Why is hardwood better than softwood

Conifers grow quickly — a plot could be cleared and regenerated within ten years — and are viewed as more sustainable. Pine, redwood, cypress, douglas fit, cedar, and spruce are examples of conifers. The density and grain of each wood determine their best uses. However, its density is what makes it less than ideal to use in these projects. Driving a nail into a hardwood usually causes it to split, rendering it useless. Instead, you would need to pre-drill a hole to then screw a fasten a piece of hardwood.

This takes great time and care and, often, time is not something that can be wasted in a construction process. Alternatively, softwood is more pliable and forgiving. What types of trees are hardwood and softwood? Stay tuned for Part 2! Do you need whole log lumber? Next Post Hardwood Vs. Softwood: Understanding The Difference, Part 2. Leave a Reply Cancel reply.

There are differences in strength, availability and cost among the types. Though hardwoods come in deeper colors, not all hardwoods are dark. Darker hardwoods include ebony and Brazilian rosewood, which are dark grey or black in color.

Walnut is a darker brown color while mahogany and oak have a warmer brown color. Lighter hardwoods include maple, hickory, birch, and beech. Ash and poplar, meanwhile, are lighter than many softwoods. Pine lumber ranges from nearly white in color to a more yellowish hue whereas cedar has a pinkish-red color.

Redwood, a more exotic softwood, is a deeper red. With their lighter density, softwoods have more pockets of air inside their wood fibers, which allows them to burn more easily.

However, once hardwood gets going, it will burn significantly hotter and longer than softwood. Flooring is a great example to demonstrate the price difference between hardwood and softwood. This cost difference is due mainly to the fact that pine trees grow much more quickly than hardwoods. A pine tree can grow 2 feet or more in a single year while an oak tree will only grow about a foot per year.

Pine trees also can also grow more densely than hardwoods, allowing a lumber company to harvest more softwood lumber per acre than hardwood lumber. This cost difference means softwood is usually the material of choice in situations where funds are limited and either is an option.