On Jan 25, 9:11 am, Ray K wrote:
So why can bowling alleys, typically constructed of maple, withstand at
the approach end the extreme abuse of dropped 14-16-pound balls so well
while CR claims that all solid wood flooring tend to dent (even under
the relatively less severe conditions in a typical household)? Thickness
can't be the answer, because dents are surface phenomena. I can't
imaging thickness greater than 1/2" inch being any more dent-resistant.

Well, bowling alleys are 2 1/2" thick at the business end only, so
obviously there's some added dent resistance by having thicker wood or
they wouldn't go to the expense.

Bowling alleys also have a ridiculously thick layer of urethane on top
(and maybe polyester). Probably a good 1/4" of it, if not more. At
that thickness, it's going to be able to absorb some energy. I don't
know exactly how often bowling alleys refinish their lanes, but I know
it's very often - you see those machines going down the lanes every
once in a while stripping the top layer and putting a new one on.

I also think that if you got the front end of a bowling lane in your
house and really looked at it, it would look pretty dinged up. You
don't see these things at the alley because the lighting is poor and
anyway, it's a bowling alley, not your house. As soon as that wood
was yours, you'd see how marked up it is.

Anyway, I have a bamboo floor in one room of my house and the hardness
rating is something like 1890. It'll still dent. (A window installer
dropped his pry bar on it once, and yes, it left a little dent.) So
any wood is gonna dent too.