I live in the Great Lakes area and was interested in purchasing 3/4inch solid brazillian cherry flooring. I am reading that it is an unstable species. What does that mean and is it something I should be concerned about? I see Santos Mahogany is more stable, but it's close to twice the price.

trouper:

It's been mentioned as not being stable, but if you look at some of the discussions here, only one individual has mentioned problems. That particular situation was commercial and happened over ten years ago. Not knowing more about conditions, care, and the actual moisture content it was installed at doesn't help us determine if it is unstable.

Given the right conditions such as dramatic swings in Rh levels between seasons as an example, any hardwood could be considered unstable.

b. cherry is the number one imported specie of exotic flooring. I would have to say there would be a higher number of complaints if it was excessivly unstable. Dont get me wrong the proper rh controls are neccesary or it most definatly will move around on you as the rh changes. Make sure the house is dried out and the hvac is up and running weeks prior to bringing in the material. The wider the planks the more prevelanty the movement will be due to the fact it will have less nails and less number of board seams to disperse the movement. So the wider you chose, the closer it needs to be to your targeted moisture content. I dont know what that number is for you local, it is diffrent everywhere you go, should be in the neighborhood of 6-9% as that is why and how wood floors are produced at that same 6-9%.