Generally speaking, oak tends to be slightly more expensive than maple due to its higher demand in various industries.
Cost Considerations
White oak flooring is moderately priced, balancing cost and durability. It's more expensive than softer woods, but its longevity makes it worthwhile. Prices vary based on wood grade and finishes. Maple flooring often has a higher price tag because of its fine grain and consistent appearance.
American Ash
It is almost half the price of European Oak. Ash grows quicker than oak and reaches very tall and very wide sizes and so it is available in great thicknesses, widths and lengths kiln dried. You can get Ash boards up to 300mm wide where this can be difficult to find in Oak.
African blackwood (dalbergia melanoxylon) is the most expensive woods in the world because it comes from a slow-growing near-threatened tree. It grows in dry savanna regions in southern and central Africa.
Sensitive to Humidity and Heat –
Like most hardwood varieties, maple is sensitive to extreme humidity and temperature changes. If summer humidity is an issue in your home, this wood isn't suitable as it can expand and contract, warp and split.
Which is a harder wood, maple or oak? In terms of hardness ratings, maple ranks higher than oak which makes it more scratch-resistant. Maple is ideal for high traffic areas like floors and cabinetry. That being said, both are excellent choices for different purposes due to their unique characteristics.
Oak wood is not as easy to polish as fine-grain wood. It is also very heavy so it is very difficult to make a contemporary piece of furniture. Oak wood is also very difficult to cut and prone to cracking if not handled properly. If the oak wood is not completely cleaned, the furniture may shrink and turn into cracks.
While several varieties of wood may be affordable, softwoods emerge as the most inexpensive choice, particularly types like pine, spruce, and fir.
What is the most expensive wood in the world? The most expensive type of wood depends on its rarity, demand, and quality. Some of the costly woods include African blackwood, agarwood, and snakewood. Agarwood is the most expensive due to its unique resin and cultural significance.
Sometimes called chinaberry or white cedar, mindi wood is similar in density to red oak. It has natural anti-fungal properties and is resistant to decay. Although similar in texture to oak, the grain is packed closer.
Pine, plywood, and MDF are examples of affordable woods for home furniture projects. Pine is widely available and easy to work with, though it is softer than hardwoods. Plywood offers strength and stability with its layered construction and is great for structural components.
Ash is a great alternative to white oak in nearly every application. Elm, similar to Ash, takes beautifully to colour thanks to its natural neutral tone.
Oak can display rings, strips, flecks, wavy figures, or other complex patterns, which is a desirable trait that maple wood does not possess. Red oak is most commonly a reddish-brown color and is lighter than white oak. It has medium-to-large pores and a coarse and porous grain.
Sugar maple, 24 BTUs per cord. White oak, 24 BTUs per cord. White ash, 23.6 BTUs per cord. Yellow birch, 21.8 BTUs per cord.
Hard maple, or sugar maple, is the most durable of the maple species with a janka value of 1,450, which makes it one of the hardest domestic woods used in furniture making.
Walnut trees are always one of the most demanded trees in the wood industry. Oaks, maples, cherry, and ashes are also valuable trees. A high-quality veneer tree with a large diameter can be worth a lot but they are rare. A common rule is the bigger the log, the more it is worth.
African Blackwood is the most expensive wood in the world used for musical instruments and medicines , its per kg costs around 8-9 lakh.
Interestingly, one of the most important causes of today's increases in white oak prices is competition- from craft bourbon whiskey. White Oak trees are the most important species used in barrel-making for the bourbon industry and demand for barrel staves is skyrocketing.
Affordability: Pine is one of the most affordable types of wood, making it a budget-friendly option for many parts of the home. Appearance: Its light color takes stains well, so it can mimic more expensive woods like oak or cherry.
For Winter Projects: Purchase your lumber in the fall or early winter to take advantage of lower prices and have your materials ready when the weather allows for construction. For Summer Projects: Plan ahead and buy your materials in winter or early spring before demand increases.
In time you will eventually get the characterful splits and cracks, it's inevitable with oak and part of the appeal. You can, however, act to delay them. Cracks are also more prevalent and dramatic when the wood dries at speed. So, limiting temperature change before assembly is key.
A tabletop made of pine will have much deeper dents than a tabletop made of Oak. Additionally, you can always try the “fingernail test” as a rough hardness indicator: find a crisp edge of the wood, and with your fingernail try to push in as hard as you can and see if you're able to make a dent in the wood.
Bearing in mind the strength and durability advantages that oak holds over pine — including the slower growth rate — it should come as no surprise to learn that oak commands a higher price than pine. A standard oak furniture project for the home can come in at over twice the cost of a pine equivalent.