Is Walnut Wood a Good Flooring Option?

Walnut wood can make fantastic hardwood floors.  There are a variety of reasons walnut makes a great hardwood flooring option, but let’s start with the obvious.  Walnut has unbelievable beauty and characteristics that you cannot find in other hardwoods.  When you’re looking through hardwood flooring options for your space, you have to consider both the color and character of the wood you will be installing.  Walnut has some of the best grain characteristics of any hardwood available and can really help your home to feel warmer and more elegant.  Walnut is slightly darker than some hardwoods, but through stains and different finishes you can bring out both the grain and walnuts true beauty.  Darker hardwood floors have proven the test of time and continue to be a popular choice for many different homes today.

Walnut wood has been used for a variety of building purposes for hundreds of years.  It was so popular in fact that walnut wood has become very scarce in the eastern part of the US due to its extensive harvesting.  American Walnut, sometimes referred to as Black Walnut is now one of the most valuable tree species in our country.  It’s called black walnut due to its dark color, and sometimes even purplish streaks.  American Walnut is a great choice for hardwood flooring because it is a decay resistant species which produces strong boards that do not easily deform of bow.  American Walnut is hard enough to resist wear and tear during normal use, but soft enough to easily accept stains and sealers making it a surprisingly maintenance free flooring option.

American Walnut isn’t the only walnut wood available for flooring.  Brazilian Walnut also makes a great flooring option but has significantly different features.  Brazilian Walnut is significantly harder than American Walnut and rates as one of the hardest woods available.  For more information on how hardwoods are rated for hardness, check out this article on the Janka hardness scale.

Brazilian Walnut grows mostly in South American and can come in a wider variety of colors than American walnut, including some lighter varieties.  Because of its hardness, Brazilian Walnut makes a great flooring option for high traffic areas or areas that need to be extremely durable.  Also because of its hardness Brazilian Walnut can be extremely difficult to work with.  Sawing, nailing, and even sanding can be difficult tasks so professional installation is highly recommended.

Choosing walnut for your new flooring can be a great decision for your home.  Both varieties of walnut are considered premium flooring options for your home, but the extra price you pay will be well worth the beauty and durability gained!  Both American and Brazilian walnut have excellent resilience, shock resistance, and dimensional stability so they will last a very long time in your home.  Walnut’s unique color and characteristic will bring an air of elegance to either your contemporary or modern home with very little maintenance or worry.