Walnut flooring: an interesting option

You are considering your options for wood flooring, and walnut flooring comes to mind. It’s an interesting choice, to be sure. Walnut, with its varying degrees of rich, dark coloring would automatically add warmth and distinction to any room. Walnut has always been a popular wood, both because of its inherent beauty, but also because where hardwoods are concerned, walnut is a softer hardwood. What does that mean? Well, simply put, a softer hardwood is going to be easier to work with. Walnut flooring is typically easier to cut, sand and stain than other woods because it’s softer. It also should be easier to get a smooth finish as a result. Let’s look at some of the factors that could lead one to decide upon a walnut floor.

Is it durable?

The hardness of a wood can be a double edged sword. Being a softer wood does in fact translate into being easier to work with, however, being easier to sand also means being easier to scratch once a floor is installed and in use.  It’s important to keep things in perspective. Most, if not all wood flooring can be subject to wear and even damage, but there are alternatives. American Walnut is among the softer of the hardwoods, whereas Brazilian Walnut is among the hardest. The tradeoff would be in the appearance. There is a lot more uniformity in the American Walnut and a lot more color variation in the Brazilian Walnut. If you want to maintain that rich chocolate appearance, you will probably want American. Brazilian Walnut colors will range from olive to chocolate brown to even black. There is no shortage of choices.

Why Walnut?

Brazilian Walnut is going to cost more if purchased in the United States simply because of the cost of shipping. Other hardwoods are possibly more durable, and then there are also the myriad of other flooring options on the market today. A smaller room may not work as well with a dark product like walnut flooring, but if the room size is appropriate, it’s hard to pass up a material as fine looking as walnut for your hardwood floor. All hardwoods are going to need a certain amount of care and maintenance. Talk to your installer and make sure that you get adequate instructions on the care of this attractive flooring material and it will last for many years to come.