The Facts on Brazilian Cherry Hardwood Flooring

 

Homeowners are discovering the warm beauty of Brazilian cherrywood flooring. Also known as Jatoba, this wood is found in Central and South America and the West Indies. It is hardwood, which means that the tree it comes from is deciduous.

The Brazilian Cherry Tree

The Brazilian cherry tree, whose botanical name is Hymenaea courbaril, is not a cherry tree at all. It’s actually a legume, or a member of the pea family. It bears seed pods whose pulp is sweet to eat but foul smelling. The pulp, which is rich in nutrients, is eaten extensively by the native peoples. 

Besides its wood, the tree is valued for its orange resin, which is called animé. It has a sweet odor when heated or burnt, which makes it sought after for incense and perfume. Animé is also used for varnish. It was once used to treat respiratory ailments. 

The Wood

Though the wood of many hardwood trees is not necessarily hard, the wood of the Brazilian cherry is famously hard. It has a rating of 5.6 on the Brinell scale and 10,500 on the Janka scale, which means it is considerably harder than white or red oak. Its hardness helps it resist dings and scratches. It is also very dense, with a specific gravity of .91 and weighs 56 pounds per cubic foot. 

The density of this wood makes it somewhat difficult to work with. Tools need to be kept sharp and the wood blunts them quickly. The homeowner’s best option is to hire a professional flooring contractor who will lay the floor in a way that ensures that the planks or tiles won’t shift over time.

Brazilian cherry wood takes screws well but not nails. It glues well, which allows it to be used in engineered wood. The wood is also strong and durable and has good bending properties. It takes stains well and is resistant to termites. Its shock resistance makes it an excellent flooring material.

The heartwood of Brazilian cherry is salmon to orangey brown colored with beautiful steaks of dark or reddish brown. The grain has a texture that’s medium to coarse and is interlocked, which means that the fibers make an initial left hand and then a right hand spiral. As the tree grows, the direction of the spiral is changed every few years. The way the wood cells reflect light gives Brazilian cherry a pleasing golden luster.

Brazilian cherry is somewhat challenging to dry, because if it dries too quickly it tends to warp. Drying the wood slowly prevents this problem.

Sustainability

Another good thing about Brazilian cherry is that it’s sustainable. This doesn’t mean that simply choosing a Brazilian cherry floor means that the trees were harvested in a sustainable way. The homeowner should ask if the wood has an LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design qualification of Materials and Resources 7, or MR7. 

How To Use

Interior designers find the rich colors, patterns and textures of Brazilian cherry to be just the thing for warming up a room that would be chilly and uninviting. This could be a mostly bright white kitchen or a room that’s overwhelmed with neutral colors. On the other hand, Brazilian cherry can bring out the vibrancy in a room that’s full of color. 

Though the wood is water resistant, it still shouldn’t be used in a bathroom or a room that has unusually high humidity. Experts recommend using a dehumidifier in a room that has Brazilian cherry hardwood flooring. All spills need to be wiped or blotted up right away.

Wood that’s as beautiful as Brazilian cherry can also increase a home’s resale value, especially if it’s lain in hallways or public areas of the house.

 

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