Wood is an organic material and therefore has particular properties associated with it. Because wood comes directly from a natural source it has different properties depending on where it has come from. That is why it is important to know the type of tree that your wood is from – the tree type determines the properties of the type of wood you are working with. Different trees have different properties and therefore so does the wood that comes from them.

There is a strong relationship between the properties of wood and the properties of the particular tree that yielded it. For every tree species there is a range of density for the wood it yields. There is a rough correlation between density of a wood and its strength which also relates to its mechanical properties. For example, while mahogany is a medium-dense hardwood which is excellent for fine furniture crafting and classic use in traditional wooden products, balsa is light, making it useful for model building and light craft use.

Trees are divided into two classes: hardwoods and softwoods. However, the terms hardwoods and softwoods are not directly associated with the hardness or softness of the wood (although in most cases hardwoods are actually harder and tougher than softwoods). In general softwoods originate from cone-bearing trees and hardwoods from trees that have their seeds contained in a seed-case. This means that some examples of hardwood are trees such as teak, birch, maple and oak which have broad leaves.

But the classification of different woods doesn’t stop there. There are two other terms which are useful when learning a little bit about types of wood. Sapwood and Heartwood. These terms are often used by companies to flumox customers with different properties of wood but in fact the explanation is simple Sapwood is the outer layers of the tree trunks and it is usually lighter colour than the heart wood which is the inner layer of the tree.

Sapwood plays and important part in a tree's living process. Trees are a bizarre living creature as is in general only the last few outside layers of sapwood are alive. The rest of the sapwood carries moisture from the roots to the leaves and store food for the tree. When it comes to wood properties Sapwood usually has a higher moisture content than the heartwood and is in general softer and less durable than heartwood.

Heartwood refer to the inner layer of the tree. The term heartwood derives solely from its position and not from any vital importance to the tree. This is evidenced by the fact that a tree can thrive with its heart completely decayed, when you think about oak trees that you see in the countryside with the entire inside decayed it all makes sense. Historically it is said that Charles 1 hid inside an oak tree from Oliver Cromwell – this would be possible because the heart wood had decayed away leaving only the outer sapwood of the tree remaining. Some species begin to form heartwood very early in life, so having only a thin layer of live sapwood, while in others the change comes slowly.

Probably the type of wood will not be important to you when it comes to installing a wooden floor but at least you will have an idea what manufacturers and installers are talking about. For information about installing wooden floors and to look at a wide range of different woods available on the market go to www.timberlandflooring.co.uk