Wood & Stone

Soft, light, and forgiving — the classic American trim, paneling, and timber-frame wood. Easy to cut and nail by hand, but it dents and shows every knock. Paints beautifully; stain can blotch unless you condition it first.

Type

Softwood (conifer)

Janka

~380 lbf — very soft

Density

~25 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — not for outdoor use

Best for

Trim, paneling, shelving, paint-grade work

Lightweight, aromatic, and built for the outdoors. Left unfinished it weathers to a soft silver-grey; sealed, it keeps its warm red-brown. Naturally resists rot and insects, so it's the go-to for siding, soffits, and saunas — but it's soft and scratches.

Type

Softwood (conifer)

Janka

~350 lbf — very soft

Density

~23 lb/ft³ — very light

Durability

Durable — natural rot/insect resistance

Best for

Siding, soffits, decking trim, sauna

California's rot-resistant outdoor wood — straight-grained, stable, and naturally durable. Like cedar it greys gracefully outdoors and can be left unfinished. Soft enough to dent, prized for decks, siding, and outdoor structures.

Type

Softwood (conifer)

Janka

~450 lbf — soft

Density

~28 lb/ft³

Durability

Durable (old-growth heartwood); sapwood is not

Best for

Decking, siding, exterior trim, pergolas

The workhorse of West Coast framing — stiff, strong, and dependable. Harder than pine, with a warm orange tone that deepens over time. Excellent for exposed beams and timber framing; strong but not rot-proof outdoors.

Type

Softwood (conifer)

Janka

~620 lbf

Density

~32 lb/ft³

Durability

Moderate — finish for outdoor use

Best for

Framing, beams, timber frame, VG flooring

Dense, strong, and everywhere in the South — the most-used structural lumber in America. It takes pressure-treatment better than almost anything, which is why treated decks and ground-contact lumber are SYP. Resinous, and prone to twist as it dries.

Type

Softwood (conifer)

Janka

~690–870 lbf

Density

~36–41 lb/ft³ — dense for a softwood

Durability

Low untreated; excellent treatability

Best for

Framing, trusses, treated lumber, decking

The South's answer to cedar — naturally rot-resistant heartwood once nicknamed "the wood eternal." A favorite for siding, porch ceilings, and trim in humid Gulf climates. New-growth lumber is less durable than the legendary old-growth.

Type

Softwood (deciduous conifer)

Janka

~510 lbf

Density

~32 lb/ft³

Durability

Durable (old-growth heartwood)

Best for

Siding, porch ceilings, trim, beams

Light, pale, and the "S" in commodity SPF framing lumber. Easy to work and nail; not durable outdoors. Sitka spruce's exceptional strength-to-weight made it a classic aircraft and guitar-soundboard wood.

Type

Softwood (conifer)

Janka

~510 lbf (Sitka)

Density

~28 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior/structural only

Best for

Wall framing, sheathing, soundboards

An economical framing softwood — pale and a bit splintery, fine hidden inside walls and roofs. Coarse-textured and not durable, so it's not for exposed or outdoor use, but it's a solid value for rough structural work.

Type

Softwood (conifer)

Janka

~500 lbf

Density

~28 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — concealed structural use

Best for

Framing, sheathing, rough carpentry

The classic knotty-pine of Western cabins and paneling — light, soft, and full of character knots. Cheap and easy to work; not durable outdoors. The knots bleed resin, so seal them before painting.

Type

Softwood (conifer)

Janka

~460 lbf — soft

Density

~28 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Knotty paneling, shelving, trim, boxes

A dense, pale-gold cedar that's far harder and more durable than red cedar — prized for decking, boatbuilding, and outdoor joinery. Fine, even grain, a faint raw-potato smell when cut, and excellent rot resistance.

Type

Softwood (cypress family)

Janka

~580 lbf

Density

~31 lb/ft³

Durability

Durable — natural rot resistance

Best for

Decking, siding, outdoor joinery, boats

America's default hardwood floor — strong, affordable, and it takes stain like a dream. Open, coarse grain you can feel and see, with a pinkish-brown cast. Not for outdoors: water travels straight through those open pores.

Type

Hardwood (ring-porous)

Janka

~1,220 lbf

Density

~44 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Flooring, furniture, trim, doors, cabinets

The designer's darling — warmer and more refined than red oak, with a tighter grain. Its pores are plugged, so it naturally resists water and rot and was used for barrels and ships. Quartersawn, it reveals dramatic "ray fleck."

