Cherry Flooring
Wood flooring adds warmth, value, and class to your home. A timeless choice, wood flooring has been used for centuries and continues to be the choice for high-end homes. If you are considering making a change in your flooring, make the switch to wood for convenience, style, and value. Cherry wood flooring, in particular, adds a great deal of warmth and style to any home.
Cherry Hardwood Flooring
Cherry wood features a reddish tone and finish that many people find extremely attractive. The texture is satiny with a fine, subdued grain. A natural choice for fine furniture, cherry wood simply has a rich feel to it. It is available in different shades of reddish-brown from a very light color to a deep, rich hue. Hardwood planks are available in narrow or wide strips, depending on your personal taste. Natural cherry wood is sensitive to natural sunlight. Wood floors that are regularly exposed to direct sunlight will become darker. To prevent this from happening, install curtains or blinds in the room. Area rugs can also be used to protect the flooring.
Brazilian cherry flooring features a range of colors from dark orange to a deep, reddish brown. Over time the flooring will also gradually assume a darker hue. An incredibly strong wood, it can actually be difficult to cut. This strength makes it an excellent choice for resisting breaks, scratches, cracks and nicks. When you choose Brazilian cherry hardwood flooring, you are choosing a solid floor that will continue to look like new for many years to come.
Solid Wood Flooring and Engineered Flooring
Solid wood flooring is cut from the tree, following the grain. It may have a high level of shrinking and expanding with the weather. Engineered floors are made by stacking together several thin layers of wood. The end piece looks the same, but the engineered wood is actually sturdier. It can withstand greater shifts in humidity, making it a fine choice for regions that are damper. It can also be glued directly to concrete, making it a great choice for rooms that have concrete subfloors.
Cherry Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring will give you the look of traditional wood floors without the labor-intensive installation process. Cherry laminate flooring is not affected by moisture the way hardwood is, making it the perfect choice for bathrooms and basements. This flooring is also much more affordable than traditional cherry hardwood flooring.
Tips for Installing Hardwood Flooring
Choose carefully between prefinished and unfinished pieces. Prefinished flooring will have a slight bevel to the edge that some people don't care for. However, choosing an unfinished floor has its own challenges. Finishing cherry wood floors is not a job for amateurs. Sanding must be done thoroughly, but carefully. The stain must be applied smoothly and every speck of dust must be cleaned up between coats. If you choose unfinished floors, choose to have a professional come in the sanding and staining of them.
The first thing is to have a helper! It's tempting to try doing cherry hardwood flooring on your own, but it will be much easer if you have someone help you. The second person can choose the pieces to go in next, as well as helping to hold the boards in place when they are being installed.
Consider where you're putting the flooring. Rooms that are above grade with a wood subfloor are relatively easy to install cherry hardwood flooring in. Rooms that have concrete subfloors are more challenging. A better solution for these rooms is engineered cherry flooring that does not require nailing, or cherry laminate flooring. Bathrooms and basements are also ideal spots for laminate flooring.
Whatever shade of cherry wood flooring you choose, you are sure to be thrilled with it. It has a rich look that you compliment your home and that you are sure to love and enjoy for many years to come.