Dark hardwood floors for Westchester County
In Westchester NY, dark hardwood flooring is very stylish. Many of my customers love the dark look…they even ask for Ebony. Dark is sleek and stylish and gives your Westchester home a sophisticated look.
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How do you get dark hardwood floors? What options are there?
Most dark hardwoods are stained to make them darker. There are many types of woods that can work.
1. The most common dark flooring is oak hardwood that is stained with a dark brown stain such as Ebony (the darkest stain) or a slightly lighter with a Jacobean or Dark Walnut stain. Many customers who are seeking a dark stain want “pure” brown with no hints of red. And, these 3 stains seem to achieve that goal well. The above 2 pictures are ebony.
Even if you have red oak flooring, these dark stains will drown out the inherent redness of the wood. If you already have oak floors, your floors can be stained dark (even if they are currently light colored). Or, if you are adding hardwood, you can either get a pre-finished oak with a dark stain, or you can get unfinished hardwood and sand and stain it on the site. (One of the benefits to refinishing it on site is that you can test samples of it on your own wood before committing to a color).
On the left is a picture of some of the Minwax stain samples – Jacobean, ebony, red mahogany and dark walnut. It’s important to test the colors on your actual wood as they often look different on different woods. Also, looking at the Jacobean and Dark walnut on this chart, I can tell you that these actually tend to look much darker in real life on the real wood. So, always test.
Some customers want dark floors, but they also want a bit more warmth in the color, and in those cases, often Royal Mahogany is a good stain selection. It appears to be a combo of ebony and red mahogany.
Oak hardwood flooring tends to be less expensive vs other hardwood species as it’s more abundant here in the US.
Below is ebony stained oak.
Update 4/24/16: Earlier this year, due to the strong demand of “dark dark” floors/black floors, Duraseal introduced a new color to its line up called True Black. Here is a picture of white oak floors using Duraseal’s True Black #199.
2. Brazilian Walnut is naturally a darker wood. In its natural state, I would call Brazilian Walnut a mid toned brown. Brazilian Walnut has a richer smoother grain vs. oak and it has a lot more color variation. You also have the option to add a stain to Brazilian Walnut to make it darker.
3. Hickory flooring is another hardwood that can easily be stained darker. Hickory is harder than oak (1800 on the Janka Scale vs. 1290 for red oak).
The above hardwoods (oak, brazilian walnut or hickory) are easy to install either as prefinished or unfinished hardwood and then stained on site to the desired color. The following hardwoods are generally best to get pre-finished, especially for darker stain colors. (These woods are either rare/expensive to get in an unfinished form and/or are challenging to stain on site as they come out blotchy.
4. Maple hardwood flooring can be stained dark. Maple is a challenging hardwood to stain due to its pores; some of the dark stains come out gray and some come out darker brown. If you want a dark maple, I’d recommend buying a pre-finished maple.
Shaw’s Cosmopolitan maple is a unique black hardwood with a special type of enamel. It has a very sleek and modern look. But, it is a distressed hardwood, so it’s not a flat surface like most hardwoods that you find in Westchester NY.
5. Some prefinished birches (left) and ash (right) come very dark…even darker than maple.
6. Wenge is a very dark hardwood and has its own unique look. It tends to be on the more expensive side. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of real Wenge hardwood, but the picture to the right is a laminate version of Wenge.
[easyazon_image align=”right” height=”160″ identifier=”B001VRQV5O” locale=”US” src=”https://theflooringgirl.com/wp-content/uploads/41LxU8oY8SL.SL160.jpg” tag=”hwdark-20″ width=”52″]
Bonus tip: What to do if you have a scratch? This is not a perfect solution, but consider buying a [easyazon_link identifier=”B001VRQV5O” locale=”US” tag=”hwdark-20″]Minwax stain marker[/easyazon_link]. It can help camouflage your scratches, especially if you only have a few. It comes in many colors including ebony, dark walnut, red mahogany, golden oak, provincial and cherry. Some people will even get 2 similar colors (e.g. ebony and dark walnut) as there is color variation in the wood.
