Hickory I believe it is Hickory. Hickory can be similar to oak in color but it does not have the intese grain and layers that Oak has. Variations in the grade of hickory can show different looking floors. So if you do a search for Hickory on the web you might see some far lighter or darker looks. Hickory flooring is somewhat of a mixture of woods. If you notice you will have some light pieces and some dark. That may be because you have different types of hicorky. True hickory and or Pecan hickory, Chinese Hickory, sand Hickory, pignut hickory, shag hickory, .... they can all show different color variation. Hickory is a hard wood. Really! It is hard to sand but it is a good quality wood that will last forever. Hickory used to be used to make baseball bats, canes, tool handles and anything that needed to be bowed. It can be flexible but still really strong. A great floor! Enjoy your hickory floor, it is beautiful. ~boxerpups

There is a difference between red and white oak. Red Oak is more popular because it has a nice reddish tone and and the grain had a wider patterns. White oak is allot more stable because its a much harder wood and it stands out better to the traffic, also the grain is much more tighter so it takes the stain more evenly. If you check the hardness rating the white Oak is rated as being harder. White oak been and still used where there is a need for a durable surface.

@jjam Your floors look beautiful. @Angela Wacker I hope your floors turn out beautiful. @mdln these are such a good ideas/solutions next time I am doing a renovation I will make sure to get this kit. I went by the house in the morning and took a closeup photo (prior to getting confirmation from the contractor and subcontractor) It does look like white oak. @SJ McCarthy thank you for all the information, it gave me ideas on what to ask the contractor and how to have a conversation about the floors. I even came up with a few more stains to try in case the original choices did not work out. The contractor e-mailed me early this afternoon agreeing to test a few more colors. We asked him, again, regarding the type of floors we have and the new ones they installed, initially he said the floors were red oak, but then he texted us an hour later letting us know that the sub had informed him that it was white oak!?! What!! @Beth Thank you!!!! @SashaDog Thank you!!!! @G & S Floor Service @Timothy Winzell it appears you guys were right - it is white oak -probably. Quality/grade? who knows! I cant believe the contractor did not know this! It appears my worries about the floors looking red after a light stain were unnecessary. We stopped by the home to see the samples on our "white oak" and the white stain looked nice with the top coat on it, not pink. The birch was nice, but we decided to go with the white as it looks more like the natural color of the wood we love. I am still anxious about the overall outcome, but crossing fingers that it turns out nice. I am going by the house tomorrow and working from my car so I can take a look and stop the workers in their tracks if it looks bad lol. I am just kidding...but maybe I am not :) Here are the two samples we tried Bona Birch and Duraseal White with bona HD on our "white oak" floors (this is not 100% for sure lol). Leaving the picture here in case someone is looking for a picture of these two stains. You are all such a wonderful group of people! Thank you for helping me through my anxiety. This morning I felt so stupid to have been worrying about a floor stain when so much more important things are going on in the world. Anyways, thank you and much love to you all. Stay healthy!! -Mari

Karen, I love it. You have helped me decide on the stain for our red oak. We have white oak upstairs and red oak downstairs. After seeing your floors and Chris Loves Julia’s white oak in Duraseal’s “weathered gray”, I’m sold. Like you, I thought I wanted the on trend natural white oak look but, in reality, it lacks the warmth that I want in my home. Yours is both light and warm!