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Found out that most "cherry" lumber in big box stores is actually a different species | Cabinetmakers - nhfree.com

Found out that most "cherry" lumber in big box stores is actually a different species

So I'm picking through a pile of cherry at Home Depot last weekend and the grain just doesn't look right to me. I asked the guy working there and he said it's actually a birch species that's stained and marketed as cherry. That blew my mind because I've been buying that stuff for years thinking it was the real deal. I've got a customer's kitchen island due next month and now I'm wondering if I should switch suppliers. Has anyone else run into this fake wood situation at the big box stores?

2 comments

2 Comments

irisg573mo ago

Big box stores have been pulling this for years and it's not even about lumber costs, its about volume - they can source way more birch than real cherry because the supply chain is already huge for birch. You think about it, cherry trees take decades to mature while birch grows faster and mills can crank it out cheaper so the big guys don't care if it's not accurate, just that it looks close enough to sell. Your customer's island will likely warp or stain differently over time though because birch doesn't darken with age the way real cherry does, so that piece will stay pinkish while the rest of the room changes.

claire_butler13mo ago

Last summer I refaced a whole kitchen for a client who insisted on cherry and I found out later the supplier sent birch stained dark instead. I had to call them out after @irisg57 and I noticed the grain was totally wrong side by side with actual cherry trim they had stored. The homeowner called me six months later asking why her island was turning this weird peachy color while the old cabinets stayed dark red, and it hit me how bad the lie really is. Birch just doesn't have the tannins to pull off that aged cherry patina no matter how much stain you dump on it.