Expert: Jamie Yocono - 9/14/2009

Question
QUESTION: Is hardwood solids the same as solid hardwoods. A lot of the furniture available on the Intenet refer to hardwood solids. For example The bunk bed is made of cherry solids and veneers. Does this mean that certain parts of the bed are solid cherry wood and others veneered or is cherry solids different to solid cherry wood?

ANSWER: Laura,

That is a really good question, and one that I'm afraid I can't definitively answer. It's possible that the manufacturer is just covering their tracks, in case anyone would question the quality of the wood when they take delivery of one of their pieces.

Generally, solid wood means that the piece of furniture, or the specific part of  of the furniture, is made of solid wood, as opposed to plywood or composite material.

Veneer is simply thin wood placed over something else that usually isn't as attractive, such as particle board or plywood. Many companies use veneer over cheaper solid woods, such as poplar, in which to save some money. Poplar is inexpensive, but is better than plywood, so using it as a core material is better than using plywood.

SO it's really hard to know what they mean by "hardwood solids" instead of "solid hardwoods". Maybe it's just a language thing? I suspect they mean the exact same thing, it's just the way in which they worded it.

But honestly, with some of the things I've seen being sold on the internet, if you're considering buying a piece of furniture online, I would call them for a clarification.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com
My woodworking blog: www.wooditis.blogspot.com







---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Jamie
Thank you very much for your quick response. What are select hardwoods? Is this just a vague term or is it a type of engineered wood? Do you know where I can find out if hardwood solids a solid piece of wood is or is it a type of compressed wood that is used to cover MDF or plywood?

Answer
Laura,

Let's back up a bit. There are two types of tree classifications - deciduous trees, which shed their leaves, and coniferous, which (for the most part) don't shed any leaves. Deciduous trees that shed include oaks, maples, walnuts, cherries and so on. These are hardwoods. Coniferous trees are evergreens, like pine, fir, spruce, which mostly have needles instead of leaves. These are all softwoods. So when someone talks about woods, there are basically two types - hardwood and softwoods.

But along the spectrum of wood, there are some hardwoods that are actually pretty soft, like bass wood, balsa, poplar, butternut and more. There are some softwoods that can be harder than hardwoods, so eventually, the vocabulary we use gets rather confusing. That's probably why you're writing, it's hard to understand what the heck some manufacturers are talking about!

For the most part, furniture should be made out of hardwoods, as that material is more durable than softwoods. If you make a chair out of oak, it's going to last a lot longer than one made out of pine. It won't dent as easily, and the joinery will hold up over time. That is why furniture manufacturers "brag" about their pieces being made with hardwoods, as it is a better material than softwood.

If they're using actual solid pieces of wood, they can advertise that they're using "solid hardwoods", but remember - along that spectrum of woods that are classified as hardwoods, there are some "soft" ones that they can slip in there, like poplar, balsa and so on. So even though they're technically using a hardwood, it's not a great hardwood.

If you want to learn more about hardwoods vs. softwoods, check this out: http://www.frontgate.com/text/content/moreinfo/wood_types.html

There is a ton of information our there about the different wood species, try searching for "hardwoods vs. softwoods" on Google.  I hope this clears up some of your confusion about woods.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com
My woodworking blog: www.wooditis.blogspot.com