Walnut flooring, no matter whether it’s solid or engineered, is a really popular choice and when you look at it’s rich, dark colour, it’s easily seen why. In it’s natural state, walnut flooring already has its dark and elegant characteristics which the finishing process enhances. With its unique hint of purple featuring subtly in its overall colouring, walnut wood flooring is a stylish flooring solution whose look only improves with time.
Native to North America, walnut normally has a fairly regular grain but can, from time to time, feature a more complex grain pattern. Typically chosen to enhance an interior which is crying out for a dark base colour, walnut flooring is available in engineered or solid wood flooring options. No matter whether you’re choosing walnut, or any other wood species for that matter, the choice between solid and engineered wood flooring won’t affect the final look of your floor.
Solid walnut wood flooring, as the name suggests is made from planks of walnut, which are created from one single piece of wood. Engineered walnut wood flooring, on the other hand, is made up of a combination of wood and other materials. Engineered walnut wood flooring is typically made up of three layers of hardwood plus a layer of plywood or MDF. Because this base is finished off with a layer of hardwood, in this case walnut, the look of the floor will be exactly the same whether you opt for the solid or the engineered option.
One thing to bear in mind if you’re planning to install either a solid or an engineered walnut floor is the effect that sunlight will have on your new floor. Because walnut is highly light sensitive, it has a tendency to darken and become richer in colour over time (when exposed to ultra-violet light). In many ways, this adds to the charm of this sumptuous wood, but can, if you’re not aware of it at the outset, come as a bit of a surprise.
While not ideally suited to high traffic areas, thanks to the fact that it’s a softer wood than the likes of oak, walnut flooring is ideal for rooms which are (for a large part of the time at least) pet and child-free.