Hi, we recently ordered a pallet of 5" Brazilian Walnut flooring. It took forever to come in and we had a number of issues with the flooring company lying to us. When it finally came in, it was not the color we thought it would be. We also had some custom floor grates made from a different company and they were much darker than the floors. The darker color is what we had expected. Our installer installed it none the less but, for some reason, we did not get enough wood. The original company refused to sell us the additional wood because it was "too little to ship from their warehouse". So we had to go to their competitor (who we should have went to from the start). They had the rest of the flooring to our house within a few days. Our installer installed the wood but it does not look anything like the other wood. I expected a slight variation but these don't look even close. To make things worse, the new wood matches the grates and is more what we had originally been looking for. Now we are thinking what we ordered from the first company is not what we received. I have pictures if any one thinks they could tell if what we received was in fact Brazilian Walnut. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Pictures would defiantly help, but no guarantees. It could be the same species but being a natural product it could change from tree to tree not to mention forest to forest. Is it a unfinished or a prefinished product? If prefinished what are the brands of both woods/

The main problem is "Use constitutes acceptance". The first "main batch" should have been questioned before it was installed.
When I drop off wood at a customer's home for acclimation, they cant wait to see the wood, and I'm glad to show them. I would think with your unfortunate experience with the company( before the wood was delivered), you would be anxious to check it out.

This is true. It should have been questioned before it was installed. When I drop off material I open the first box to show the customer before I lug it all in.

It actually was questioned. First I called the delivery person. I asked him what he dropped off and he said Brazilian Cherry (B.C.) I told him it was supposed to be Brazilian Walnut (B.W.)and he said that is what he meant and that he only delivered things so he just confused the names. I called the company the following business day and the secretary assured me it was B.W. and that the driver again just made a mistake in naming it. I asked to speak with the owner and she said he was in a meeting and would call back. I called everyday for the next two weeks as the wood set acclimating and he was always in a meeting and never called me back. My installer had never installed B.W.before only B.C. so he did not know if it was the right wood or not. He said it looked similiar to B.C. in some pieces but it didn't entirely look like it. By this point it was months since we originally ordered the wood so we needed to install it. After it was installed and we realized the there was a shortage (originally measured by another installer who skipped town on us with our check) we tried to order more from the company. They kept telling me that they could not ship such a small amount even though I said I would pay for the shipping costs. They said I would need to wait for another larger order to come in. We waited another few weeks before finally realizing we were not going to get our wood anytime soon and went to the other company. I realize that blame can be put on myself as much as on the company or the installer. I just want to know if what we got was what we paid for as it what several hundred $ more than B.C. Any idea how to post a picture??

If you have an account with flickr or picasa like that you can get the url of it as long as it has jpg on the end of it, click on the image button above and place it in the center.

Look forward to seeing pictures. I have installed a lot of Braz. Walnut & Cherry.

Who is the manufacturer ? No specie identification on the boxes ?

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Keith

Ya, pictures would be a definite help here. There can be differences in wood of the same species depending on soil content where it grows but shouldn't be so dramatic that it looks like two different species.

Okay everyone, I have posted some pictures on this site http://www.hardwoodflooringtalk.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=21. I was beginning to really think that it really was just a variation in the wood but I noticed somone else had posted pictures of their Brazilian Walnut floors on here and they look nothing like my floors. What do you think?? I don't know if there is anything I can do now but any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!!

hi stewart !
looked at the pictures.
you have been given the cherry defo my advice take a cutting along to a few stores and ask them what they think it is . if they think its cherry go see a lawyer

The problem is that these woods come from a variety of sources. And there are various botanical trees being called Brazilian Walnut. The wood you had installed first does not look like what is normally considered Brazilian Walnut or IPE. But it could be, just from a different geographical location. The only way you will KNOW what you have is to send off pieces to someone who can identify the wood, like a botanist.

If you dont mind me asking again ?

Ya know, I have to disagree with Gary's evaluation in this one. That wood is not Brazilian Walnut (IPE). The section beside the fireplace is, as well as the vent covers.
I suspect that what you have there is either Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) or Cumaru (Brazilian Chestnut).
Of course, an analysis of the wood will be your best course of action and you could get in touch with someone in the forestry industry to find out where to send a piece of the wood.

Yikes, what kind of buisness have you been dealing with? But I think you may have screwwed yourself by installing the product. I don think you have braz walnut but in those corners as well. That looks way more like braz cherry to me, but I dont know what you can do now because you had the floor installed anyway. Man what a mess.