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
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The dark flooring looks so beautiful!