For more tips on maintaining your hardwood floors and reducing scratches, check out this article: Maintaining your new hardwood floors – tips to prevent scratches.
You may also find these hardwood flooring articles helpful:
If you live in Westchester County NY, I offer color consultations to advise customers on paint colors and stain choices. My designer discount at the paint stores usually more than offsets the cost for the hour consultation. Read more here. Due to popular demand, I’m now offering phone consultations as well.
Check out my ebook:
I wrote this e-book to help new home buyers make smart decisions when looking for homes with hardwood floors…or looking to buy a home and then add hardwood. I’ve packaged all of my best tips into this book and hope it will help you make smarter choices in your flooring choices and in buying a home that can support high quality floors.
Did you find my tips helpful? If so, feel free to buy me a coffee and support my blog
Complementary products that will prolong the life of your hardwood floors
- Bona hardwood floor cleaner
- Felt pads to protect floors
- Office chair mat
- Doggie Socks
Dark hardwood flooring in Westchester NY
I loved your insight in this article, and it was a great read. Here’s a Google “+” and a Facebook “Like”. =D
-Evan
Evan – Thank you so much! I really appreciate that.
Royal Mahogony does add that warm feeling. This may be a stupid question, but can you put radiant heat under hard woods?
What do you think about Jacobean / Dark Walnut / Ebony and the illusion of shrinking space? I tend to think that Jacobean would go well with the gray walls in my 600 sq. ft. studio co-op but wonder whether that particular shade would make the space seem punishingly small.
Borbeth – Great question. Yes, dark can make the space look a bit smaller. It is a trade-off. Often going a bit lighter on the walls (and having good lighting) helps off set that. It’s a personal choice. And, yes, I think all of those colors look nice with gray.
What color of pre finished hardwood flooring would you recommend to get the dark brown/black color and no red or gray and no black. Thank you!
Becky – The naming on prefinished wood varies by manufacturer. You will need to look at the samples and see what you like. Some may be called espresso, coffee, metro brown, dark brown. The names will vary by brand. (If I were to translate to stain colors, that would be jacobean, dark walnut, antique brown, coffee brown). I hope that helps.
love your site. I have a large area of Brazilian Cherry solid prefinished. It has been installed for several years. There is a bit of lightening from a set of french doors that had the wrong type of glazing, and much darkening/ brightening of the red tones. A recent bit of water damage has caused us to need to either replace the entire floor (2800 feet) or to remove a portion and try to match it up. Our cabinets are a darker color that has not changed or brightened. I love the look and feel of floors finished in the home, no groves, etc. Can I ad more of the same wood, then refinish the entire floor? It has no stain at this time. I would prefer to reduce the redness and going to the lighter shades theat the sun bleached out would be ok too, or darker if needed. I really dont want to live thru removing my entire floor and replacing it with either wood or travertine.
This is a tough one, and it will be a trade off for you. Yes, you can replace a section, but no it will not match, especially with Brazilian Cherry. You can try replacing a section and then refinishing the whole room and/or whole area and it will be much closer.
My family is moving into a 4900 sqft home with red oak hardwood throughout built in 2006. The floors are in great condition but my wife and I prefer the look of a darker stain vs the current color which is closer to redish orange. Are we crazy for thinking about refinishing? Also, all of our current furniture is dark brown, will it clash with the existing light color?
Matt – In my opinion, you should do what you love…otherwise, you are going to feel like you setting. Reddish orange is challenging to decorate with, and it may dictate your whole color scheme. The best and easiest time to do this is now, BEFORE you move in. it will cost you more later.
These discussions seem to be somewhat older. Any suggestions either way for dark walnut or Jacobean for a traditional house in the midwest? Using light farrow & ball colors on the walls. Thx for any updated tips on these two stains.
Lisa – Yes, I think dark walnut and Jacobean are great choices. They are both popular/stylish and also work in a traditional home. Just be sure to do a satin finish (i.e. avoid shiny).