PROS: Mesquite is a very stable wood. The grain can be straight or swirly with some very interesting figuring and color variation, making it a very unique floor covering. It ranges from a pale straw color to deep reddish browns. The mesquite tree is gnarly, and therefore it is tricky to find long, clear boards – but this why it makes it an interesting and unusual floor covering. Mesquite is a wood that is full of character. It is quite a moisture-resistant wood. CONS: The most common grades of mesquite you will find are #1 and #2. These lower grades may have tiny holes, mineral streaks or small pieces of bark included in the floorboards. High quality grades are going to look more uniform. However, these select grades are rare and quite expensive. The mesquite that comes from Texas known as “common mesquite” will be especially hard to find and very expensive. If you are going to go with a higher grade of mesquite, it is smarter to go with Argentine honey mesquite flooring. TREE FACTS: Mesquite is associated with barbecuing and south-western flavors. Because it is such a durable wood, hunters have use mesquite for gunstocks. Mesquite is found in the Texan southwest and spans into Mexico. There are about 60 different species of mesquite. Mesquite is an extremely fast-growing tree.

PROS: If you like the reddish tones of American cherry but would like something much harder, this is the stuff. It is harder than many domestic hardwoods. Its strength makes it a great floor for high traffic areas. It can have deep red, reddish brown and burgundy tones. It is a photosensitive wood which means that it will darken over time. An elegant wood with bold graining. It has an open grain like oak. CONS: It can be difficult to obtain and will be moderately expensive. Due to its hardness it will prove to be a difficult sanding job. But when sanded, it will be nice and smooth. The color can vary significantly from one board to the next. It also is tricky to finish. Cherry does not take stain well. Because the grain is swirly, the stain is usually blotchy. You have to use a non-penetrating stain if you want it to look even. Gel stains work best on Brazilian cherry. If you want Jatoba but without the headache of a big project, you may want to consider getting it prefinished. TREE FACTS: Brazilian cherry comes from the Brazilian Amazon. Some environmental groups have seen this species heavily targeted by illegal loggers. If you decide to purchase it, make sure that you are getting it from a legitimate source. Despite its name, it has no relation to black cherry.

PROS: It is a very durable floor material. It comes in a variety of grades. The lower grades can have boards ranging from a pale white to a medium brown (in the same board). This wood is the most widely available, next to oak. If a pale white floor is what you desire, consider installing a prime grade maple and finish it with a totally clear water-based coating. This method will give you a more long lasting white floor and for much less cost than white staining oak. The grain pattern is visible. It is a strong floor. It wears slowly and smoothly, without splintering. The wood is dense. CONS: Its grain pattern is so fine that to some, it is a very plain wood. They should consider curly or bird’s eye maple if they have deep pockets. It will crack if not predrilled when face nailing. You may be reminded of that gym floor look which can turn some people off. This wood doesn’t take a pigment stain at all having almost no pores, use dye stains and then only in the lightest of tones. This wood is too dense to accept color. Usually, pigment will go on maple in splotches. TREE FACTS: Hard maple is also referred to as sugar maple. Hard maple comes from the same tree that produces the sap to make maple syrup. It comes from the sugar maple tree.

PROS: Teak’s hardness is somewhere between black walnut and black cherry. Teak is a soft to medium hard wood. The grain is straight with the occasional slightly wavy pattern. The grain is coarse and fairly uneven. Teak ranges from pale yellow to yellow-brown to golden brown. It has beautiful chocolate brown streaks. Teak is a very dense wood that is resistant to termite attacks. It holds nails well. CONS: Like Australian cypress, teak is also an oily wood. After you sand, you do not want to wait and let your floor acclimate. The oily substance in the wood is sap or resin. You want to coat it quickly as to not let the natural resin rise to the surface and seep into the coating. It has a dull luster so you will need to use a semi to high gloss finish. I recommend using a solvent before you apply the stain. This allows the stain not to interact with the natural oils present in the wood. Teak will dull saw blades. Teak sands very well but will clog up the pores of your sandpaper quickly. You will need to change your sandpaper frequently. It is not a good floor for high traffic areas. TREE FACTS: Two out of the three species of teak are on the endangered species list. These species of teak have been susceptible to unsustainable harvesting practices for decades. Some people have reclaimed old teak in a distasteful way. They have taken it from houses that have been demolished for the purpose of getting the old teak and replaced them with brick and concrete homes that have been in the Western style. There have also been cases where teak is sold under the pretext that it is sustainably produced but evidence shows that it has in fact been produced by child labor. The majority of the teak that is imported into the United States comes from socially and environmentally questionable sources. Only if it has a Forest Stewardship Council certification can you guarantee that it has been environmentally harvest. Teak usually comes from Indonesia, Myanmar and other countries in southeast Asia. Sometimes it comes from Central and South America. Teak is also used for furniture and canoes.

