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You have questions, we have answers. Explore the most frequently asked questions about Cherry wood flooring below. Need assistance or want to know more? Contact Carlisle or call 800-595-9663 today to get all your inquiries answered.
American Cherry wood flooring is a highly popular choice for homeowners. Cherry floors have a rich, deep red tone and subtle grain structure, creating a warm appearance that will brighten any room. Polished Cherry floors have a lustrous red color that matures into burnished Auburn hues. Cherry wood flooring is made with timber from the American Black Cherry tree which is commonly found throughout the Eastern and Midwest United States.
Cherry may be a bit more expensive than Oak hardwood flooring, the most common and affordable type of hardwood.
Flooring styles are constantly evolving, and red floors are not as trendy today as they once were, but hardwood floors are generally highly popular with potential homebuyers. Cherry hardwood flooring can be finished in a wide range of light to dark hues, providing homeowners with options for any interior design scheme. For homeowners that love the rich, lustrous red of Cherry hardwood, a cherry floor will never go out of style.
Explore and select from our gallery of our most popular finishes, specially categorized by the personalities and traits of the floor designs.
ExploreWide plank Cherry floors are made with floorboards that are anywhere from 5” to 12” wide, though most Cherry flooring tends to be between 8” and 10” in width. Wider floorboards have a more luxurious feel, allowing the unique grain pattern and personality of the wood to emerge more visibly. Wider boards also mean fewer seams, giving a floor a less cluttered and busy appearance to add elegance and spaciousness to any room.
Cherry wood floors are highly prized for their rich, lustrous red hues. Cherry has a medium density, low stiffness, good bending properties and medium strength, making the wood easy to work with. One of the drawbacks of Cherry wood is that it is much softer than other hardwoods like Oak, Maple and Hickory and will dent more easily.
American Cherry has a rating of 950 on the Janka hardness scale, making it one of the softest hardwoods used for flooring. Nevertheless, Cherry floors are considered quite durable and will last for decades. However, homeowners should take special care to protect their floors from heavy furniture like bookcases or the legs of desks and sofas that may leave a dent. In high-traffic areas, it’s best to protect Cherry floorboards with rugs or protective mats.
Cherry can easily be stained in a variety of colors. But because Cherry floorboards are prized for their lovely red hues, it’s uncommon for homeowners to stain them to a different color.
While the dark patina of Cherry floors may reveal dust and dirt more easily, any debris can be easily swept or vacuumed away. To remove stubborn dirt and grime, apply a mild solution of water and white vinegar (1 or 2 ounces of vinegar to 2 gallons of water) for a streak-free finish.
Cherry hardwood will naturally darken over time, most likely from a combination of oxidation and exposure to UV rays from sunlight.
Prefinished Cherry hardwood flooring is sanded, stained and sealed within a manufacturer’s facility before it is shipped to a home or business for installation. Prefinished floors can be installed with greater speed and without the mess, smell and inconvenience of finishing a floor on site.
Engineered Cherry wood flooring is made with a top layer or “wear” layer of Cherry wood that’s adhered to multiple layers of backing material such as plywood or Baltic Birch. This construction forms a floorboard with a solid core that make them less prone to movement due to changes in moisture and humidity. For this reason, engineered Cherry floorboards are an excellent option for basements or other installations below grade as well as installation over radiant heat and concrete slabs.
Brazilian cherry is actually an entirely different species of hardwood that is harvested from rainforests in Brazil and Central America. Brazilian Cherry has a Janka hardness rating of 2350, making it among the hardest of hardwoods and highly resistant to dents, scratches and dings.
Cherry is an excellent choice for patterned floors since the darker, dramatic hues of the floorboards will create a greater contrast with other materials and make the pattern “pop.”
For more than 50 years, Carlisle Wide Plank Floors has been the leader in flooring fashion and innovation. We offer American Cherry wide plank floors made from trees grown in the Allegheny Plateau, where a shorter growing season and ideal soil conditions produce the rich, red hardwood that defines the Cherry appearance.
