Description
Rum Grandeur Engineered Maple: Why Hard Maple Is Not Simply Maple
Two quotations can both say maple and describe quite different timber, because the word covers a family of trees rather than a single one. Rum, from the Grandeur Legacy Collection, is made from hard maple. The board is 6 inches wide and 3/4 inch thick in random lengths of 16 to 67 inches, with a Handscraped surface.
Hard maple and the softer maples
Hard maple is the species the flooring trade means when it is being precise, and it is the one chosen for the floors that take the most punishment in public life: gymnasium floors, bowling lanes, the sprung floors of sports halls. Those specifications were not chosen for appearance but because the timber holds up under concentrated, repetitive impact year after year.
The softer maples are genuine maples too and have their proper uses, but they are a noticeably less dense timber that does not behave the same way underfoot. This is why the distinction matters when you have two quotes in front of you. Hard maple flooring and a floor described only as maple may not be comparable products, and the honest advice is to ask which species is being supplied before you treat the lower number as the better deal.
What density feels like in a real room
Maple is harder than oak and very fine grained, which gives it two characteristics you will notice. The first is underfoot. A dense hardwood floor feels solid and unyielding, with very little give, and it resists the small indentations that furniture legs and dropped objects leave behind. In a hallway that takes the whole household every morning, or a family room where chairs are pushed back a dozen times a day, a dense hardwood floor earns its keep more plainly than anything else on a specification sheet.
The second is visual, and it cuts both ways. Tight, fine grain gives a calm surface with far less pattern than oak carries, which is restful in a busy room. The counterpart is that a quiet surface has less to hide a mark in, so a scratch on maple tends to read more plainly than the same scratch on an open grained timber. The Handscraped finish here is a direct answer to that, since a worked face gives small marks somewhere to settle.
Planning this board into the house
- At 6 inches wide, this maple hardwood suits narrower rooms and hallways where a very broad plank can look heavy.
- Lengths of 16 to 67 inches are easy to handle up a staircase and around a tight landing.
- Each box covers 20.35 square feet, so measure each room separately before converting to cartons.
- Mats at every door and felt pads under furniture will do more for the finish than anything else.
The construction behind it
This is engineered maple hardwood, meaning a genuine hard maple surface bonded over a multi layer core whose layers run in alternating directions. That build resists cupping and seasonal movement better than a solid board of the same width, which is worth having in a region that swings from a humid summer to a long dry heating season, and it is why Rum may be installed above or below grade.
Before you commit
This hard maple flooring is fitted nail, staple or glue down and carries a 35 year warranty, and professional installation is our recommendation. Refinishing potential depends on the construction and should be confirmed with the team, along with the specification, the install method, room suitability and your quantities.
Please examine the product photograph, then come and stand on a board in person, since density is something your feet understand faster than your eyes. Rum is available for pickup in Kitchener and Cambridge, inventory is limited, and measurements in hand mean we can finish the numbers in one visit.
Specifications
Grandeur Hardwood Flooring Legacy Collection
Color: RUM
Size: 6″ x 3/4 ×RL (16-67 inches)
Sqft: 20.35 sf per box
Wood Species: Hard Maple
Finish: Handscraped
35 year warranty
Can be installed above or below grade
Nail, staple or glue down installation