PROS: The most popular of all the hardwood floor species in the United States, you’ll always be able to get red oak in all the parquet styles, as well as strip and plank. It has a most prominent grain pattern, and is so porous that most stains work well with this wood. It yields a very good finish. Very moderately priced and is available in at least 3 or 4 different grades. Its light pink tones age beautifully and turn amber when an oil-based finish is used. Its density and hardness make this floor covering long-lasting. Like white oak, red oak is also quite wear-resistant. Red oak also resists water well. Because of its density and hardness, it is a very practical floor covering option. CONS: It’s so often used that it looks like everybody else’s floor. Being so popular it’s turning our hardwood forests into a mono crop of red oak. Remember what happened to the elm? This wood is becoming so mass produced that milling is getting sloppy in some of the lower grades. I would not install common #1 and #2 as they usually self destruct w ithin a decade. It’s too bad because 25-30 years ago I could use these cheaper grades to make some interesting floors. TREE FACTS: The red oak is the state tree for New Jersey. These are more abundant than the white oak. Red oak is highly valued. Many similar oaks are marketed as red oak but they are of much poorer quality. It grows in the northeastern United States and the southeast of Canada.

PROS: As far as Santos ( Myroxylon, balsamum) it is a hard dense wood. It is quite moisture stable that should work well in most climates. It doesn’t have a lot of color and grain variation. If you want a uniform-looking floor, this is the way to go. Santos mahogany has medium to coarse graining. Its rich reddish brown or purplish brown coloring is beautiful left the way it is. Most people do not color stain this wood. This wood is dense with very small pores. The pores are even smaller than walnut! It is quite hard and durable. It is harder than red oak! It holds nails well. It is a very stable floor. Santos mahogany is much harder than genuine mahogany. Genuine mahogany is actually too soft for most flooring applications. Differently, santos mahogany will stand up in high traffic areas. This means that it is an excellent floor covering for both residential and commercial buildings. CONS: The natural color will fade slightly overtime. A more serious downside to santos mahogany for the person laying the floor is the health risk. This wood has a smell that causes allergies. This scent has been linked with respiratory problems. If you do work with it, even just sanding it, wear a proper mask. The dust causes these adverse respiratory reactions. Besides, it is very difficult to sand, due to its hardness. It’s good to buy this stuff prefinished, as there are a couple of finishing issues here. Also, that way you won’t be working with the sawdust. And some polyurethane finishes have been known to leave streaks because of reactions to oils and resins in this wood. But if you have prefinished wood, you will not experience any of those problems. It’s a great looking wood in this case. TREE FACTS: It is known as Cuban or Santo Domingan mahogany because it comes from those islands. When the wood is freshly cut, it has a spicy smell.

PROS: Cypress varies in color from cream to golden brown. Over time cypress may amber slightly. It has a fine texture with frequently occurring knots. The grain structure is small, tight and closed. The grain pattern is straight, but has the occasional swirls through it. Cypress is a very hard softwood. It is as hard as cherry. If you have never seen Australian cypress, you may get it confused with knotty pine. The earthier tones make Australian cypress distinct. Its beautiful brown coloring doesn’t need to be stained. It holds nails well. Australian cypress is also termite resistant. Australian cypress has very low shrinkage. It is a durable wood that is used both in residential and commercial applications. CONS: Australian cypress can be brittle so be careful when nailing that you don’t split the wood. Australian cypress is an oily wood. After you sand, you do not want to wait and let your floor acclimate. The oily substance in the wood is sap or resin. You want to coat it quickly as to not let the natural resin rise to the surface and seep into the coating. This is a knotty wood. Knots tend to move and shift with time. This means that your finish may possibly peel or separate from the surface of any knots in your floor. It is also possible that you may experience minor cracking around the knots. Knots are the strongest point of the wood itself. However, around the knots, the wood is fairly weak. Knotty wood is beautiful but don’t expect the knots to remain perfectly problem-free. Australian cypress may have some adhesion problems with the finish in contact with the knots in the wood. Finishes typically do not adhere well to knotty areas. A good test is to coat a small knot in finish and try and scratch it off. If it scratches off, it is not a good finish. Basic Coatings makes Hydroline Sealer, which is a water-based floor sealer. Bona Kemi makes Pacific High Build Sealer and Bonaseal. These finishing products work well with Australian cypress. Knots contain sap. Sometimes the sap will rise to the surface of the wood. An oil finish will not even dry on a resinous area of your floor. Typically, an oil finish will just sit on top of the sappy area. This means that an oil finish will have little or no adhesion to the knotty area of your Australian cypress flooring. Stay away from high gloss finishes. Near the knots, a high gloss finish will appear wavy. Sometimes a large knot will have cracks through it. If it seems like the crack is big or will grow overtime, don’t use that section of floorboard. It will only cause aggravation later! Also, the dust has a strong “piney” smell. Some people are allergic to it. Wear a mask. Also, if the dust comes in contact with your skin, you may possibly have a reaction. It is best to wear a long-sleeved shirt and long pants. If you come in contact with the sawdust, you may experience redness on your skin and sneezing. Don’t worry because the scent dissipates fairly quickly. If you have concerns about the sawdust, get the prefinished Australian cypress pine so you won’t have to deal with sanding it. If you go with the unfinished, keep in mind that when you are sanding Australian cypress, you need to change your sandpaper frequently. The reason why is because it is a sappy wood. The more friction you create sanding it, the more the resin will warm up. The resin has the propensity to gum up your sandpaper, which you obviously want to avoid. TREE FACTS: Cypress is a species of pine. Cypress grows in the eastern states of Australia, primarily in New South Wales and Southern Queensland. Similar to jarrah, Australian cypress is also a protected species. The Australian government has a Farm Forestry Program that specifies logging practices of Australian cypress. In overseas markets, Australian cypress is valued for flooring and wall panelling.

