Hey everyone,

I have recently been looking very closely at Brazilian Cherry, Brazilian Walnut (Ipe), and Santos Mahogany for my new house. I have noticed that Brazilian Walnut and Santos Mahogany pretty much look the same from picture to picture.

Brazilian Cherry, on the other hand, looks very different in nearly every picture I look at. I absolutely love the pictures where Brazilian Cherry looks dark and has a lot of contrast from strip to strip. I dislike the pictures of Brazilian Cherry where the strips are light in color and/or lack any contrast.

Anyone know why this is? I have read that Brazilian Cherry does darken over time, but I'm not sure how long this takes. Anyone know?

Thanks,
Brian

I couldn't tell you why you see such a variation in the photos you've seen. But I can tell you the color change can occur quickly on exposure to sunlight. I cut a piece in half, kept one out of the light, and placed the other in direct sun light. You could see a difference after a day or two. It will continue to darken over several months, but I couldn't give you a exact time frame.

Do engineered (with solid sawn wear layer) tend to age differently than their solid counterparts?

Hi Brian,

I installed 400sqft of Brazilian Cherry in my home in December. The product was BR-111 3/4" solid, 3" wide planks.

There is a LOT of variation in color and figuring in this product, and I assume that this is characteristic of the wood species, although perhaps more expensive products might select cuts that have a more homogeneous look. We absolutely love the variation, and we get compliments from everyone who sees the floor.

I think a lot of the sample boards you see in flooring stores are hand-picked to show one color, but in my case the product was (to our satisfaction) a lot more "interesting" than that.

As for the color, the darkening phenomenon is very real. When we first opened up our boxes, I would say about 75% of the planks had a mostly amberish-orange color, the other 25% were darker, either reddish or chocolatey brown. We liked the darker pieces best and made sure we placed the most attractive ones in the very visible areas. In the past couple months, all the amberish stuff has turned a much deeper color and taken on a redder tone, and has made the entire floor look more like the standout pieces when we installed it. The floor gets better looking with time, but you had better want a dark floor. It is important to move furniture and rugs so that this effect can even itself out. We have distinct tan lines where our front entry rug lays, and even the large claw feet of our dining table have left four light "spots" on the floor. We are trying to pull up the rug every time we are out of the house for a weekend, and we will move the table around to try to darken up the spots.

Good luck,
Garrett in San Diego