happymommy, I have a very small section in our bonus room next to the wetbar. It is so pretty and rich looking. BUT, it scratches very easily. In fact, we just saw a new scratch yesterday that I was going to see if I can touch up with a furniture pen. I'm guessing that's why some don't use it....? I don't have a photo right now but will take one later today. Hubby just loved it in his Man room. It's dark!

I see...I thought walnut was a really hard wood. Uggh. This is all so confusing! Regardless, I'd love to see a pic. Thank you so very much!!!!

The beneficial qualities of this wood can also cause problems in certain conditions. I would not consider it for a residence in my area but it might work in the southeast if it is prefinished.

If it scratches easily it is probably another kind of wood sold as Brazilian walnut which is a poorly defined marketing phrase.

I have used it once in a kitchen with an oil finish and it was easily stained. For the cost there are many more attractive and more easily finished woods available. You need to do some further research about it.

Here is a link that might be useful: flooring info

So I just took some pics for you. I do still love this floor, it's so rich looking. But maybe what I thought was a scratch is more of a scuff mark?? There isn't a groove when I run my finger across it, so I'll try some floor cleaner and see what happens. The girls had some friends over and watched a movie. Of course both of them look at me with those big eyes and say..."We have no idea what happened to the floor Mommy" Hubby was not amused.

I also linked the mfg page below. It's from BR-111 and was prefinished.

Mark on the floor..there's two or three of these.
{{gwi:1398054}}

Here is a link that might be useful: BR-111 Brazilian Walnut

Holy cow, is that mightyanvil back ?

In terms of Ipe, pre-finished is more than likely the way to go. it is not uniformly dark and depending upon the manufacturer, may even have much lighter looking planks mixed in as well. not sure if its sap wood or just the nature of the tree.

It is "hard" as its one of the hardest woods known, but that doesn't mean the finish won't scratch. The AlOx finish that prefinished floors use for all types of woods is pretty much the same regardless of species. It's hard but no more difficult to scratch the finish. Now, if you are indicating that its easy to scuff - that may mean its another species. So, the finish is easy to scratch, but the wood isn't.

The reason for pre-finish is because its a real nightmare sanding this particular species. it's oily (like other wood species that work well outside) which makes sanding the wood and working with it difficult. The sanded off dust can be irritating to breath to quite a few and it has a tendency to clump.

Other than that - if you like something close to american walnut(graining is different) and like something with less red than brazilian cherry and a bit darker than santos mahogany - then this tropical species will probably fit the bill.

I just tried to "clean" the scuffs. One came out the other one (that I show above) is definitely a scratch. It's a surface scratch so what anthem is saying makes sense. It must be the finish.

When I ask "Big John", a flooring supplier I use, about the relative hardness, durability etc. of various materials, he is fond of pulling out an old steak knife and running a nice scratch down anything you show him.

The only thing in my house that hasn't been chipped, scratched or broken yet are the rough quartzite squares in the front hall.

Brazilian walnut and jatoba are the woods of choice for many high-end builders in Toronto. So much so, I consider it a cliche and avoid them. And see my oak planks sneered at as if they were a cheap substitute!

Mightyanvil - I live in Wisconsin and I have little kids, so what type of wood flooring do you suggest would work well in my area, given that it'll be used and abused by little ones? I want something stained dark and I thought that this might be the best bet. I saw some threads on Brazilian teak and I want something much darker than that. Any ideas?

Lindybarts - I LOVE YOUR WOOD! That is exactly the look I am going for, but I am a little hesitant now hearing about the scratch. My understanding was that Brazilian walnut was one of the hardest woods there is and that's why I was inquiring about it.

So anyway, if anyone can tell me what sort of wood would be the best bet for me - something I can stain dark and that won't scratch too easily - I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks happymommy! I think what Worthy is trying to say is that no matter what wood you get, it's going to get a few scratches. I just think the darker one will show it more. I have to say the Teak has been really good so far. When we were looking at it in the showroom, there was a light and a dark teak. Maybe you could look at the darker one....? Still, it's not as rich looking as that Brazilian Walnut.

Here's the light Teak

The teak is gorgeous, it really is. I like the variation in color that it has. Thank you so much. What a beautiful home you built! I have oak floors now and I do know that scratches are inevitable... I am just curious as to HOW bad the dark wood will scratch and if it's worth the expense in the end. Thanks for uploading the pics for me. I really am going to have to do more research!!!!

