Exotic flooring comes at a premium but these species, Brazilian Cherry, Ipe and Cumaru, are highly sought after and their popularity grows year over year.

Brazilian Cherry is a terrifically strong and durable wood. This makes the wood popular for use in heavy duty construction projects such as use as railroad ties and tool handles. And while the woods hardness makes it difficult for hand molding and splitting, Brazilian cherry is still a very popular item for flooring. It exhibits a luxurious reddish brown color that exhibits dark streaks as it ages. It is also called Jatoba.

Ipe is an amazingly hard wood and is the hardest wood available for use in flooring. It isn’t easy to install due to the difficulty presented when trying to shape and nail it; but once Ipe, or brazilian walnut, is installed it will last a very long time. Asides from being durable the wood is also naturally moisture and pest resistant and as inflammable as concrete.

Cumaru, which is also known as Brazilian Teak, is one of the hardest trade woods that you can have installed as flooring. Its ranking on the hardness scale is actually just below that of Ipe’s. Because of this, Cumaru wood is known to dull cutting tools and even split when being nailed down, so having an experienced installer is vital. Another positive attribute of Cumaru unfinished flooring is the fact it resists color change over time, unlike other exotic woods.