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August 12, 2008
"dark" hardwood floors being used in modern condos/homes
We are trying to decide what wood to use for our hardwood floors in our home we are gutting now. We have seen in numerous pictures these "dark" colored floors...an espresso color...almost black but not that dark. Is this Brazilian Walnut we see? We ca afford to put Brazilian Walnut...so thats not an issue, but Im just trying to understand if these dark wood floors either ARE Brazilian Walnut or are SUPPOSED to give the appearence of Brazilian Walnut. Can someone give me some insight? If you have this type of floor I would love to see some pictures and would appreciate any info on pros and cons of dark floors. I can be emailed at info @ metroavonline dot com.
The picture below is just something I found on the internet that is sort of what we want...we really want something dark, and hip..but at the same time very elegant.
Comments
The dark floors can be Brazilian walnut, or any other species stained to give that look. They are certainly striking, but they show dust and dirty instantly.....If you clean your floors once-twice a day they will be fine, anything less than that and you might feel like you should have gone with a lighter tone
Posted by: PHfamily at August 12, 2008 10:04 AM
Any type of wood can be stained dark.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at August 12, 2008 10:13 AM
West Elm
Posted by: IMBY at August 12, 2008 10:17 AM
hard to tell from the photo -- it could be anything. we have white oak floors with a dark stain and they look like that (except we used a less shiny finish).
Posted by: z at August 12, 2008 11:08 AM
Yes, that West Elm look...but something sleek.
Posted by: nybk01 at August 12, 2008 11:10 AM
Ph family is correct. I also used white oak with an ebony stain. the floors look great but show a lot of dirt and dust as well as scratches. We have 2 cats and a toddler and we swiffer ( mop) our floors daily sometimes 2X a day. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't change a thing because I love the look. It took 3 coats and a light ploy to get the desired effect. good luck!!!!
Posted by: owner12 at August 12, 2008 11:52 AM
Dark floors will be more work to keep clean and show scratches more. Also have seen where there is uneven darkening over time when solid hard wood is used in sunny rooms. This tends to even out over time. Dog scratches tend to show up more. On pre finished flooring with a slight beveled edge, dust will collect and show up as white lines between planks unless vacuumed out. Dark floors make your ceiling look higher when used in contrasting light colored rooms.
Posted by: IMBY at August 12, 2008 12:03 PM
z and owner12, where did you get your floors? how was pricing relative to other places you looked? installation by floor salespeople or contractors?
Posted by: cmontgom at August 12, 2008 1:27 PM
my contractor took me to premium flooring on 31st Street in Brooklyn.. don't remember the exact specifics, but the price was the best I had found locally ( under $3/ft) for top grade white oak. My contractor subbed out the job to a specialist who installed, stained and polyed. I wanted the floor very dark, so I insisted on 3 coats of stain. The end result was a little lighter then I originally wanted. However, this was a blessing in disguise as a little lighter shade shows the grain of the wood adding a much richer/warmer look.
Posted by: owner12 at August 12, 2008 2:33 PM
i have a friend who did dark bamboo flooring in her coop, and to me, it's not particularly showing dirt, dust or scratches...
Posted by: wine lover at August 12, 2008 3:58 PM
interesting timing I was just looking at timber flooring today (Lumber Liquidators in Union Square).
I originally wanted to go the dark esspresso look as well however my research both online and confirmed at the store is that all of these dark looks are stained and not the colour of the actual timber.
They had a bamboo espresso colour that looked good however I hate the way bamboo timber always undulates under the sealant finish.
The comments about scratches showing up is a real problem - I think we are going to settle on Brazilian Redwood which is more of a red tone than I would like with less coffee colour but will darken up over the first 12 months based on the older style samples we were shown..... is this beliveable or was I sold a story.
Cheers,
Dean
Posted by: deanc at August 12, 2008 11:07 PM
I had dark floors once too in a rental many years ago, and I also had difficulty keeping them decent looking. I agree with the others it shows scuffs and lint and dust much more than a typical oak floor.
Posted by: traditionalmod at August 13, 2008 2:50 PM
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