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Black or darker
colored stained hardwood floors have
become increasingly popular in recent
years. Why, is not quite clear. Many
prefinished manufacturers have made a
sudden turn from more common natural and
earth toned stained hardwoods to colors
with names such as Espresso, Sable, Java,
Merlot, Cappuccino, and others.
One Canadian company
filling in the demand is Mirage Hardwood.
Shown on the right is the prefinished  Mirage
Red Oak Java, available in both engineered
and solid 3/4" naildown. Other hardwood
species the company offers in dark stains
include Birch and Maple.
Other engineered
manufacturers offering much darker stains
include Mohawk's Brazilian Cherry Ebony or
Dark Chestnut to name a few. Wide plank
dark hardwoods that can be installed by
the floating method include the Award
Terra Bella line. Engineered and 6 1/4" in
width, several names include Cocoa and
Evening. Bruce has some dark stains in
their engineered American Vintage Cherry
and Walnut.
As of this update,
few solid wide plank products are offered
in some of the more well known brands
except the BR111 Antiquity hand scraped
line. All Antiquity products are exotic
hardwoods with a few high gloss finishes.
Searching for a natural black
hardwood?
Wenge is the only common natural black
hardwood used for flooring but can be
pricey. Expect to pay over $10.00 per
square foot retail for a solid 3" wide
unfinished plank. Wider material will be
progressively expensive and harder to
obtain.
Can't find what
you're looking for with black flooring?
Options include having the hardwood
installed on site, sanded, stained black,
and finished. Over the years we've seen
decorators take it to the extreme turning
practically any species into what almost
looks like a black paint job. I suppose
everyone has their own particular taste
but we find it hard to grasp why a
beautiful natural grained hardwood is
darkened to something that is barely
noticeable.
Maintenance
with darker hardwoods can be an upkeep
problem. |
