If you buy a walnut floor you will be pleased to know that you have made a great choice. Walnut is the only hardwood that has dark varieties native to North America. When used to create hardwood or laminate flooring, walnut can add a great deal of charm and personality to your home or office. Walnut floors tend to age well, looking better as they get older. This gives an older home a great deal of character and can add to the resale value. American walnut flooring can also be used as an inlay or border to create eye-catching designs for your floor.
Walnut density ranges from very hard to medium on the Janka hardness test, and it generally has a very straight grain. In some trees there can be natural veining and curling effects in the grain, but this is particular to that tree, not to any of the various species of walnut. Colors of walnut can range from deep chocolate to dark brown with hints of purple to a very light off-white. The most common species of walnut used in flooring is the Black or American walnut, but other types such as Brazilian and Caribbean are also popular.
Walnut flooring comes in two basic styles. Solid walnut hardwood flooring is made from planks milled from a single piece of timber. This creates a floor with a beautiful appearance but that can be difficult to maintain. Expansion and contraction of the wood restricts the dimensions of the floor because temperature and moisture fluctuations can create weak spots. This can also lead to the wood floor squeaking from traffic due to wood rubbing against wood. Also, solid wood flooring should not be installed over a concrete subfloor unless a moisture sealant has been used between the concrete and the wood floor. Concrete can release moisture which will warp the wood. This is also why solid wood flooring should not be used with radiant floor heating and in basements and sub-basements.
Kronoswiss 10mm Beveled Edge Narrow Board American Walnut CLICK IMAGE FOR DETAILS
Engineered wood flooring is created by taking thinner layers of wood and using them to create a plank. Laminate, veneer, and vinyl floors are confused for engineered wood flooring, but there are differences. Walnut laminate flooring uses an image of the wood as its surface. Veneer flooring uses thin sheets of walnut timber adhered to a kind of plywood or fiberboard base; this gives the plank the appearance of walnut. Vinyl flooring is plastic made to look like real wood.
The differences between the two styles of walnut flooring are mostly economical. The limitations of solid flooring are offset by its generally lower cost. However, despite engineered wood flooring being more expensive, this expense is offset by the faster installation and ease of repairs and replacements which result in a lower installation cost.
The different types of flooring using this wood include American or Black walnut flooring, Andean walnut, and Brazilian walnut. Black walnut has attractive dark-colored true heartwood. The grain is heavy and strong, yet because it is softer than many other walnuts, it is easy to split and work. Andean walnut is a hard, durable wood that is used for furniture, flooring, veneers, and other decorative forms. It is also among the most expensive woods available. Brazilian walnut flooring, despite the name, is not closely related to other walnuts. It has a much harder grain, among the hardest of all the hardwoods, which makes it more difficult to work. It is very popular for high-end furniture, and as a veneer and flooring.
The aesthetics of walnut flooring are also important. Walnut hardwood flooring is notable for patterns in the grain. It has lots of rings, knots, and lines. The timber polishes to a smooth finish. The base color is dark with lighter markings. This can make the finished color range from a creamy off-white to a deeper, dark shade of brown with purple highlights. This gives the floor a distinctive character that is popular for living rooms and other rooms where people gather.
In terms of the look of the wood, you will see a difference between solid walnut flooring, engineered flooring, and walnut laminate flooring. Solid walnut flooring can have different contrasts between pale and dark coloration. Engineered walnut flooring has the same patterns as solid walnut, but the finish tends to be less glossy. Laminate walnut flooring tends to be as glossy as engineered walnut, which may be due to it being an image of the walnut rather than the wood itself.
Furthermore, different species of walnut have different colorations. This characteristic can be used to create patterns in the floor that complement the room. Alternating lines of color, bands of color, or a gradient are all beautiful ways to enhance a room through the floor. Another idea is to lay the planks down in patterns different from standard parallel formation. The planks could be placed in any sort of pattern, such as a zig-zag or expanding square, or you could even combine the use of color and pattern to create colored inlays where one color is used for one pattern while another color is used for the inlay. The possibilities are nearly endless when it comes to using walnut to create your floor.
