What you should know before buying cherry wood flooring.
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When it comes to wood flooring, the term cherry wood is used interchangeably to describe two distinctly different hardwoods — American cherry and Brazilian cherry. Although the two are similar in some ways, it’s important to know the difference if you are planning to use cherry for your wood floors.
American cherry is sought after for its warm, rich color, which ranges from pinkish brown to deep red. As a fruit tree, it’s a member of the rose family, and it grows all over the United States and Canada. In colonial America, cherry was used for fine furniture, inlays, and paneling. Today, it’s a very popular choice for kitchen cabinets, and Shaker-style furniture.
One of the best things about American cherry is the way the color deepens with age. Over the years, it develops a gorgeous patina that polishes beautifully. It has a fine, straight grain.
With a hardness of 950 on the Janka hardness scale, American cherry is softer than many of the most popular woods used for flooring. Red oak, for example, has a hardness of 1290. Consequently, it’s a poor choice for high-traffic areas, commercial settings, or homes with dogs. It’s often used as an accent wood around the edges of a floor where there’s less wear and tear.
It’s also more expensive than other wood flooring options, so before you buy American cherry, make sure it’s an appropriate choice for your room.
Due to its reddish color, Jatoba is often called Brazilian cherry. It grows mostly in Brazil, Chile, the West Indies, and parts of Mexico. The principle difference between Jatoba and American cherry is the hardness. Jatoba measures 2350 on the Janka scale — more than 80% harder than red oak.
This makes Jatoba a better choice for wood flooring in rooms that will receive an average amount of traffic. Like American cherry, it will darken over time, especially if it’s exposed to direct sunlight. The finish that’s used will also affect this process.
Because of it extraordinary hardness, Jatoba is difficult to work with, so it’s a poor choice for do-it-yourselfers. Unless you’re a seasoned woodworker, you’ll likely get better results if you hire a professional to install jatoba wood flooring.
If you can afford it and plan to use it in a room that receives little traffic, real cherry wood will produce a look that’s unsurpassed in its elegance and sophistication. If you want the appearance of cherry with greater durability and affordability, choose jatoba.
Read about walnut wood flooring here.
The unique benefits of walnut flooring.
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If you’re like most people who are upgrading their home by adding wood flooring, red or white oak is probably at the top of your list of hardwoods. But walnut flooring has some advantages that you should consider before you make your final decision.
Rated 1010 on the Janka hardness scale, walnut isn’t as hard as oak, but it has something else going for it. It’s color. Why should that matter? These days, you can apply a walnut finish to almost any wood and end up with something that is about the same color. So what’s the big deal about walnut’s deep, chocolate brown hue.
There are two things. First of all, because the color of walnut is natural and not applied, each of the planks in your walnut floor will be subtly different. This will give your walnut floors a depth and richness you wouldn’t have with another species that was finished to look like walnut. It’s like the difference between dyed hair and natural hair.
Black Walnut
A natural, walnut wood floor looks high quality. Because walnut is the only native American hardwood that’s naturally dark, the color is distinctive and different. Even more so now that walnut is relatively scarce.
The other advantage to walnut flooring is that because the color is natural, it goes all the way through. So scratches, dents, and other mars hardly show. When finished with a satin finish, walnut floors continue to look good after years or normal wear and tear. If your floors are damaged, you probably won’t need to refinish them because what’s under the surface looks the same as the surface.
Walnut has quite a bit of color variation. The sapwood is a grayish white, while the heartwood is a warm, rich brown. Some older growth even appears purple streaks that are almost black. You should look for wood that is uniformly dark and has a straight, open grain.
Sometimes, stumps are cut into veneer that has a burled grain, which is unsuitable for flooring. Some trees that grow in poor soil twist as they grow, resulting in a curly grain that can add some visual interest to your floors. Walnut flooring will darken with age and develop a lustrous patina.
It’s available as solid wood and engineered wood flooring. And because it’s very stable, it’s good to use over radiant heating systems.
If you’re looking for something unusual and dramatic for your home, American black walnut has a lot to offer.
Read about other types of domestic hardwoods here.
Black Walnut Image Flickr: heyerin
When engineered wood flooring is better than solid wood.
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So you’ve made the decision to upgrade your home by adding wood floors. Smart move. Wood flooring not only makes your home more attractive, it can also add to the resale value if you ever decide to move.
Although many people assume that solid wood flooring is the best you can buy, that may or may not be true, depending on a number of factors.
First of all, let’s explain what engineered wood flooring is. It’s made by sandwiching together several layers, usually a veneer, a core, and a base. The veneer or top layer is the one you see and it can vary in thickness. Generally speaking, the thicker, the better.
One of the advantages of engineered wood flooring is that it’s easier to install than solid wood flooring. It can be glued down – which is essential if you have concrete sub floors – stapled, or floated. And it’s easier to saw and nail than many solid woods. If you want to install your floors yourself, they’re your best bet.
It can even be installed over tile or vinyl, as long as it’s clean and level. Check to make sure the moisture level is less than 4% first.
Because the grain of the core is perpendicular to the grain of the veneer, it’s actually more stable than solid hardwood. It warps less and is better suited to homes in high-humidity zones or for summer homes that are unheated in winter.
The best thing about solid wood is that if it gets worn, it can be sanded down and refinished. But people forget that even though the wood is ¾” thick, it can only be sanded down to the bottom of the tongue on the side of the plank. In most cases, that’s only about 5/16” thick.
An engineered wood floor with a veneer of 3/16” can usually be sanded three or four times. It should have a lifespan of 60 to 80 years.
Most engineered flooring comes pre-finished, which eliminates all the hassle of sanding and finishing your floors after they’re installed. With 3 -10 layers of urethane already applied, they’ll look good for years with proper care.
These days, you can find engineered wood flooring in virtually every wood, color, and finish. Even hand-scraped and distressed styles are available.
As a rule, engineered wood floors are less expensive than solid wood floors. But if you sell your home, prospective buyers will pay the same price. This is not true for laminate floors which don’t look like real wood.
Another benefit is that they’re environmentally responsible. The wood required to produce one square foot of solid wood flooring will yield approximately four times as much engineered product.
Read about other kinds of wood flooring.
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