Birch Wood Countertops, Bar Tops, and Butcher Block Countertops

Birch wood works easily with machine and hand tools.

Description: Birch wood works easily with machine and hand tools. It takes stain and polish very well, making Birch Wood Countertops a great addition for your kitchen or bathroom.

Alternate Trade Names: Yellow Birch, Hard Birch, Betula Wood, Canadian Yellow Birch, Quebec Birch, Swamp Birch

Origin: Eastern Canada and USA

Color: Light yellow sapwood, red-brown heartwood with darker growth rings

Grain: Close-grained, mostly straight, but can be wavy or curly.

Janka Hardness: 1260

The birch tree grows to be about 70 to 100 feet tall (21 to 30 meters tall).

Birch Facts: The birch tree grows to be about 70 to 100 feet tall (21 to 30 meters tall). The trunk has a diameter of about 2 feet 6 inches (0.8 meters). Birch is typically used for furniture, including rustic furniture. Its roots are used to make birch beer. Other uses for birch are: best-quality plywood, violin bows, flooring, and toothpicks. Birch is referred to as yellow birch to reflect the color of the tree’s bark. It is the provincial tree of Quebec. In Quebec it is called merisier, which means wild cherry in French.