Bay Laurel (also known as Myrtlewood) is a hard and uniquely colored wood. It is quite stable, and as hard as Red Oak. Color ranges to a deep yellow and often contains some gray staining. It is little known outside its region (Oregon and California).

All the Big Leaf Maple flooring we run comes from mills that are part of the “Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities Partnership,” an organization of wood manufacturers, rural leaders, and community groups dedicated to forest restoration and community vitality.

Our wide-width, extra Dry Canyon grade in bay Laurel includes all sizes of sound knots, open holes up to 1” in diameter, some splits, cracks, all variations of color, along with other character marks. Lengths of planks vary from 3’ to 10-12’. This floor will have a rustic look with a lot of grain variation.

Bay Laurel is also available in Madera grade in widths 7” and under. This grade will contain color variation, numerous knots (both sound and open) up to 2” in diameter, holes up to ½” in diameter, some cracks, along with other occasional character marks. Lengths of planks vary from 1’ to 10’, with an average of about 5’.

Big Leaf Maple is a Western U.S. species that has been prized for fine furniture. It is quite stable and medium hardness (similar to Cherry). The unique thing about this species is its tendency towards interesting grain pattern, including some burl, fiddle back, and other figure. Our Big Leaf Maple is selected from older logs which will generally be rich in color.

All the Big Leaf Maple flooring we run comes from mills that are part of the “Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities Partnership,” an organization of wood manufacturers, rural leaders, and community groups dedicated to forest restoration and community vitality.

Our wide-width, extra dry, Dry Canyon grade in Big Leaf Maple includes all sizes of sound knots, open holes up to 1” in diameter, some splits, cracks, all variations of color, along with other character marks. Lengths of planks vary from 3’ to 10-12’. This floor will have a rustic look with a lot of grain variation.

Big Leaf Maple is also available in Madera grade in widths 7” and under. This grade will contain color variation, numerous knots (both sound and open) up to 2” in diameter, holes up to ½” in diameter, some cracks, along with other occasional character marks. Lengths of planks vary from 1’ to 10’, with an average of about 5’.

Walnut hardwood flooring is a good choice for a dark wood flooring.

Maple Hardwood Floor with Natural Finish

Maple is harder then red oak.

Variations in the grade of hickory hardwood flooring can result in significantly different looking floors. The degree of color variation, from quite white to a reddish brown, and the amount of natural character marks like knots and sap pockets can make the flooring look extremely rustic or quite refined.

When selecting your hickory floor, it is essential that you meet with a professional to understand the grade you are buying. All hickory floors are beautiful but not necessarily perfect for your decorating agenda.

This is partly due to the fact that hickory flooring is somewhat of a mixture of woods, 4 types of “true hickory” and one “pecan hickory”, each species with different degrees of color variation and degree of natural defects.

Flooring Grades:
Hickory hardwood flooring typically comes in a “select” or “select and better” grade with limited knots but can or can not have a lot of color variation depending on the source of the wood and the manufacturer. Some creative flooring manufacturers use the phrase “calico” flooring to demonstrate the variance in color.

Country or Rustic grades are also available, some with added “distress” marks created by the manufacturer and natural worm holes etc. offered up by nature, but you can always guarantee lots of color variation with this species of wood.

Janka Rating: 1820
Hickory hardwood flooring with a Janka rating of 1820 is the hardest Canadian wood species and second hardest in the United States (behind mesquite flooring). In terms of durability, hickory will withstand much of life’s abuse, where other floors will wilt.

Many consumers are familiar red oak flooring. It has been the mainstay in the hardwood industry for a hundred years. The Janka hardness rating is only 1290 for northern red oak, so you can see that hickory represents almost a 50% increase in density over the more common cousin. The higher the number the denser the wood.