You should look at the Janka scale and compare hardness levels of the woods that are available to you.

I had bamboo in the last house and American cherry in this house. Basically I went from bad to worse. But, I still adore my cherry floors!

Here is a link that might be useful: Janka

I can only comment on ours. They are Bruce maple, 3" planks. Builders grade though with only about 1/8" of maple atop a partical-board support. We have a 50# dog.

We think the floors have held reasonably well with 2 adults and alot of entertaining. Yes, they have surface scratches in the heavy traffic areas.

In a few days we are leaving for vacation and having the floors resurfaced while away. Applying 3 coats of poly. Going forward, we will have the finished screened and new poly applied about every 5 years.

My understanding is that engineered flooring is actually better than solid wood because the cross-strands stabilize the expansion/contraction. And, it has a greater thickness of wood for resurfacing. I priced replacing our floors and it was about $12.50 per square foot(and up). Almost 4 times what resurfacing is going to cost.

I'm with you though, I don't like the appearance or hollow sound of many laminates. You need random length planks, nailed to seem right. Good luck with your decision.

We have Oak floors and love them.

I just wanted to suggest that the lighter you go on the stain color, the less they will show wear.

dawnp - Are your floors site finished or pre-finished? That was the other question I forgot to ask. Thanks.

You get MORE refinishing times on SOLID floor than on engineered floors. Solid floors have a thicker layer of real wood than does an engineered floor.
Lighter stains will not show dust, animal hair or scratches as much as a darker stain.
A darker stain is a more formal look (usually) than a lighter stain.
We have solid maple hardwood in a hazelnut stain and love them.
Check the available coatings that you can get for things such as sun protection (if required) and scratch resistance.

We have site finished oak floors and have found that they dent very easily. The grain of the oak hides a good bit of the damage - you only notice it in certain lights or from certain angles - but coming from a laminate floor I was not prepared for the number of dents the wood would end up with.

Totally Confused

I think you should looking at a rustic style floor in addition to going lighter. One that already comes with dents etc. in the wood so all you add is more character ;)

A lighter finish and a more matte finish show less as well.

If you have the proper substrate I'd go with a solid wood floor. A factory finish will take more abuse than a site finish, but neither matters for dents/deep scratches.

If you do a site finish and want a matte surface, go with high gloss underneath and do a final layer of satin on top as high gloss is actually a better finish for wear.

Thanks for all your responses. These are so helpful.

lyfia - rustic style sounds like a possibility. Any suggestions? I noticed someone looking at Appalachian Time Worn, but when I checked it, it was engineered. I prefer to get solid wood.

I always had oak and they were fine - sealed with poly. This time in our 1870 we put in pine floors and oiled them. They are everywhere except bathrms. I want a patina to make them look old but if I get a deep scratch, as in through the oil I just dab a bit of oil and rub it in.

Countrygal

Ours are site finished.

ok, I'm trying to search for distressed or rustic hardwood and all I'm coming up with is engineered.

eandhl - How long have you had your pine floors? What oil did you use on them. How often do you oil them? Do they clean easily without a poly finish?

My suggestion is to use bamboo flooring. It's a lot more durable than you think.

I would look at what's called woven strand bamboo flooring. Because of the processed use to make it, it is extremely dense and is actually three times harder than red oak!

Justin

Here is a link that might be useful: Bamboo Flooring Review

We have site-finished oak floors with clear poly (no stain).
They are definitely not perfect as scratches, dings, can be seen in the right light. But I have no problem with that and would get them again in a heartbeat!

Our flooring guy, when putting in our white oak, told us that in his previous job, he'd taken big metal chains and whacked them on the oak floor to give it a distressed look.

If you find the right flooring people, they can take new wood and make it look old.

Here is a link that might be useful: DIY floor distressing

Try searching for distressed solid hardwood.

I put in a link below to one I found with this search.

Here is a link that might be useful: Distressed Hickory

We have caribbean heart pine to match in with our 100+ year old heart pine floors and while the new stuff is definitely softer, I love the look. Distressed and cozy.

We have lived with them just under 2 1/2 yrs but I saw them in someones house with kids, dogs, cats and they were 10 yrs old. Beautiful patina. I vac them, and occasionally damp mop with vinegar/water especially our kit which has our most used entry. I never re-oil. Just spot repair if a scratch gets through, like a clock falling off a beam. We used Landark oil, a very green product. In our public rooms we did put a coat of deglossed shellac. It left a sheen and I prefer none so I am sorry we did. Landark has a web site and very helpful people.

I so appreciate all the responses. I will be studying out each of these. Thanks.

patser - I don't think I will need the metal chains. We have 5 grandchildren, we live on a farm with men in and out in work boots (no they wouldn't think of taking them off--takes too much time with all the work to do).

I definitely need something that looks ok used.

Countrygal, eleven years ago we had Bruce 1 3/4" pre-finished light oak installed in our kitchen and dining room. Very high traffic areas - the DR is in the middle of the house, so all traffic in the house and to the back yard goes through it, plus, I cook a lot for a big family.

My floors are virtually maintenance free and I love them! Easy to stand on, too, while cooking. Yes, there are some fine scratches and a big ding in front of the stove where I dropped a cast iron skillet, but they are wearing beautifully. Best decision we ever made.

We accidentally got high gloss, something I never would have ordered. Every one of the boxes was marked satin finish, and everyone of them had high gloss in them. Since it would have been another two week wait in an enormous mess, we decided to go ahead with the high gloss finish. I haven't regretted it for one minute. Nothing shows - not dust, not spills, not traffic wear! And we used to have a great big dog, along with the kids and gkids. I think you'll love it.

