The Hevea tree has a special place in most Southeast Asian countries, providing people an income source in areas that have little to no work.  Similar to the Maple tree and Maple Syrup Farms in North America, the Hevea tree yields natural Latex Rubber. Hevea is often called Rubberwood, Asian Oak, Asian Ash, and Malaysian Oak.  The wood itself is most commonly used in furniture, flooring and building materials.

This picture shows 30 year old trees in the foreground, saplings in the middle, and 15 year old trees in the distance.

The trees grow fast in the hot, humid climate of Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.  The trees are ready to start producing rubber after only seven years, with a life span of twenty to thirty years. After it stops producing latex, the tree is cut down so the farmer can replant.  Because the tree has had its sap collected from it its whole life, if the lumber is not harvested within one week, it starts to rot.

The main purpose of the Hevea tree is Latex Rubber.  It is only cut down when it stops producing the rubber. This makes it a very eco-friendly choice for hardwood flooring. Not only is it plantation grown, but the lumber itself is a by-product that in years past would just go to waste.

Sunfloor offers Hevea Nature, Hevea Country along with stained options in their flooring line, but it also uses Hevea in the core of its flooring. Most engineered floating floors have a Pine core. By using a hardwood like Hevea for their core, Sunfloor is able to offer a much more stable product, as hardwoods tend to shrink and expand less than softwoods.

A Typical Day on a Hevea Plantation

The Latex farmer will wake up early in the morning and walk tree to tree, gently scoring each one with a machete. This cut in the tree’s bark is done along the same line every day so not to damage the tree’s integrity. At the end of the score in the tree lays a cup, hung with wire around the tree. This cup collects the rubber throughout the day as it slowly drips down the bark.

In the afternoon, once all the day’s trees have been scored, and all of the cups of latex have been allowed to fill and be gathered, the latex is mixed, pressed out and rolled into a sheet. Once dry, the days harvest is taken to the market to be sold. The process begins over again the next morning.

View Sunfloor Hevea Plantation Grade Uniclic California Longstrip Prefinished Engineered Hardwood Flooring