If you go to this website and click on various species of wood floors it will tell you all about them; hardness, etc. very informative. I know oak is a very common hardwood that holds up well and you can get it in different grades that show more character if you like. The only thing I know about cherry is that the color changes with age but I am not sure about it's hardness. The website should tell you......http://woodfloors.org/consumer/whyTypes.aspx
HTH

twotogo,
thank you so much. what an amazing website and source of information.

i showed my father in law the cherry sample tonight and he too is saying we'd be crazy to go with it. i am getting discouraged about the cherry and a little upset because i love the look of it so much, but i would feel foolish to make a mistake of putting looks over durability particularly since we have active little kids running around.

thanks again!

Age does not make Cherry harder. There is a variation in hardness, but it is +/- very little.

If you want cherry, get cherry. All wood is going to character to some extent. A kitchen is the busiest location in a home, If you want bullet proof, go with a Texas Mesquite, and add a feature strip of it into the fir, to tie it all together.

thanks floorguy.

the more senior architect told me today he does not think the cherry will be hard enough so we are not going with it.

i am not looking at a random width old growth Ash floor in long lengths or a quartersawn white oak.

We have a passage way of about 2' by 4' where the new flooring will meet the fir, so now the idea is to put some sort of decorative thing in that spot to meld the two woods, possibly a parquet of the two woods or some such thing.

I think the ash and the oak would both look really nice, but I don't want a light look so I am looking at staining either wood, which concerns me based on the nightmares of staining the fir. Hopefully these harder woods will take stain a little better.

thanks!!

Hi Everyone,
I've grown up with traditional wood floors as my parents loved them and made this there passion to bring to others to enjoy. Now I am carrying on the tradition and would love to help share some thoughts on your decision. Its very interesting to me to see what others have said about your desire for Cherry flooring, good quality cherry will last for generations and there definatly arent any durability concerns. Pine flooring still remains in good condition in many of the Early American architecture and is a highly saught after and beautiful floor. Cherry is much harder and everybit as durable. If you aesthetically love the look of Cherry you shouldnt change this direction. Cherry has been used in homes all over the country for a long time with fantastic results. Your childeren will add character to the cherry, the extent to which this happens will directly correlate to the finish that is used. I am a proponent for a softer finish that allows the normal aging process and doesnt look like plastic plus maintains the beauty of the Cherry. There is no issue regarding the floors durability, yes you can use Ash or Oak but make your decision based on the look you want. The difference in the wear and durability will be negligible to you and both floors will be there for another generation to enjoy!

I feel your anxiety! We went through this same quandry 2 yrs ago. Yes, Cherry floors are beautiful and the thing is, most wood floors will harden as they age. Cherry will also darken considerably as it ages. But new Cherry is going to be softer than say QS white oak from the get-go. Look at where Cherry falls on the Janka scale compared to white oak.

We ended up using QS white oak with a light-medium stain and it's beautiful. Goes well with just about any other wood furniture in the house. Our large dog still managed to put some claw marks in the finish but it's more of a dent than actually going through the finish. An interesting side note about white oak - that's what they used to use for old whisky barrels because it doesn't turn black from water/liquid the way other woods will. I would strongly recommend it in the kitchen where it will, over time, have water dropped/spilled on it. And yes, it can be stained a darker color quite easily. Good luck!

Hardness in flooring is way too much of a hangup for people. Cherry is soft similar to Walnut and it will show dents but so will any floor if it is hit hard enough, scratches are the same way if you have grit in your shoes etc. and it gets through the finish it will scratch anything underneath it. Stability is a much bigger issue and Cherry is exceptioanally stable, comparable to QS White Oak. As to Carlisle's claims that their cherry is harder because it is 'old growth' thats marketing speak with very little basis in fact and the trees they get their lumber from are the same age as any manufacturer making comparable width flooring in Cherry would use.

If you understand that any floor will wear and develop its own unique look and patina over time you will be exceedingly happy with Cherry. If you want a 'perfect' floor that will never dent, scratch, change color, etc. Tile or Laminate are probably a better choice.

we have had hardwood in 2 previous homes, 1st was oak, 2nd was hickory. Now er are building again, and the model home has beautiful cherry floors. I started reading here the concerns with cherry and took a second look at the model and the floors. It's only a year old, no pets and no residents, just visitors, and the floors are terribly scratched and dented from the furniture there. I hardly saw any dents or scratches in my 2 previous homes, and the ones that where there was because something big and heavy fell - but none of my furniture left dents. Needless to say, we didn't choose the cherry either.

tinker - how long did you live on the other two homes? Of the two (oak or hickory), which did you prefer and why? I think we've pretty much decided on white oak but I am attracted to the Hickory.

thanks everyone for your advice. Tinker, your words of wisdom sealed the deal for me. We aren't going with Cherry... I had heard from this person, that and the other that cherry would be too soft, but the flooring sales rep at Carlisle insisted that it would hold up. In the end, I don't want to be the only one who wants the cherry and I also started thinking that I don't want to micromanage the kids (and their friends) because I am concerned about dings in the floor. Life's too short for them to have to tip toe around in their own house because of my cherry floors!

So, I spoke to the sales rep at Graf Brothers out of Kentucky the other day. This is where our contractors want to purchase the flooring from. She thought for the look I am going after that Character Grade Rift and Quartersawn White Oak in random widths (3", 5" and 8") would be a good look. Still waiting on the price but if it comes in reasonable then we will likely go with that.

thanks again. will post a followup of the finished product probably in the kitchen forum.