Bamboo and Exotic Wood Floors - brazillian cherry wood floor faded

I had purchased a brazillian cherry wood floor approximately 1 year ago and placed an area rug over part of the floor. To my dismay, when I pick the rug up 6 months later, the floor was completely faded where the area rug was placed. What is the cause of this-and has this happened to anybody else. How can this be fixed-HELP PLEASE.

Rubber or vinyl backed rugs are bad for wood floors. Your only option is to refinish the entire floor, which entails sanding and staining.

Brazilian Cherry is very photosensitive. With exposure to light, it oxidizes and becomes darker. Area under rug was protected from light. It's like sunbathing with a bandaid. The area under the bandaid is covered up. When you remove the bandaid, the skin is lighter there.

Homeowners with wood floors and area rugs should seasonally remove the rugs. This allows the areas covered by rugs to catch up with the rest of the floor when exposed to light.

Twelvepole is right on with his answer. The floor under the rug didn't fade, the rest of the exposed floor darkened. I'm in the process of installing tigerwood and the color darkens many shades during the first 30 days of being exposed to the sun.