Type

Hardwood (ring-porous)

Janka

~1,360 lbf

Density

~47 lb/ft³

Durability

Durable — closed pores (tyloses)

Best for

Floors, furniture, barrels, exterior joinery

Hard, pale, and tough — the wood under gym floors and butcher blocks. Its bright near-white color is usually left natural, because it stains blotchy. Burnishes (scorches) if your tools are dull.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous)

Janka

~1,450 lbf

Density

~44 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Flooring, butcher block, cabinetry, furniture

Red and silver maple — softer, cheaper cousins of hard maple. Machines and paints well and is common for painted cabinet doors and furniture frames, where the lower hardness doesn't matter. Often stained to imitate cherry or walnut.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous)

Janka

~700–950 lbf

Density

~38 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Painted cabinetry, furniture, moldings

America's premium dark hardwood — rich chocolate-brown heartwood that needs no stain. Dimensionally stable and a joy to work, it's the top choice for heirloom furniture and live-edge slabs. Pricey. Oddly, it slowly lightens in sunlight rather than darkening.

Type

Hardwood (semi-ring-porous)

Janka

~1,010 lbf

Density

~38 lb/ft³

Durability

Durable (heartwood); stable

Best for

Furniture, cabinetry, millwork, live-edge

The aristocrat that gets better with age — it starts a light pinkish-tan and ripens to a deep, warm reddish-brown with sunlight. Smooth, satiny, and easy to work; beloved for furniture. Most people never stain it.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous)

Janka

~950 lbf

Density

~35 lb/ft³

Durability

Moderate; very stable

Best for

Furniture, cabinetry, paneling, millwork

The hardest, toughest common American hardwood — shock-resistant enough for axe handles. Floors take a beating well, with dramatic light-to-dark color streaks. Hard on blades, and a bit moody about humidity swings.

Type

Hardwood (ring-porous)

Janka

~1,820 lbf — hardest common US

Density

~51 lb/ft³

Durability

Low (decay); superb shock resistance

Best for

Flooring, tool handles, rustic furniture

Tough, springy, and shock-absorbing — the baseball-bat wood. It looks a lot like oak (open grain) but lighter, and is cleaner to work and bend. Note: the emerald ash borer has devastated supply, so it's increasingly scarce.

Type

Hardwood (ring-porous)

Janka

~1,320 lbf

Density

~42 lb/ft³

Durability

Low; excellent bending/shock

Best for

Flooring, furniture, tool handles, bentwood

Technically a hardwood, but soft and cheap — the default for paint-grade trim, crown, and drawer boxes. It cuts like butter and paints flawlessly. Its green-and-tan streaks mean almost nobody clear-coats it.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous, soft)

Janka

~540 lbf

Density

~29 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Paint-grade trim, drawer boxes, substrates

The Pacific Northwest's workhorse cabinet wood — soft for a hardwood, even-toned, and economical. It takes stain evenly and is often finished to imitate cherry. Knotty grades give the popular "rustic alder" look.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous, soft)

Janka

~590 lbf

Density

~28 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Cabinets, doors, furniture, millwork

The hardwood behind most quality cabinet plywood — hard, pale, and fine-grained, with a smooth, even surface. Strong and affordable as veneer-core panels; like maple it can stain blotchy, so it's often clear-finished or painted.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous)

Janka

~1,260 lbf

Density

~43 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Cabinet plywood, veneer, doors, furniture

Hard, pale, and even-grained — a workhorse for chairs, tool handles, and butcher-block, and one of the best woods for steam-bending. Odorless and food-safe, but it moves a lot with humidity and isn't durable outdoors.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous)

Janka

~1,300 lbf

Density

~45 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Chairs, flooring, butcher block, handles

Plain, it's an unremarkable pale-tan wood — but quartersawn it explodes into tight, freckled "lacewood" ray fleck that's stunning in cabinetry and veneer. Interlocked grain makes it tricky to plane; historically a butcher-block wood.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous)

Janka

~770 lbf

Density

~34 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Veneer, quartersawn panels, drawer sides, butcher block

Tough and stubbornly split-resistant thanks to its interlocked grain — historically the wood for chair seats, hockey sticks, and wheel hubs. Attractive if hard to work; Dutch elm disease has made large boards scarce.

Type

Hardwood (ring-porous)

Janka

~830 lbf

Density

~35 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Chair seats, bent parts, furniture

A lightweight, aromatic hardwood that looks like ash but is soft and rot-resistant — old-timers used it for fence posts, boats, and drawer bottoms. Spicy-smelling and warm brown; uncommon in the trade but a lovely regional wood.

Type

Hardwood (ring-porous)

Janka

~630 lbf

Density

~31 lb/ft³

Durability

Durable — rot-resistant heartwood

Best for

Furniture, boat parts, posts, millwork

"White walnut" — a soft, light, honey-brown cousin of black walnut with the same satiny working feel at a fraction of the weight. A favorite for carving and relaxed furniture. Scarce, thanks to butternut canker.