The darker the wood and more uniform the graining, the more scratches will show. One of the reasons that oak is so popular is that since it has so much graining, scratches don't show as much. Honestly, if you want dark and uniform you aren't going to get anything that will not scratch with abuse - at least that is a wood species (marble/granite will fit your bill easily though).

"hardness" has nothing to do with scratch resistant. It could be argued that the hardness actually contributes to how easy some of these woods are scratched. Surface finish is what is scratched and that is what you are dealing with. That and how visible it is when it happens.

I don't know if you saw my response to another flooring post, so I'll do the pics again here. We have a prefinished 'natural finish' Lyptus flooring. It looks very similar to the teak pic that Lindy posted in terms of variation of color. We have found that it covers the inevitable dings and scratches that any wood floor will get very well (we have 3 boys 6 yrs old and under). The floor is a bit dirty in these pics, as we were in the process of moving in when I took them. Ironically, the staircase you see is American walnut, also in natural finish!

Lyptus flooring prices are evidently competitive with other hardwoods, starting at just under $5 sq. ft. for 3" wide unfinished boards.

Fishpants:

That Lyptus is fabulous; I like the color contrast - it is a bit lighter than what I envision, but far more practical given the fact that I will have little ones scampering around. I have never seen that type of hardwood before. Thank you for giving me food for thought and excellent work on your choice. Your home is gorgeous!!

Thanks--
And worthy is right-prices ARE competitive. We were in the upper $6 range for ours prefinished, plus labor...

That is so reasonable, comparatively. Thanks again, Fishpants! Gorgeous home!!!

Sadly I have a comment. This is an old thread. But I got 3000 ft of Brazilian Walnut flooring and wasn't as wise to really check it out. After buying prefinished and encountering scratches we paid again to have it sanded and resurfaced with an ebony stain and then water-based polyurethane and it is still scratching easily. The lesson is 'slick on slick don't stick'. The wood is just too hard to absorb the stain and polyurethane coating whether it be oil or water based polyurethane. I was told by perhaps the wisest person I talked to (after the fact) that if you have brazilian walnut best thing to do is just put turkish oil on it. For now we are trying to learn how to use pens and so forth to touch it up, but it is heart breaking because we have a large floor and this is sad. Our medium/large size dog nails scratch it (and fake nail they just chew off), chairs scratch it fairly easily and yes right through the stain. I wish I had done this research. This wise man explained to me it is like putting a polyurethane coating on a slick garage floor. He says "slick on slick don't stick." I was advised ahead of time to put oak. I did not listen. No more oak was allowed in house bc I already had some and it isn't my favorite grain. I love my floor that I have, it is GORGEOUS. BUT...it scratches terribly through the grain. I'm not taking mine out, I will learn how to touch it up. But will have lots of carpets under chairs, maybe even breakfast chairs or will put little rug pads beneath each and every chair leg.

You have discovered that there is a reason that oak has been the main choice for floors for a VERY long time.

I am not sure and would have to question the scratch comment. Brazilian Walnut IPE, has a Janka rating of 3280 - one of the hardest woods I've ever seen. i have decided to use it in my house. The only thing that makes me question it, is the green tint it has. As far as scratching, i took a key to mine and literally put pressure. NO scratch.

dsulvett, do you have pictures of your IPE? We are getting ready to install IPE and I am not a fan of the green that comes through and am looking for a stain to use. Any advise would help!

To cut the green, choose a stain with red in it. It's the opposite on the color wheel and when you mix the two you get a more neutral brown.

I used hemp oil on my ipe and the green disappeared completely. The dark reds and browns came through. I am, however, having issues with scratching. I will try to investigate further, but they do seem to be actual scratches. If anyone has found any solutions to this I'd love to hear them. The only quick fix I can think of for my floors is to lightly sand and spot apply more hemp oil, or just put oil directly on the scratches. I knew going in that the hemp oil would need to be reapplied periodically, and that the dark color would show scratches and dirt more, but I really didn't like anything else for this space. I needed to put something in fast that would not off gas as we were about to move in and have a baby in a couple weeks, so hemp oil seemed to be the best choice. I'm curious if anyone has tried tung oil, and also what you all use to clean. I know steam mops aren't supposed to be used on unsealed floors, but one site said that it would be fine to use on ipe. Has anyone done this?