If it is indeed real american cherry, u might have lucked out. But cherry is softer than merbau and is prone to dents so one has to be wary of unpadded furniture legs and sharp objects.

Nowadays retailers name wood all types of names..takes a real wood guy to tell you what really is what.

I might caution you from doing this though. depending on your knowledge of wood, it might be a risk not worth taking if you do not have any history on how this wood is seasoned (ie. KD schedules, Moisture content, dimensional tolerances). Once installed, when problems develop, you'd run into a lot of finger pointing. if you buy material yourself, you would also need to factor in wastages and if the installer is diligent in helping you save material (since he's not paying for it)

Prices do vary a lot from what work is involved, what finishing (solvent or waterbased PU), how many coats of finishing. refinishing for wood floors with a good multi-layer coat would usually run about $5.50/sf. Installation depends on what installation method used and on what material (lamparquet, timber strips, batten, moisture barrier, waterproofing, leveling etc).


This is just an exotic name given to a local species.

That really depends on what "wood flooring" you are planning to install.

For engineered wood flooring (and laminates), yes, you can install "floating" over your existing tiles.

For solid wood, it is necessary to remove your tiles and have fresh floor screed. Reason being the baton/floor planks must have a good adhesion surface.


I assume this is supply and install prices, but i don't know if you can get those prices now,especially if its on waterbased finish. Merbau has gone up some 10-15% recently...