Mahogany Vs. Cherry Wood

Erfrant

We are home shopping and many of the newer homes we like contain mahogany (light) wood finishing throughout the house. We really like the darker wood finish (cherry) as opposed to light. If we really like a home, but it has light wood finishing, how difficult would it be to refinish all of the wood in the home? If a house has light wood, and we want dark, is that a home buying deal breaker (we should not even consider light wood finished houses) or is it an easy remodel fix?

Any help would be most appreciated! 

Erikan73

If the wood is real solid wood, you can always sand the wood (to get off protective finishes) and then stain the wood a darker color. If it's flooring, you need to make sure that it's solid wood floors and not an engineered hardwood or a laminate. You can't change the color on those. On cabinets, make sure again it's solid wood as if it's a pressboard with a vaneer finish, you won't be able to stain those either.

jtmh2012

Something else to consider.  While it is possible to change...."easy" is relative.  You could hire someone, but that will cost money.  Doing it yourself will depend on how handy you are and what kind of time you have.

BlueBirdMB

Are you talking about wood trim/doors/etc?

short+sassy

Erikan73 said:

If the wood is real solid wood, you can always sand the wood (to get off protective finishes) and then stain the wood a darker color. If it's flooring, you need to make sure that it's solid wood floors and not an engineered hardwood or a laminate. You can't change the color on those. On cabinets, make sure again it's solid wood as if it's a pressboard with a vaneer finish, you won't be able to stain those either.

Assuming solid wood floors that can be refinished, it is still spendy and time consuming.  I also don't consider this "DIY" kind of work.  It takes skill, experience, and talent to refinish hardwoods.  Hire a professional.

I needed to refinish 500 square feet of flooring before I moved into my house.  The person I hired charged $3/sqft.  I probably could have gotten it cheaper than that, but he is the best in town.  It was also two weeks before we could move into our house.  It took him almost one week to refinish just 500 sq ft. and put the stain on.  Then it was about one week for it to thoroughly dry.

But my floors sure looked amazing when they were done!