R S, yes it felt smooth, but not "slick" smooth. It does have texture, but nothing like hand-scraped. You can feel the texture of the wood through the finish. I had the Lauzon wire-brushed sample and a sample of the Hamptons series "natural" white oak here at the same time. The Hamptons sample is not wire-brushed and has a semi-gloss finish. I could not feel the texture of the wood under that finish. They definitely felt different underfoot and Hamptons flooring was smoother feeling. The wire-brushed is really beautiful. I would not order a whole house full of flooring based on the sample, though, because I'm not quite sure it's a true depiction of the actual flooring. I've always believed that flooring companies use their very best material for the sample boards, so I'd want to look at a full box before committing. If you do get a box, be sure to post what it's like!

All wood flooring (and your cabinets, doors, frames, paint, drywall, etc) have these types of requirements. The "range" is up to the individual manufacturer to specify. I've seen bamboo that has the narrowest requirement of 45%-60%....for good reason. The GLUE that holds bamboo together is RIGID whereas the grass (bamboo is grass) is ABSORPTIVE so it MOVES. Engineered hardwoods are more specific because the layers create layers of glue...and glue acts and reacts DIFFERENTLY from the wood layers. If one expands but the other does not, you get DELAMINATION. The companies have tested their specifications under laboratory conditions and have found the BIGGEST window for "success" with their floors. They have then written those down. As for solid wood floors in old homes, remember this: the wood floors CUPPED and/or CROWNED and/or SEPARATED early on in the life of the floor. It could have taken more than a DECADE for the home to find it's equilibrium. The original owners SIMPLY PUT UP WITH IT (imagine having to 'put up' with crowned floors for 10 years...today's consumer REFUSES to accept this....so we have warranty requirements now that SPECIFY the 'happy place' for each wood product). Once the first sand/refinish occured (25 years later) the "problem" (the visual issues) with the wood were sanded away. One generation later, it looks GREAT. But no one took selfies of the floors in the '60's. And the cuts and widths were different (there is a BIG reason why 2" strip hardwood was sooooooo popular....and it wasn't because it looked good). And the wood was often sourced (and dried/racked) from local mills. And it sat longer on site before it was installed, and, and, and, and....you get the idea.

The slab install will limit you (obviously) to a glue down or floating install. The solid will require glue down (expensive install that can go wrong when the wrong adhesive is used). An engineered hardwood might give you the option of glue down vs. floating. A floating install allows a full vapour barrier (and under pad) to be used under the wood. This can be considered a "safer" form of install. It is also slightly cheaper than a full spread glue down. The "subfloor prep" is identical. Smooth, flat, even. Grind down the concrete, add some SLC (self leveling compound), light grind and we are ready to go. This is IDENTICAL for either floor. Solid HAS to be glued to slab; engineered gives you the option to work with the less dangerous floating option. If you float, I ALWAYS recommend working with a high-end underpad to reduce the hollowness of a floating install (3mm or 6mm cork underlay = cheap = EXCELLENT under pad to reduce hollow sound). Slab install can be tricky with a full spread glue down application. The glue can be mightily expensive (depending on the moisture readings of the concrete). The floating floor approach with engineered can steer you around some of the concerns with glue down. A full service, Ma-and-Pa, hardwood flooring store in your area (make sure they've been around for a while) can help with this decision...they will have seen what works and will keep it in stock. They will have seen what has failed and why....and they can help you determine if your home would fall into that category (with solid).

I prefer site finished. It is easier to refinish when it needs it. Your friend has probably done "buff and coat" procedures. This is normally done ONCE and then a FULL sand and refinish. If your friend has been doing the buff and coat MORE THAN once, then she's doing it "wrong" (could be "right" for her, but it isn't the regular way for hardwood). Traditionally the FULL sand and refinish occurs around the 20 year mark. So the floors, after 20 years SHOULD look like this. That's kinda what tells you "it's time". A buff and coat only adds a coat of finish (to freshen up the floor). It doesn't "correct" anything. The FULL sand and refinish will do 10 TIMES more for the look of the floor than a buff and coat. The sand/refinish will strip the old finish off and then carve off 1-2mm of WOOD. That means 99.9% of all dings and gouges will be taken care of. The "dirt and food in between" (the planks) is MUCH MORE likely to occur with factory finished floors. These floors have bevelled edges (a little shoulder on every plank that creates little valleys between each plank). But it can occur with floors SHRINKING from LOW humidity. The floor can create little gaps between planks. That's normal if the humidity is too low or is uncontrolled. The THINNER the plank, the LESS the wood will/can shrink. That's why narrow/strip hardwood is the BEST option for uncontrolled humidity. Those big, beautiful, expensive, wide plank products that are SUPER trendy = not an option for uncontrolled humidity. A factory finished hardwood (with Aluminum Oxide = AO) is going to be SUPER expensive to refinish and here's why. The AO finish is SOOOO tough (how tough is it SJ?). It is SOOOO tough it takes 2-3 TIMES the amount of effort/material to strip it from the wood floor. Once the AO is gone, the wood turns into a normal hardwood floor. And just for fun, the 'refresh' buff and coat is almost IMPOSSIBLE to do. Even the toughest finish looks tired around the 15 year mark. Sadly, AO finishes often prevent a recoat (the finish is chemically very slick...almost nothing sticks to it = HELL to add '1 coat'). The average cost of a full sand/refinish = $5/sf. The average cost of a sand/refinish of AO = $7-$9/sf. Yes. It is THAT TOUGH to remove. A traditional buff and coat = $2.50 - $3/sf. So if you do the math, the site finished hardwood may cost a bit more on day 1....but by year 30 it will be MUCH cheaper/easier to deal with/live with. It allows you to freshen up the finish around year 15 (if you wish). It allows for a routine sand/refinish without adding a HIGHER COST of labour. So "cost effective" today can be much more costly by the time you plan on refinishing. In fact, so many people look at the extra costs and figure a new floor is cheaper....and they are right. Sigh...so there goes the idea of using up all the life on the hardwood (3/4" solid hardwood). That goes out the window when the owner realizes the costs are much higher and they choose to rip it out and throw it out; thus negating the benefit of a solid hardwood!