Considering installing 450 sf of Brazilian Walnut flooring in my living room (3/4 X 3″). I think this wood is also known as Ipe and is very hard.
Anybody have any experience with it?
Can I staple it as I would red oak?
Any problem with splitting?
Any special considerations for finishing?
Replies
John, the common name "Brazilian walnut" is used for several different woods, most commonly for a member of the laurel family; Phoebe porosa (AKA; Imbuia), but also sometimes for the wood of the tree that produces Brazil-nut; Bertholletia excelsa. I've never heard it used as a common name for ipe...But then, lumber dealers are a shifty bunch. If you're pretty sure the wood is actually ipe, it should make very good and extremely wear resistant flooring. It's exceptionally dense, hard and heavy, so you may want to rethink using staples to put it down. There's an article on ipe in the June 2002 issue of Fine WoodWorking (issue #156.)
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