Janka Hardness Ratings
The Janka, or “side,” hardness rating of wood is a relative measurement of its resistance to impact and wear.
Therefore, the rating gives prospective flooring buyers a numerical representation of the wood’s durability. This is
obviously very important for matching flooring material to its intended usage. Higher levels of foot traffic would require a
more durable species and thus one with a higher Janka rating.
The Janka test basically involves measuring the amount of force, in pounds per square inch (psi), required to
embed half the diameter of a 0.444-inch steel ball into the face of a wood sample. Of course, several tests are
performed to find the proper amount of force, and then a series of tests are averaged to determine the rating.
Technically, the average includes samples of tangential (plain-sawn) and radial (quarter-sawn) material.
If you are a do-it-yourselfer, there is another point you need to keep in mind about the hardness of wood. The
harder the wood, the more difficult it will be to saw or nail. Unless you have top-of-the-line equipment and a lot of wood
flooring experience, you may not want to select the species with the highest Janka rating.
To give you a comparison between a popular domestic and a popular exotic hardwood, let’s look at Northern red
oak and Jatoba (aka Brazilian cherry). If you have ever worked with red oak, then you are familiar with how it cuts and
nails. Its Janka rating is 1290. Jatoba, on the other hand, has a Janka rating of 2820 – that’s 119% harder!
If we compare the Northern red oak with Southern yellow pine, we see a different extreme. The short leaf variety of
Southern yellow pine has a Janka rating of 690, making it 47% softer than Northern red oak. Though the pine would be
easier to work with, it does have its drawbacks. Being softer, it will certainly dent much easier and possibly scratch
easier, depending on the finish. All it takes is one step from a shoe with a pebble stuck in the sole, or a step with a
spike high heel, and you have instant floor damage.
Although all of the hardwood products on FastFloors.com have their Janka rating listed, we thought it would be
convenient for our visitors to have a comparative reference. So we put together the following list of the most popular
wood species to help you with your selection.
Species Durability - Janka
Brazilian Walnut 3680
Brazilian Teak 3540
Tiete Rosewood 3280
Rosewood 3170
Lapacho 3060
African Pearwood 2990
Amendoim 2947
Ironwood 2890
Brazilian Cherry 2820
Jatoba 2760
Spotted Gum 2473
Cabreuva 2320
Santos Mahogany 2200
Tiger Wood 2160
Sucupira 2140
Purple Heart 2090
Asian Pine 2048
Pradoo 2040
Sydney Blue 2025
African Rosewood 1980
Pyinkado 1950
Merbau 1925
Jarrah 1910
Hickory 1820
Hickory Pecan 1820
Pecan 1820
Afzelia 1770
Doussie 1770
African Oak 1725
Padauk 1725
Kempas 1710
Brazilian Hickory 1654
Balau 1640
Thatch 1640
African Wenge 1630
Peroba 1600
Timborana 1570
African Sapele 1500
Brazilian Maple 1500
Maple 1450
Australian Cypress 1375
Oak 1360
White Oak 1360
Red Oak 1360
Ash 1320
Beech 1300
African Walnut 1290
Angelique 1290
Birch 1260
Iroko 1260
Kambala 1260
Yellow Birch 1260
Nyatoh 1195
Teak 1155
Tiete Chestnut 1155
Brazilian Eucalyptus 1125
Curupixa 1018
African Cherry 1010
Black Walnut 1010
Walnut 1010
American Cherry 950
Cherry 950
Bangkirai 880
Tauari 880
Pine 870
Elm 830
Larch 800
Mahogany 800
African Cedar 765
Chestnut 540
White Birch 420
Basswood 410
The Janka, or “side,” hardness rating of wood is a relative measurement of its resistance to impact and wear.
Therefore, the rating gives prospective flooring buyers a numerical representation of the wood’s durability. This is
obviously very important for matching flooring material to its intended usage. Higher levels of foot traffic would require a
more durable species and thus one with a higher Janka rating.
The Janka test basically involves measuring the amount of force, in pounds per square inch (psi), required to
embed half the diameter of a 0.444-inch steel ball into the face of a wood sample. Of course, several tests are
performed to find the proper amount of force, and then a series of tests are averaged to determine the rating.
Technically, the average includes samples of tangential (plain-sawn) and radial (quarter-sawn) material.
If you are a do-it-yourselfer, there is another point you need to keep in mind about the hardness of wood. The
harder the wood, the more difficult it will be to saw or nail. Unless you have top-of-the-line equipment and a lot of wood
flooring experience, you may not want to select the species with the highest Janka rating.
To give you a comparison between a popular domestic and a popular exotic hardwood, let’s look at Northern red
oak and Jatoba (aka Brazilian cherry). If you have ever worked with red oak, then you are familiar with how it cuts and
nails. Its Janka rating is 1290. Jatoba, on the other hand, has a Janka rating of 2820 – that’s 119% harder!
If we compare the Northern red oak with Southern yellow pine, we see a different extreme. The short leaf variety of
Southern yellow pine has a Janka rating of 690, making it 47% softer than Northern red oak. Though the pine would be
easier to work with, it does have its drawbacks. Being softer, it will certainly dent much easier and possibly scratch
easier, depending on the finish. All it takes is one step from a shoe with a pebble stuck in the sole, or a step with a
spike high heel, and you have instant floor damage.
Although all of the hardwood products on FastFloors.com have their Janka rating listed, we thought it would be
convenient for our visitors to have a comparative reference. So we put together the following list of the most popular
wood species to help you with your selection.
Species Durability - Janka
Brazilian Walnut 3680
Brazilian Teak 3540
Tiete Rosewood 3280
Rosewood 3170
Lapacho 3060
African Pearwood 2990
Amendoim 2947
Ironwood 2890
Brazilian Cherry 2820
Jatoba 2760
Spotted Gum 2473
Cabreuva 2320
Santos Mahogany 2200
Tiger Wood 2160
Sucupira 2140
Purple Heart 2090
Asian Pine 2048
Pradoo 2040
Sydney Blue 2025
African Rosewood 1980
Pyinkado 1950
Merbau 1925
Jarrah 1910
Hickory 1820
Hickory Pecan 1820
Pecan 1820
Afzelia 1770
Doussie 1770
African Oak 1725
Padauk 1725
Kempas 1710
Brazilian Hickory 1654
Balau 1640
Thatch 1640
African Wenge 1630
Peroba 1600
Timborana 1570
African Sapele 1500
Brazilian Maple 1500
Maple 1450
Australian Cypress 1375
Oak 1360
White Oak 1360
Red Oak 1360
Ash 1320
Beech 1300
African Walnut 1290
Angelique 1290
Birch 1260
Iroko 1260
Kambala 1260
Yellow Birch 1260
Nyatoh 1195
Teak 1155
Tiete Chestnut 1155
Brazilian Eucalyptus 1125
Curupixa 1018
African Cherry 1010
Black Walnut 1010
Walnut 1010
American Cherry 950
Cherry 950
Bangkirai 880
Tauari 880
Pine 870
Elm 830
Larch 800
Mahogany 800
African Cedar 765
Chestnut 540
White Birch 420
Basswood 410
