Can you stain Brazilian cherry floors any color?

Q: We have Brazilian cherry floors throughout that may need to be refinished. A few questions – 1) Does refinishing mean re-staining?

2) Can you stain Brazilian cherry floors any color (such as a chocolate brown)?

3) Our floors scratch so easily and show a white mark. Since the floors may need to be refinished, what can be done to prevent this?

A: Refinishing means to sand and and apply a finish of choice. Re-sanding and staining means to apply a stain to alter the colour of the wood. Jatoba can be stained. The finishes used in the factory are very hard. When they get scratched they leave what looks like a white scratch. This is how aluminum oxide finishes look when they fracture on dark floors. I have heard that Jatoba can contain an extractive which reacts with oil based finishes and the mineral spirit solvent and can leave white blotches. Since this varies from one batch to another it may be wise to use a water born polyurethane.