Hi! This is my first post:)! I was doing an online search for Baird Brothers character grade hickory hardwood flooring since I think (at this point) this is what my husband and I plan to install this spring on the first level of our house, and I came across this forum and saw ponydoc's beautiful flooring... also character grade and from Baird Brother's. I am hoping to ask ponydoc a few questions. How have the floors held up? (we have a very active household with 4 young kids) What kind of coating did you get- satin or semi-gloss? (baird brothers sent me samples of both). Not sure if you will receive this as I am new to this forum and this is my first post. Hope to hear from you. By the way, your floors are gorgeous!

It is a great product. It is small leaf acacia, which is much harder than some of the other products on the market. Don't be fooled by acacia floors that are from big box stores because they are usually mixed with the softer big leaf acacia.

Redroze, I'm just getting back online and seeing your questions, so I'll try to answer what I can. My new floor in the LR/DR was not pre-finished, it was all site-finished. I did put a pre-finished floor down in my office (no pics, sorry) because I work from home and didn't have time to be without my office for the week it would have taken to have floor sanded etc. The pre-finished does have a different feel to it than the site-finished. I wouldn't say it's grooved, just a more defined difference in between the individual planks. The office doesn't adjoin any other room, except the tiled hallway, so I didn't worry so much about the wood being different there. I see from your pictures what you mean about running the planks the same way and wanting to be sure things don't look odd. One idea might be to take up some of your FR planks, like the first 12 or so, and then put them back down interwoven with the new planks. That way there's not a clear line in between the 2 rooms, but rather a more gradual blending. Here's another couple of pictures, this time of my family room. The first one is a before shot of the hardwood floor + a rug-like carpet. The floor created a frame around the carpet. I had the carpet taken up and new hardwood put in where the carpet originally was, then everything sanded and refinished. You absolutely can't tell where the old wood was vs where the new started. In this case, the new is random width because it opens directly to the kitchen (as opposed to the LR/DR which is all the same width). So, one house, all new site-finished floors in the LR & DR, all new pre-finished floor in the office, original/refinished in the kitchen, and half&half refinished + original in the family room. Boy did we have dust! Hope this helps! New:

Shock resistance and strength? That's what one sample board says. It's no wonder why consumers can get confused. I have never used those terms to describe Hickory, nor have I heard any hardwood guys use them. Sure Hickory is a tad harder than White Oak. 20 percent or so. But the variegated color is what stands out for those seeking a floor that shows the least amount of dings and dents over time. Simply put, they are harder to see. Remember, hardwood floors are made to walk on and not to treasure like a fine piece of furniture. Unfortunately far too many younger buyers set high expectations with sales pitches not helping matters.