PROS: Now this is the real McCoy. It is one of the more durable of the softwoods and if the planks are over 1 1/2″ thick they should last a lifetime. Old growth timbers are the best for durability, color and moisture stability. These are being savaged off old buildings and from the bottoms of rivers. Why not own a piece of American history? This grand old tree can live again in your floor. It really doesn’t need a stain. It only needs a finish. As pine floors age, they turn a warm yellow-orange color. Yellow pine has lots of swirls and knots. CONS: It is still fairly prone to denting and gouging, especially in the modern second growth material. Old growth lumber may be very expensive and hard to obtain. Don’t try to stain this wood with anything but a gel stain like Wood-Kote otherwise it will go blotchy. Pine has a deeper stain penetration in the less dense areas. These less dense areas occur naturally in the growth of pine trees. The combination of less dense and more dense areas is what causes the splotches. Earlywood (spring growth) pine soaks up at least 4 coats of poly and if there is a lot of pitch in the wood, this can lengthen drying times. Don’t seal the knots with shellac as the urethane won’t adhere to it. The earlywood is porous and off-white. The (latewood) summer growth is hard, dense and orange. Depending on when it is harvested, pine reacts differently when sanded, stained, and finished. This means that a lot of the pine you can get will have an uneven appearance, especially after you have applied the finish. The latewod pine does not hold stain very well. It is too dense to absorb the stain. It is not very porous. TREE FACTS: Yellow southern pine is grown across the southern United States. These trees attribute largely to forest fires. Southern softwood species of pine are loblolly, slash, longleaf, and short leaf (southern yellow pine).

PROS: Well, if you can afford it this wood has it all. Very dark to medium brown in color. It has a wonderous grain pattern that will never bore you. The close grain pattern varies from straight to wavy to curly. Walnut varies a lot in color, figure and grade. Dark stained oak is its nearest imitator and doesn’t even come close. Quite durable and similar to cherry wood in its dent resistance. Highly figured in some of the cuts. It is widely available as feature strips, inlays in parquet patterns as well as strip and plank. It is one of the most prized North American hardwoods. It is moderately dense but very hard. It sands and finishes very well. It is excellent at holding just about any stain evenly. It cuts, nails and takes to glue very easily. Walnut is a very stable wood. CONS: As you can guess this stuff is very expensive and when large quantities are needed it must be special ordered well in advance. Other than it being a bit softer than oak (as if that is the standard) I can’t find any fault with this wood. TREE FACTS: American walnut is also known as black walnut. Black walnut used to be a common tree in old growth forests. It has become scarce because it is such a highly prized wood. It is a flowering tree that is part of the hickory family. American walnut is grown in eastern North America.

PROS: It looks like red oak at first glance. Pretty tough stuff, it’s used in baseball bats and tool handles. It has a contrasting grain pattern and lots of pores, so it ought to take most stains fairly evenly. The grain is fairly straight and open. The grain is coarse and bold. The grain  structure is similar to red oak. When clear finished it becomes very blond in color. The color is pretty close to English ash. Ash varies from pure white to cream to light brown. It is known for its density and strength. This floor can stand up to heavy foot traffic. Ash resists impact well. It is an excellent choice for a light to medium floor covering.   CONS: I have found when sanding older floors that this wood tended to develop cracks over time. This could have been caused by too fast a kiln drying process and poor milling. Also watch for any boards that have any chips coming off them. Be sure to predrill any hand nailing, as this stuff is easy to split. TREE FACTS: It is native to eastern North America. It is the largest of the ash trees.