Maple flooring

How is maple different from oak?

Maple has a fine, tight grain with little visible figure, so it looks smoother and more uniform than oak. Hard maple, the species most associated with maple floors, rates harder than both red and white oak on the Janka scale, which is why it is used for basketball courts. Some products use other maple species, so check each one. The trade-off is that maple's smooth surface shows scratches more readily than oak's open grain.

Narrow strip or wider plank?

Narrow 3.25 and 3.5 inch maple has a classic, gym-floor crispness that suits prewar and midcentury apartments. The 4.625 and 7.5 inch boards read as more contemporary and show fewer seams in larger rooms. If you are continuing an existing strip floor from another room, the narrow boards will blend in better.

Will maple turn yellow?

Natural maple tends to warm toward amber with light exposure over the years, and some finishes add to that. If you want a floor that stays pale, look at the gray tones and think about how much direct sun the room gets. Our guide to room light and floor color explains how daylight changes a floor.

Smooth or textured maple?

Seven of these floors are smooth, and the rest are wire-brushed, hand-scraped or distressed. Texture is especially useful on maple because it softens the look of scratches on an otherwise sleek, hard surface. Compare maple with other woods in our wood species guide.