A Guide To Choose Brazilian Walnut Hardwood Floors For Home
Many homeowners choose Brazilian walnut flooring for its beauty and uniqueness. Walnut flooring ranges from darker to lighter shades of brown. This makes it a popular choice among homeowners and property owners. Walnut wood creates a lustrous aura in the room in which it is installed and develops depth in color as it ages. If you are trying to find an exotic flooring option for your home, nothing compares to Brazilian walnut wood.
There are two main types of Brazilian walnuts used for flooring; one is American walnut, and the other is exotic black walnut. In this post, we will talk about Brazilian floors and caring for them.
Knowing about American walnut wood:
Origin:
American walnut trees primarily grow in central parts of the US. This wood species is both replenished and replanted through fallen seeds. The trees are not friendly to other plants because the chemicals secreted from their roots don’t let other plants thrive nearby.
Color:
The color of this wood ranges from white and cream to dark chocolate brown. Isn’t it amazing? While preparing walnut flooring, the wood is sometimes steamed to darken the color. This process sometimes gives purple highlights to the wood.
Grain pattern:
Usually, walnut wood has a straight grain pattern, but the wood can also come in a wavy pattern that gives your floors a unique look. However, seeking variations different from regular ones can be costly and difficult to find.
Brazilian hardwood is not just used for flooring but also for constructing cabinets, furniture, and wood decor.
Brazilian Walnut Hardwood:
After American black walnut floors, the second option is Brazilian walnut wood, also known as Ipe. This wood grows in Brazil and other exotic regions. This wood is known for its hardness, just like other woods in this region. Brazilian walnut has a Janka hardness of 3684, which means Brazilian wood is one of the hardest woods.
This wood is available in olive brown to deep black. This wood sometimes contains slightly contrasting stripes of white or yellow, depending on the grade. Talking about flooring grades, here are the four grades of Brazilian walnut hardwood floors:
- The first one is clear grade, and this one is hand-sorted for color consistency because it is the most popular Ipe variety. It resembles American Walnut, and only the heartwood of the tree is used to make the floors.
- In second place comes selecting better grades that offer color variation because heartwood and sapwood are both used to make flooring.
- Thirdly, there is a rustic grade that offers dramatic color variations.
- Lastly, Lapacho is sorted out because of its green coloring.
Advantages of choosing walnut floors other than appearance:
Brazilian hardwoods are hard; it is actually difficult to work with. Once the floors are installed, they will not move from their place for years.
· The temperature has minimal change on these floors; as the wood is hard and dense, it shows no signs of cupping and warping.
· Another advantage of Brazilian floors is that they are perfect for homes with pets and children. The top layer of floors is highly resistant to pet nails and scratches. If you have toddlers in your home, let them be free to try their creativity and naughtiness.
· You would love to know that Brazilian flooring doesn’t allow mold production on its surface.
How to choose the best flooring that matches your expectations?
When choosing exotic hardwood flooring, it is important to select the color and grade based on your preferences. There are two kinds of flooring options, such as simple hardwood and best-engineered hardwood floors.
If you plan to add flooring to a below-grade space, the best-engineered flooring is highly recommended. However, if you are going to add flooring to above-grade floors, any of the options can be used.
Reasons to go for best engineered floors:
This is because low-grade spaces like basements have moisture and humidity issues. Engineered Brazilian walnut hardwood floors are water-resistant and, therefore, perfect for kitchens, basements, and areas with moisture issues.
layering down the best engineered floors:
Engineered floors are made up of different layers. The first layer contains natural hardwood, and the rest of the layers are made up of strategically placed ply boards. The plyboard grains are permanently attached in opposite directions, strengthening the floors and minimizing contraction and expansion. However, the disadvantage of the best-engineered walnut flooring is that it cannot be refinished multiple times.
Smart tips to maintain any hardwood floors:
When we talk about the care and maintenance of floors, there are no separate rules for separate wood species. The care routine is similar for all hardwood floors. Let us discuss that here:
Sweeping and vacuum cleaning:
Sweeping is an essential thing that applies to all kinds of floors. So, make sure you clean your floors daily with a soft broom. Avoid excessive sweeping to prevent the floors from scratches.
Sweeping doesn’t ensure all the dust and debris are off the floors. Therefore, using a vacuum cleaner to sparkle up the floor is necessary. While choosing a vacuum cleaner for your Brazilian walnut hardwood floors, buy one without the beater bar because it could give heat marks to your floor.
Mopping:
Let’s come to the mopping! Many people suggest mopping the floor using a damp cloth or mop. But the best idea is to use a microfiber cloth. Whenever a spill happens on the floor, be quick to wipe it immediately. Otherwise, it can leave a mark or let water into the internal layers.
Maintenance tip:
Lastly, to protect your floors, you need to place rugs and mats in high-foot traffic areas. Also, don’t drag furniture on the floor when you clean or move furniture. Make sure to lift it softly; otherwise, it can leave ugly scratches and marks.
Conclusion:
If you want new flooring for your space, Brazilian walnut wood flooring is the best option. If you maintain your hardwood floors properly, they will stay with you beyond their life. So, when you shop for hardwood flooring for your home, office, or hotel, consider exploring Harper Floors.
They have every kind of floor, from hardwood and best-engineered to SPC. Their exotic flooring range includes top-class Brazilian walnut flooring. To order free samples today, explore their website now!
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