My Hardwood Floor is Changing Colors, What’s Wrong?
Here’s the situation: You spend months and months deciding on what flooring you want. You’ve finally chosen a beautiful Bellawood Brazilian Cherry. After having it installed and replacing your furniture, you love your new room. Fast forward six months. You decide it is time to do some redecorating so you rearrange the furniture. When you move your area rug you see that the color underneath is much lighter than where the rug wasn’t. Does this mean that there was something wrong with your wood? Did the rug have something that effected your floor? How could this have happened?
There is actually a very simple explanation to all of this. It is called “patina” which can happen as your floor ages. This process can be rapid during the first three months, less in six months, and finishing in about one year. Moving furniture and rugs around helps to even out areas where light is not exposed to. Try to avoid large area rugs for the first three months if you can.
All wood species can change color over time due to oxidation or when exposed to light. In some species, the change can be more dramatic and may darken in color over time, while others tend to lighten. Currently, there is no known value set for Patina, or color change, of a species so contractors and or customers should be aware of this normal condition. The patina process is unrelated to the urethane finishes.
Some hardwoods that are known to make a dramatic difference are typically the exotic species, most notably Brazilian Cherry. Others that may change include Brazilian Koa, Purpleheart, and several others. Before you purchase a floor, ask if it patinas and if it gets lighter or darker. If you like the color of the flooring when it is first laid down and don’t want any change, they may be able to guide you in the direction of a product that has a less likelihood to change color or a product that has a less dramatic change.
About the Author
Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL) began with a very humble start in 1993 when Tom Sullivan, a building contractor, began purchasing excess wood that other companies didn’t need and reselling it from the back of a trucking firms yard in Stoughton, Massachusetts. This eventually led to the company finding their niche market in hardwood flooring in 1996. The first store opened on January 5, 1996 in West Roxbury, Massachusetts and sold 150 sq ft of floors that first day. Eight months later they opened a second store in Hartford, Connecticut and the increase continued ever since. Over the past 10 years the company has had steady growth with stores in 43 states and over 500 employees. Lumber Liquidators has grown to over 140 locations nationwide and more stores are slated to open this year. In order to be closer to the ports and for better distribution channels the company moved their headquarters from Boston to an 80,000 sq ft warehouse in Colonial Heights, Virginia in 1999. They thought that was all the space they would ever need, but by 2004 they were bursting at the seams and purchased a 306,000 sq ft distribution center in Toano, Virginia where they are now headquartered. This state-of-the-art facility is a far cry from the original headquarters in Massachusetts which had no running water, and a porta-john in the parking lot!
Lumber Liquidators prides itself with having one of the largest inventories of pre-finished and unfinished hardwood floors in the industry. They offer a variety of brands for residential and commercial construction, including Bellawood Pre-finished Hardwood Floors in domestic and exotic species with a 50 year pre-finish warranty. In addition to the variety of solid and engineered hardwood floors, Lumber Liquidators also carries laminate flooring, bamboo flooring, cork flooring, and butcher blocks.
Lumber Liquidators negotiates directly with the mills to buy an entire years production. This tactic eliminates the middleman and allows the savings to be passed on to the customers who appreciate the “hardwood flooring for less” method of buying. The environmentally conscientious company only purchases from suppliers who practice sustainable harvesting, which allows forests to heal and re-grow faster.
Lumber Liquidators has been recognized by Virginia Business as part of their Fantastic 50 two years in a row and Inc. Magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies. Chairman and Founder, Tom Sullivan was named Ernst and Young’s 2003 Virginia Entrepreneur of the Year. Lumber Liquidators has also been seen nationally in Home and Garden Television’s Dream Home, weekly on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and on This Old House. Even the stars can appreciate a good deal on quality floors. Lumber Liquidators’ floors can be found in the homes of notable figures such as the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Donald Trump, Angelina Jolie, Kim Basinger and numerous others.
Lumber Liquidators is the largest independent retailer in the United States, specializing in hardwood flooring (as ranked by Floor Focus Magazine, 2006). LumberLiquidators.com was recognized as a Top 50 website by Internet Retailer in 2007. Lumber Liquidators has one of the largest inventories of pre-finished and unfinished hardwood flooring in the industry. From Birdseye maple to Bolivian rosewood to 89-cent oak!
Everything Lumber Liquidators sells (unless specified otherwise) is first-quality, graded to industry specifications, and available in standard flooring lengths.
Crockett Tubs 7×14″ Purpleheart & Ash Stave
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Cheese Serving Board – Purpleheart Wood $39.99 This cheese cutting board measures 11″ x 7″, this piece of Purple-heart will look great with some colored fruit or just a plain ol’ Brie on it. This Cheese serving board is mounted on 4 black rubber feet attached with stainless steel screws. Cheese knife not included. As a natural product wood may vary in grain and color…. |
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Amaranth ‘Purpleheart’ Derby Walking Cane With Amaranth Wood Shaft and Silver Collar $64.99 Amaranth wood, also known as Purple Heart is one of the most unique woods in relation to its unique color. The wood color is very stylish and elegant and is purplish in color. A great cane to any cane user or collector that wants a cane that is very stylish and unique…. |
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McDermott Handcrafted Cues – Genesis Exp – Exotic Purpleheart $249.99 Hand Selected North American Hard Rock maple forearm and sleeve. The forearm is stained with our exclusive imported European Organic-Pigment stain McDermott stain is clearly superior to the synthetic stains generally used in the industry, and is notable for its uniform saturation of the wood and exacting consistency of color. The sleeve is accented with 5 Exotic South American purpleheart, Michiga… |
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Purpleheart by the Piece, 1/8” x 3” x 24” $7.49 True to its name, purpleheart boasts vibrant purple heartwood, and a fine, satiny texture. Initially a dull brown, it takes on its brilliant tone shortly after the wood is cut. The sapwood is creamy, pinkish cinnamon. It has exceptionally high bending and crushing strength, is dimensionally stable, and is extremely resistant to decay. All boards are machined S4S…. |
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Purpleheart, 2 x 8 x 8 $13.69 Central and South America purpleheart (peltogyne). Medium to hard wood with tight, fairly straight grain with moderate to coarse texture. Bright purple when cut, darkens to brownish purple with exposure. Purpleheart is a very strong wood, machines well with sharp tools. Turns and finishes well. Uses for purpleheart include: boat-building, flooring, furniture, heavy construction, and a variety of … |
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Purpleheart by the Piece, 1/8” x 1 1/2” x 24” $4.49 True to its name, purpleheart boasts vibrant purple heartwood, and a fine, satiny texture. Initially a dull brown, it takes on its brilliant tone shortly after the wood is cut. The sapwood is creamy, pinkish cinnamon. It has exceptionally high bending and crushing strength, is dimensionally stable, and is extremely resistant to decay. All boards are machined S4S…. |
Tags: cutting, exotic, four, lumber, purpleheart exotic hardwoods, purpleheart exotic lumber, purpleheart exotic wood, woodworking