Replies

1. 
   CharlieP | Jun 20, 2004 06:55pm | #1

   I would avoid the stain... You will be surprised how fast the cherry darkens initially, then more gradually later.  This if there are repairs or other cherry wood items, they will approach the same color over time. 

   If you stain or dye, then you are on a different path.  If you use stain to match the color with later repairs, while the cherry is at the beginning of the aging cycle, the colors will diverge - since you will be on a different path, there will always be a difference. 

   If you are trying to reproduce a historical floor, then there are oil and wax techniques, but they are relatively high maintenance.  For low maintenance, Polyurethane is the "standard" for floors.  Gloss for the first coats, then whatever finish you want (gloss, semi, satin) for the final coat.  Some people believe that the water based polyurethanes are fine, and they are certainly getting better, but I plan to use oil based when I redo our floors soon. 

   ________________________
   Charlie Plesums  Austin, Texas
   http://www.plesums.com/wood

1. 
   Alan | Jun 21, 2004 03:04am | #2

   Charlie,

   Wouldn't the furniture, rugs and such "ghost" on the floor?  In other words, where the light couldn't get to it, wouldn't the cherry remain lighter than the rest of the floor?

   Alan

1. 
   CharlieP | Jun 21, 2004 03:16am | #3

   You will probably have lighter areas under the carpet and furniture, but that will be true whether the wood is stained or not.  Similar problems occur with cherry bookcases and other furniture.  Since the darkening occurs far faster at first than later, the lighter areas "catch up" when they are "uncovered." 

   It sounds ugly but it really isn't - cherry is a beautiful wood, and this is part of the charm of cherry.  The only problems I have found (from people who have written to me to figure out what to do) is when the cherry was stained - to which I don't have a good answer.________________________Charlie Plesums  Austin, Texashttp://www.plesums.com/wood

1. 
   Barrie2777 | Jun 21, 2004 03:48am | #4

   I have worked in several homes with cherry floors and the owners have had to refinish several times since cherry is not quite as hard as other traditional flooring woods. Keep this in mind if you stain. Extreme sunlight will bleach the color out of walnut and cherry, turning them yellow.

2. 
   BOBABEUI | Jun 21, 2004 03:26pm | #5

   Don,

   My sister-in-law installed prefinished cherry floors in her home and roughly at the same time I installed prefinished red oak. The cherry floors look like a million bucks, but as another poster has stated they mar pretty easily, they don't hold up nearly as well a the red oak..

   So you need to be either extra careful or more tolerant of the 'character' they achieve rather quickly.

   Best of luck..  

1. 
   Scooter456 | Jun 22, 2004 12:22am | #6

   Cherry sucks for flooring because it really dents easily.  Your finish choice won't prevent that.  I use a water based poly made especially for floors with a catylist that accelerates the curing.  It is called Traffic.

3. 
   SBertz | Jun 22, 2004 07:18pm | #7

   Don,

   We had Cherry floors installed in our house 2 years ago.  The installer finished the floors with 2 coats of oil (maybe Boiled Linseed) and two coats of Street Shoe (water based poly specifically made for floors).  So far the finish has held up very well.  Cherry does dent somewhat easily, but to me, that's part of the character of the floor.

4. 
   mlbfreestyle | Jun 22, 2004 08:08pm | #8

   I would lean towards using an oil finish or Waterlox tung oil finish.  Both are repairable.  I agree with the responses indicating that cherry will not be as tough as something like oak or maple.  To me, that means reparability is important.

   If you stain the wood; it will be more difficult to match up a repair.  A straight oil finish will not provide much protection but is very easy to apply and spot repair.  A decent alternative is to use Waterlox tung oil finish (I would use the satin or semi-gloss).  This finish is and "old-fashioned" varnish that will form a protective film yet it is much easier to repair than other alkyd or polyurethane varnish.

   I also agree that a natural look will ultimately provide the best overall look.

5. 
   3puttjay | Jun 24, 2004 08:49pm | #9

   We had maple wood flooring with a double cherry border in our living room installed two years ago. The cherry started out the same color as the maple but now you can definitely see the border and it is beautiful. I didn't use any stain on my floors and went with the street shoe poly for my floors. Love the stuff, my kids ride their trikes and bikes in the house on that stuff and we haven't noticed any wear on the floor. I like cherry in its pure state without any stain, it has a beautiful grain which gets better with age.  I like maple with cherry, I have some cherry boards and curly maple boards laying around that I would like to make into a table top. Good luck with your flooring.

6. 
   Clay | Jun 25, 2004 12:13am | #10

   Cherry is VERY MUCH softer than oak floors and its fine grained surface shows dents and mars much more noticeably than even pine.  I reccommend that you utiliise the natural distressing potential and wash a dark glaze over the dings wiping it out on the surface so that it makes dark features of the scratches and dents.  People have paid me top money to do this on brand new cabinets and furniture.   A very deep brown is just right.  Use either asphaltum or a raw umber tint with a bit of black added.