Type

Hardwood (semi-ring-porous)

Janka

~490 lbf

Density

~27 lb/ft³

Durability

Moderate; stable

Best for

Carving, furniture, paneling, millwork

The carver's wood — buttery-soft, pale, odorless, and perfectly even, so it whittles and machines in any direction without tearing. Too soft for floors or furniture faces; used for carving, blinds, and hidden secondary parts.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous, soft)

Janka

~410 lbf

Density

~26 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Carving, louvers/blinds, secondary parts, patterns

The classic reddish-brown cabinet wood — stable, straight-grained, and a dream to work, with a warm color that deepens with age. Still the benchmark for fine furniture and boatbuilding, but CITES-listed, so buy certified, legally harvested stock.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous)

Janka

~900 lbf

Density

~37 lb/ft³

Durability

Durable; very stable

Best for

Furniture, cabinetry, boatbuilding, joinery

An African mahogany-alternative — harder and heavier than genuine mahogany, with a warm red-brown color and a shimmering ribbon stripe when quartersawn. A staple for doors, cabinetry, and guitars; the interlocked grain can tear out.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous)

Janka

~1,410 lbf

Density

~42 lb/ft³

Durability

Moderate–durable

Best for

Doors, cabinetry, furniture, instruments, veneer

The king of outdoor woods — naturally oily, dimensionally rock-solid, and almost impervious to rot, so it rules boat decks and patio furniture. Left bare it silvers gracefully. Expensive; the natural oils can interfere with gluing and finishing.

Type

Hardwood (ring-porous)

Janka

~1,000–1,155 lbf

Density

~41 lb/ft³

Durability

Very durable — weather & rot resistant

Best for

Boat decks, outdoor furniture, joinery

Brazilian walnut — the premium hardwood decking, so dense it sinks in water and carries a Class-A fire rating. Brutally hard and stable outdoors, lasting decades; it's heavy, pre-drilling is mandatory, and it silvers unless oiled.

Type

Hardwood (diffuse-porous)

Janka

~3,510 lbf — extreme

Density

~69 lb/ft³ — sinks in water

Durability

Very durable — decades outdoors

Best for

Decking, siding, boardwalks, outdoor structures

Technically a giant grass, not a tree — milled into flooring by pressing strands under heat and resin. "Strand-woven" bamboo is extremely hard and wears like a tough hardwood; it's fast-growing and renewable, but quality and formaldehyde content vary by maker.

Type

Grass (engineered)

Janka

~1,400–3,000+ lbf (strand-woven)

Density

~40–55 lb/ft³

Durability

Low — interior only

Best for

Flooring, panels, plywood, countertops

Harvested from the bark of the cork oak without felling the tree, so it regrows — a warm, quiet, springy floor that's easy on the feet and naturally insulating. Soft, so it dents under furniture and needs sealing, but it's comfortable and renewable.

Type

Tree bark (renewable)

Hardness

Soft, resilient

Density

~14–16 lb/ft³ — very light

Durability

Low — seal; interior

Best for

Flooring, wall tiles, underlayment, boards

The tough, busy-grained countertop standard — it shrugs off knives and hot pans. Every slab is a unique speckle of quartz, feldspar, and mica. Seal it now and then and it's nearly bulletproof; the main "con" is that the bold movement isn't to every taste.

Type

Igneous (plutonic)

Hardness

Mohs ~6–7

Density

~165–175 lb/ft³

Acid

Resistant

Heat

Excellent

Care

Seal periodically

Timeless and soft — the luxury look, with a catch: it's calcium, so lemon, wine, and vinegar etch dull marks, and it scratches. Honed (matte) hides wear better than polished. For people who love a surface that patinas, not a flawless one.

Type

Metamorphic (calcite)

Hardness

Mohs ~3 — soft

Density

~160–170 lb/ft³

Acid

Sensitive — etches

Heat

Good

Care

High — seal; expect patina

The hard one that looks like marble but behaves like granite — true quartzite is as hard as glass and resists acid and heat. Beware: some slabs sold as "quartzite" are really soft dolomitic marble, so test before you buy.

Type

Metamorphic (quartz)

Hardness

Mohs ~7

Density

~165 lb/ft³

Acid

Resistant (true quartzite)

Heat

Excellent

Care

Low–moderate — seal

Not a natural stone — roughly 90% ground quartz bound in resin. Non-porous, so it never needs sealing and resists stains, and colors are consistent slab to slab. The trade-off: real heat scorches the resin (use trivets) and strong sun can fade it, so it's an indoor material.

Type

Engineered (quartz + resin)

Hardness

Mohs ~7 (quartz mineral)

Density

~145–150 lb/ft³

Acid

Resistant (resin can dull)

Heat

Moderate — scorches; use trivets

Care

Very low — never seal

Soft, calm, and matte — a sedimentary stone full of subtle fossils and even color. Wonderful underfoot and on walls, but porous and acid-sensitive like marble, so it wants sealing and isn't ideal around lemons. Indiana limestone clads countless American buildings.

