No Problem. Want contemporary looks? Check. Do you want a rustic look, with varying shades of warm colors? Consider it done!
Oh, but you want those at a great value?! ReallyCheapFloors.com can do that! With Maple’s help, of course.
What is Maple?
Ok, enough hyperbole. Most maple used in flooring, at least for US manufacturers, is Hard Maple. Hard Maple will Janka at 1,450, which makes it one of the few domestic species that is harder than Red or White Oak. Bet you didn’t know that! There are exceptions, namely hand-scraped flooring, which utilizes a softer Red Maples, or imported flooring, which are really not made from Maple at all, but a much softer species called Siberian Larch.
Hard Maples have many uses, including basketball courts, bowling alleys, cutting boards, and musical instruments. Part of the reason is that it is easy to work with. Easy because it cuts well and maintains its visual well. There is no chipping due to grain tear.
Most of the Maple wood flooring that is installed today is unfinished. After installation the flooring is sanded and finished with polyurethane. Would you like to guess what the most common commercial use is for this particular type of floor? Basketball courts!
Because of the consistent color, straight grain, and durability, Maple is a wonderful option for sport and commercial projects everywhere.
Maples are also in high demand in the engineered floors. Perfect for installation over concrete slabs, an prefinished engineered plank can be walked on the same day as installed.
Maple Wood Flooring vs. Oak Wood Flooring
Maple, unlike Oak, typically will yield a higher percentage of high-grade lumber. Part of this is due to its lack of knots, as well as less variation in color. If you want to learn more about oak flooring read our blog about oak hardwood flooring. Maple shows a softer grain pattern joined with a generally brighter color, while offering a more contemporary look than oak. Oak offers a heavier grain and is used in heritage homes and restorations.
The consistent color found in Maples, it is often the species of choice for cabinets and millwork, especially in more contemporary applications. If you are looking for dramatic visuals or darker tones oak hardwood may be the right fit for you.
Different Grades of Maple Flooring
To get a holistic view of hardwood’s different grading categories, visit our Hardwood 101 Page about hardwood grades. Lest we forget, Maple flooring can also be a choice for Rustic applications. In the picture below you see our Kennedale from Bruce Hardwood Flooring.. This floor is made using the Select and Better lumber that Bruce mills in their own lumber mills. In this product, you see that there is very little variation in color. This product is used in both contemporary and traditional decor. Because of the small amount of contrast other parts of the decor can make bold statements.
Bruce Kennedale Maple Wood Flooring Collection
In the picture below you see our Kennedale from Bruce Flooring in the Natural finish. This floor is made using the Select and Better lumber that Bruce mills in their own wood mills. In this flooring product, you see that there is very little variation in color. This product is used in both contemporary and traditional decor. Because of the small amount of contrast other parts of the decor can make bold statements.
Not 1 or 2, but 4 Widths of Maple Available!
The Kennedale is offered in 4 different widths-2 1/4, 3 1/4, 4 and 5 inch wide. In the photo below you see the 5" plank in Cherry finish. Maples have always been a popular choice to be finished in a Cherry stain because it is so much harder than Cherry hardwood but has a very similar grain pattern. And while Maple flooring is not the most economical wood on the market it is significantly less money than Cherry flooring.
Kennedale Cherry 5"
The next photo show the Kennedale 4" Plank floors in the Cinnamon stain. A warmer example of Maple hardwood flooring than we typically see, this stain color offers an exceptionally constant tone across the entire floor. And it can be purchased in any of the 4 widths.
Kennedale Cinnamon 4"
Next we see the darkest of the Kennedale Maple flooring options, Cappucino. While this stain color is quite a bit darker than the other finish offerings, it is a true brown, and will exhibit a little more character and variation in tone. The photo here shows a 2 1/4" wide strip.
Kennedale Cappucino 2 1/4"
The last Kennedale finish that I would like to share is the Sumatra. It happens to be my favorite. With a neutral tone that refuses to commit to a label as the other finishes do, Sumatra is ready to work with any decor you can throw at it.
These floors are available in Solid widths of 3 ¼”, 4”, and 5”, while engineered versions are offered in 3 ¼” and 5” widths.
Bruce American Home Hickory Hardwood Flooring
Okay, I realize that we are talking about Maple flooring in this blog, but I would be remiss not to mention the best-selling type of flooring we have, American Home. Another first quality product made by Bruce in their Beverly, West Virginia plant, this solid Hickory floor is available in 2 widths and 2 finishes. Hickory and Maple flooring have much in common. Both are extremely hard and durable types. And both will exhibit much straighter grain patterns than the more common Red Oak and White Oak. Where Maple and Hickory flooring are different is the appearance of the most common grade, Standard and Better. In a Standard grade, Maples will offer a consistent color with little contrast.
Hickory, on the other hand, will show a great deal of character, regardless of the grade. This is due to the difference in tone between the light-colored heartwood and the darker (and less predictable) sapwood. In the higher grades the difference in tone is muted, but always there, while the lower graded Cabin floors will exhibit wild displays of color from a creamy white to black. What a display of color!
Our American Home Collection utilizes the #1 Common grade of lumber to offer a great mix of contrasting colors, long boards, and Bruce quality construction, underneath a polyurethane and aluminum oxide finish. The Country Natural, shown below in the 3 1/4" plank, features a satin finish. It is also available in the 2 1/4" wide strip.
American Home 3 1/4 Country Natural
Next we will have a look at the stained option, the American Home in the Hickory Saddle. This low-gloss offering is available in both the 2 1/4 strip and the 3 1/4 inch wide plank. With it's muted brown tones it is made to go anywhere.
American Home 2 1/4 Saddle
And the best part about the American Home Collection? Price, baby! We are currently offering this first quality solid Hickory floor in the strip for $2.49, while the 3 1/4 plank sells at $2.99. I daresay there is not another outlet in the nation that can offer this deal.
Happy To Answer Any Maple Questions
If you have any questions about any of our Maple floors, regardless of grade, or if you would like to receive a free sample, please, pick up the phone or drop us an email. Our salespeople are all trained professionals. I wonder sometimes. We would love to help you find the flooring solution that makes you happy not just with the price, but with the performance for years to come.
Please shop us for prices on any of the domestic species of hardwood like Walnut, Cherry, Red Oak, Hickory, and White Oak. We should be competitive on prefinished engineered and solid, as well as unfinished solid. Sometimes we will have good options for Brazilian Teak, Brazilian Walnut, Tigerwood, and Mahogany as well, either in prefinished engineered or unfinished. Additionally, we have waterproof flooring options as well.
