A hint of mystery.
A hint of mystery.
American black walnut is considered by many to be the domestic exotic. Warm chocolate tones are entwined with light sapwood to create a mysterious and welcoming floor. A true walnut—and not just a walnut-colored stain over a different wood species—has a characteristic that you should be aware of as you are looking around.
Area rugs and furniture can create ghosts like this. But don't worry! It isnt permanent.
The ghosts will fade to match the color of the rest of the floor in just a matter of days.
All wood naturally patinas in sunlight. Area rugs and furniture can create ghosts like this. But don't worry! It isnt permanent. When you move the rug or chair, the ghosts will fade to match the color of the rest of the floor.
Walnut is particularly photosensitive. And because Walnut is so dark to begin with, the change is much more dramatic when it is exposed to light.
If you are considering Walnut, it's important to be aware,the sample you get most likely is already a slightly different color than what will come out of the box. But it will be a good representation of how it should look over time.
Photosensitivity is a wood's natural reaction when exposed to light. Many species of wood (like Brazilian Cherry, Teak, and even Oak to a degree) change color or lighten when placed in direct sunlight.
The affect is most noticeable when an object, like a couch, table or a rug, casts a sharp shadow onto the floor.
At Allwood, we embrace the beauty and variation created by nature. Every plank is unique, which is one of the things we love about what we do. However, while every sample is created directly from production, and and every photo is color corrected as closely as we can, it is not possible to display all variations in color and character you may find in your floor. That’s why it important to approve the actual flooring before final installation, not just a small sample.
**SPECIAL NOTE** Walnut is a very photosensitive, or “light-sensitive” wood. When exposed to sunlight, walnut is prone to change its color and become lighter than wood that is kept in the shade. Areas where this is most noticeable are those with direct sunlight or where sharp light/shadows are present. This is a natural occurrence in all real wood and not a defect in the flooring. It is very important to know this when considering walnut, however, as it is slightly more prone to color change than other wood types.
Special Note:
You may be familiar with grading terms like “character” and “select”. These refer to the amount (or lack) of knots in a plank, the straightness of the grain, and even the amount of sapwood. For instance, a Very-Charactered grade of floor will have a lot of knots or variation in its grain. While a Select floor will have almost none. But what most people do not know is that there are separate grading systems between the different wood species. And that the grading for Walnut is quite different from that of Oak. A Select-grade walnut floor can look much different from a Select-grade oak. This can get kind of confusing if you don’t know the different scales.
So even though our Walnut is technically a Select-grade by walnut standards, to keep things simple, we have chosen to use an oak grading scale and are calling it Character.
*All dimensions are rounded to nearest standard US measurement.
