Is Meranti a Hardwood or a Softwood? (& Is It Strong?)

Is Meranti a Hardwood or a Softwood? (& Is It Strong?)

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If you are planning on building something around your house, there are many different types of wood that you can use. One popular type of wood is known as meranti. However, there are a few different varieties of this wood that you can use, and you probably want to know how hard or strong they all are.

This is exactly what we are here to figure out today. Let’s get to it and determine whether meranti is a hardwood or a softwood, and just how strong it actually is.

Is Meranti a Hardwood or Softwood?

The meranti tree is a deciduous angiosperm, which means that it does lose its leaves during the cooler seasons of the year, also making it a hardwood.

With that being said, there is actually a great deal of differentiation between the various types of meranti in terms of the features that determine overall durability, as you will see below.

There are four different types of meranti trees, and they differ quite greatly in terms of all of the features that we will discuss below.

Meranti Wood Strength: All You Need to Know

As mentioned above, there is a good deal of variation between the different types of meranti trees, although, in the grand scheme of things, it is quite a hard, durable, and strong type of lumber.

Now, there are five main factors that we will take a look at to determine just how strong this type of wood is, which include the compressive strength, bending strength, stiffness, hardness, and density of the lumber.

The four varieties that we will be looking at are yellow meranti, white meranti, light red meranti, and dark red meranti.

Compressive Strength

Let’s now take a look at the compressive strength for all four types of meranti tree:

  • Yellow Meranti – 6,450 lbf per square inch (44.5 MPa)
  • White Meranti – 6,850 lbf per square inch (47.3 MPa)
  • Light Red Meranti – 6,120 lbf per square inch (42.2 MPa)
  • Dark Red Meranti – 7,070 lbf per square inch (48.8 MPa)

The dark red meranti tree features the highest compressive strength of all varieties. This is stronger than most types of softwood, although fairly low on the spectrum in terms of other hardwoods. So, for a hardwood, in the grand scheme of things, meranti is not overly strong, but it’s very strong when compared to softwoods.

Compressive strength is also known as crushing strength, and this refers to how much weight a piece of wood can handle parallel to its grain. For an easy-to-visualize example, picture a table leg. How much weight would you have to put on the table to cause the leg to snap sideways and buckle?

Bending Strength

Let’s now take a look at the bending strength for all four meranti varieties:

  • Yellow Meranti – 11,720 lbf per square inch (80.08 MPa)
  • White Meranti – 12,800 lbf per square inch (88.0 MPa)
  • Light Red Meranti – 11,210 lbf per square inch (77.3 MPa)
  • Dark Red Meranti – 12,710 lbf per square inch (87.7 MPa)

The white meranti tree features the highest bending strength of all meranti tree types. This is generally higher than most types of softwood, and either on par or a bit lower than most types of hardwood. In terms of bending strength, the meranti tree sits somewhere in the middle of all types of wood.

The bending strength of wood is also known as the modulus of rupture, and this refers to how much weight a piece of wood can handle perpendicular to its grain.

Imagine that you have a stick that is mounted horizontally on a wall. How much weight would you have to hang on the end of that stick in order to cause it to snap and go crashing downwards?

Stiffness

let’s now take a look at how stiff all four types of meranti are:

  • Yellow Meranti – 1,548,000 lbf per square inch (10.68 GPa)
  • White Meranti – 1,485,000 lbf per square inch (10.24 GPa)
  • Light Red Meranti – 1,642,000 lbf per square inch (11.39 GPa)
  • Dark Red Meranti – 1,743,000 lbf per square inch (12.02 GPa)

The dark red meranti tree is the stiffest of all varieties. This wood is quite stiff in the grand scheme of things. It is up there with the stiffer hardwoods, and it is certainly much stiffer than most types of softwood.

The stiffness of wood is also referred to as the modulus of elasticity, and this refers to how much weight a piece of wood can handle in its center before it begins to bend or sag.

For example, imagine yourself standing on a board that is supported on either side by a brick. How much weight would you have to gain in order to cause that board to sag in the middle?

Hardness

Let’s now take a look at how hard all four types of meranti trees are:

  • Yellow Meranti – 700 lbf
  • White Meranti – 1,050 lbf
  • Light Red Meranti – 550 lbf
  • Dark Red Meranti – 800 lbf

The white meranti tree is by far the hardest one, and it is quite hard in general. These are all harder than most types of softwood. With that being said, with the exception of the white meranti, this tree is usually softer than most types of hardwood.

The hardness of wood refers to how hard the surface of the wood is, or in other words, how resilient it is towards physical impacts, particularly denting and scratching. This is usually measured on the Janka hardness scale.

Density

let’s now take a look at how dense all four varieties are:

  • Yellow Meranti – 35 lbs per cubic foot (565 kg per cubic meter)
  • White Meranti – 37 lbs per cubic foot (590 kg per cubic meter)
  • Light Red Meranti – 30 lbs per cubic foot (480 kg per cubic meter)
  • Dark Red Meranti – 42 lbs per cubic foot (675 kg per cubic meter)

The densest variety is the dark red meranti tree. This is actually just as dense as most other hardwoods, although, the other types of meranti aren’t quite as dense

The density of wood refers to how heavy a piece of wood is in regards to a specific size, and this is usually measured in pounds per cubic foot or kilograms per cubic meter. Knowing how heavy a piece of wood is allows you to better understand its durability.

Is Meranti Wood Strong?

In the grand scheme of things, yes, meranti wood is quite strong, is on par with many types of hardwood, and is certainly much stronger than the vast majority of softwoods.

Summary

If you are looking to build something stable, durable, and long-lasting around your home, then meranti is definitely a good option to consider.