Most people who put in wood flooring choose either red or white oak. Both are durable, beautiful and thanks to plenty of supply, relatively affordable. In fact, unless you have exceptional wear and traffic, about the only downside to oak is that its appearance is pretty neutral.
Oak floors go with almost any décor or furniture style, but they rarely make a dramatic statement.
Walnut flooring, on the other hand, creates a terrific first impression. The rich chocolate brown color is really distinctive and immediately suggests quality.
Nowadays, you can stain many kinds of woods any color you want. So why should you spend the extra money on walnut wood flooring? Because since walnut’s color is natural, each of the boards will be a little different in shade. It’s kind of like the difference between naturally blonde hair and dyed blonde hair. The natural kind has high- and low-lights that add depth and sheen.
The other advantage to walnut’s natural color is that it goes all the way through the wood. So if your floors get scratched or gouged it won’t show as much. And you probably won’t need to refinish your floors to fix the problem.
The beautiful color deepens with age and develops a warm patina. Sapwood, which comes from the outer part of the tree, can be grayish white, while the heartwood is a rich brown. Old growth wood can even have dark streaks that appear purple or black. And wood that comes from stumps can have a burled grain. This isn’t usually suitable for flooring, but some twisty, curly grained wood is available and it can add a lot of visual interest.
Walnut isn’t as hard as oak, so it may be unsuitable for homes with big dogs, lots of children, or heavy traffic. And they’ll only look their best when they’re kept clean, so you’ll need to run a dust mop over them often.
Walnut comes as solid wood and as engineered wood flooring, so you can even install it over concrete sub floors.
If want something different and dramatic looking, and you can afford to pay more, American black walnut is a great choice. It’s especially attractive in older homes with antique furniture.
Read about other woods to consider here.
Related posts:
