Cumaru vs. Jatoba hardwood

[tecumseh18]

I have heard that Cumaru, although being very hard, is unstable as a hardwoood. It looks nice tho', and I wonder if there are any conditions upon which I could safely install it on the third floor (about 230 sq ft) of my 95 year old semi-detached house.

Would it help if I add a humidifier (a decent one, not a drum) to my furnace, or would it hurt? I live in a city by a lake, so the weather is generally humid.

[floorman]

Had to research that one a little.It says that the cumaru wood while harder and more durable will not stain and sand as easily as the jartoba (brazilian cherry).The jartoba will not nail as well as the cumaru,aslo the cumaru is more prone to swelling and contracting than the jartoba,so a dehumidifier would be of more use here.
Now from personal experience the brazillian cherry is a pain in to deal with,maybe it was just the mill we got it from but we had more trouble with this floor we were installing a 3",4" 5" pattern and just couldn't get the darn things to close up the right way.We ended up tearing the floor out twice after we were about a third of the way cause it looked so bad and they would come and get it and deliver more,we finally after the third delivery opted to forget the 5" board and that helped enough to get the job done.
One other thing about the cherry wood is that it was so oily that we could only urethene the floor and not stain it,but it darkened quite a bit when it was finished .Looked great!
Either way up on the upper floors like that especially in the older homes it would go great not only with the history of the home but the application as well.They are both a pain to install and keep up with but well worth it no matter what you choose[8D]

Floorman
floorlayers union local 1310

[tecumseh18]

Thanks for the answer FM. I went with the 3 1/4 inch Jatoba. As you say, it's more stable.

Looks great, but I look forward to seeing it when it darkens.

[floorman]

glad i could help[8D]

Floorman
floorlayers union local 1310