Type

Sedimentary (calcite)

Hardness

Mohs ~3 — soft

Density

~150–170 lb/ft³

Acid

Sensitive — etches

Heat

Good

Care

High — porous; seal

A pitted, banded cousin of limestone formed at hot springs — full of natural holes that are either filled smooth or left open for texture. Warm, old-world character; porous and acid-sensitive, so seal it and keep acids away.

Type

Sedimentary (calcite)

Hardness

Mohs ~3–4

Density

~145–155 lb/ft³

Acid

Sensitive — etches

Heat

Good

Care

High — fill voids + seal

Dark, naturally textured, and tough — it splits into flat sheets, giving that riven, slightly uneven surface underfoot. Great for floors, hearths, and roofs; heat-proof and grippy. Some stones flake slightly ("spalling") over time.

Type

Metamorphic (foliated)

Hardness

Mohs ~3–5

Density

~170–180 lb/ft³

Acid

Fairly resistant

Heat

Excellent

Care

Low–moderate

The chemistry-lab and woodstove stone — soft to the touch and easy to scratch, but completely non-porous and acid-proof. You can set a hot pot straight on it. It darkens to a deep charcoal when oiled, and light scratches sand right out. New England's classic.

Type

Metamorphic (talc-rich)

Hardness

Mohs ~1–2.5 — soft

Density

~175–190 lb/ft³ — dense

Acid

Inert — acid-proof

Heat

Excellent — won't scorch

Care

Low — oil to even the patina

Warm, earthy, and naturally grippy — quartz grains cemented into stone. Hardness depends on the cement, so some are durable and some crumble; all are porous and want sealing. Common as flagstone, cladding, and rustic interior accents.

Type

Sedimentary (quartz grains)

Hardness

Mohs ~6–7 grains; weak cement

Density

~135–150 lb/ft³

Acid

Variable (by cement)

Heat

Good

Care

High — porous; seal

The dramatic, translucent showpiece — banded and glowing when backlit, used for feature walls, bar fronts, and vanities rather than hardworking counters. Soft, acid-sensitive, and brittle: beauty over brawn.

Type

Sedimentary (banded calcite)

Hardness

Mohs ~3 — soft

Density

~165–175 lb/ft³

Acid

Sensitive — etches

Heat

Good

Care

High — fragile, decorative use

Fine-grained volcanic rock in charcoal-to-black — dense, hard, and understated, with a uniform matte look designers love for floors, pavers, and cladding. Some basalts have small gas pits; honed finishes wear evenly and hide wear.

Type

Igneous (volcanic/extrusive)

Hardness

Mohs ~6

Density

~180–190 lb/ft³ — very dense

Acid

Resistant

Heat

Excellent

Care

Low–moderate — seal

The stone in the middle — harder than marble, softer than quartzite, and very often the "super white" or "soft quartzite" you're actually being sold. It has marble's bright pale looks with a bit more scratch resistance, but it can still etch, so treat it like a durable marble.

Type

Dolomitic carbonate

Hardness

Mohs ~3.5–4

Density

~160–170 lb/ft³

Acid

Mildly sensitive — can etch

Heat

Good

Care

Moderate — seal

Chips of marble, granite, glass, or shell set into cement or resin and ground smooth — the speckled, seamless surface of midcentury lobbies and modern floors. Endlessly customizable and extremely durable underfoot; cement-based versions can etch, resin-based ones can't take heat.

Type

Composite (aggregate + binder)

Hardness

Varies by aggregate

Density

~140–150 lb/ft³

Acid

Cement: can etch · resin: resistant

Heat

Cement: good · resin: scorches

Care

Moderate — seal cement type

Mineral powders fused under extreme heat and pressure into a dense, glass-hard slab (Dekton/Neolith-class). Non-porous, UV-stable, and heat- and scratch-resistant enough for indoors or out — the one manufactured surface that's happy in full sun. It's brittle at edges and can chip on impact.

Type

Engineered (sintered mineral)

Hardness

Mohs ~6–7

Density

~150–160 lb/ft³

Acid

Highly resistant

Heat

Excellent — no scorch

Care

Very low — never seal

Poured and cast to any shape, then ground and sealed — the made-to-order surface for industrial and modern kitchens, with integral sinks and drainboards possible. Warm and tactile, but porous: it needs sealing, stains and etches if neglected, and fine hairline cracks are part of its character.

Type

Cementitious (cast)

Hardness

Mohs ~5–7 (cured)

Density

~140–150 lb/ft³

Acid

Sensitive — etches

Heat

Good — some crazing

Care

High — seal + wax