I didn't respond to this post at first, because I didn't know what your living/housekeeping style was until your last post. There have been numerous conversations on here about wood flooring, no shoes allowed, no tolerance for scratches, etc and that is OK. We all live different lifestyles, maintain different homes, etc.

I think I can relate to what YOU want - hubby that doesn't take shoes off, work boots, country living, etc.

I have solid red oak site finished flooring throughout mmost of my house, including kitchen and one bath. Age of flooring ranges from 4 years to almost 40 years. Have the original flooring in most of the house and have added more over the years. All floors have been finished in 3-4 coats of Minwax polyurethane. The original in the bedrooms (40 years old) have been refinished once. I did just a top-coat refinish in the kitchen and dining area about 3 years ago just to perk them up. Had some wear around the bar area from bar stools plus some additional wear where we had been doing some other remodeling/renovations.

Do I take care of my floors? Yes. Do I baby my floors to the point that we can't use them? No. That is why I have wood floors - they can be mopped. We remove shoes when it is convenient, but most of the time it is not convenient for DH. He is not a slob - if his boots are muddy or oily he removes them. If he is coming in for the day, he removes them. He does not remove boots to run in and out of the house several times a day (unless they are terribly muddy). In the winter, most visitors tend to kick their shoes off. When DH has friends, employees, etc that come by, I insist they don't take their shoes off - sometimes they just need to "conference" at the bar for a few minutes.

I'm sure there are finishes out there that look nicer than poly, but it sure provides a lot of protection from water. I don't stress over wet feet, a little spilled water, etc. Of course I wipe up spills if I see them, of course I would panic over a major water leak and make sure it is fixed before damage occurs. I mop with water and vinegar. I sweep the floors to remove sand and grit; I swiffer the dust.

All my furniture legs have felt pad protection. I can slide a chest or a dresser or a bed without damaging my floors. I do have fine scratches, a ding or two from dropping a heavy object, but I don't even notice. They are not a fine table top; they are floors to be walked on and lived on.

Some may think I am crazy, but I will be doing another bathroom remodeling project in the spring - yep - oak floors are going in there also.

Tuesday

tuesday - sorry, I should have been more specific with my first post and thank you for your detailed response. Also, just realized I left out my newest grandchild. We have 6 with another on the way and they all live close. Our house is Grand Central Station usually. Ten to fifteen people in and out daily is not unusual even though only four live here. No pets in the house, except when I was gone and a miniature horse was brought in. I found out about that months later.

The post about chains etc for aging reminded me of something. About the same time we were renovating (our pine 12 -20 inch planks were in and papered for protection), we saw a reproduction house being built. Same pine planks, no protection, just letting the builders, finishers etc naturally beat them up to a beautiful patina. Then oiled. Wish I did that.

eandhl, would love to know if any of your floors are ever in direct sunlight and have they suffered any fading? Ours are done in oil also...Waterlox. It's a tung oil with an added bit of shellac for a soft sheen, I love them, but do have the sun fading issue. If not for this, countrygal, I'd think they'd be perfect for your home. The floors are solid, site finished and hand scrapped hickory...lots of natural distressing.

Hickory here....love, love, love it. Pre-finished, solid 4" planks by Mullican throughout the main level. They are a saddle color, not handscraped or distressed. We have a busy family of four and two midsize active dogs. The floors are about 5 years old and are still beautiful. No fading, although it does not get much direct sunlight. There is some scratching on the finish if you look closely. I use Bona, but otherwise my floor care is laughable! You can see it here: http://www.mullicanflooring.com/PRODUCTS/MUIRFIELD/MUIRHICKORYSUNDANCE.html

I love the contrast of hickory, but mine is not as stark a contrast as in the photo. And not terribly knotty either.

We have 10 kids, and I wanted something that would look better as it got worn-not just worn out looking. We ended up with wide-plank walnut that my dh handscraped. It is finished with Rubio Monocoat, a low VOC oil type finish (I was pregnant when the kitchen floor was finished). It can be touched up easily when needed. So far, it is holding up very well, after two + years of high use!

timber.j...any floors in direct sunlight? Sorry to keep asking the same question. :>/

Yes-we have big south facing windows in the kitchen. Sometimes when the sun is shining I can see faint water spots near the sink, just slightly duller looking-the floor is a dark chocolate color. If it has faded, it isn't noticeable to me. When we get the rest of the wood floors in, we will probably touch up a couple of scratches, but otherwise it is holding up well. We will really be able to see if the finish has faded then... When the other floors are in, we can switch to Rubio's cleaner that adds a little patina to the finish.

Many thanks Tj :>)

We have over 100 year old quarter sawn oak in the main rooms and fir in the bedrooms. Had the floors refinished (clear poly) 11 years ago - they still look great. Fir is much softer and better for low traffic area. In our renovation I had the 1st floor floors refinished and a new quarter sawn oak floor for the kitchen. I only make kids take shoes off and we're really rough on our floors. Yes, we get an occassional ding but overall the floors are great.

Wow, so many responses. Now I have a lot to think about. Obviously, there are more choices for a hardwood to abuse than I thought there would be. It's good to know a lot of you are happy with your choices. Thanks again.

No, I have not noticed any fading. Waterlox has polymerizing agents and that may be what is fading. We had a powder pigment to mix in our oil. We used at least 3 coats and burnished in between coats so the wood was saturated with the oil.

Hi there,

We have solid hard maple floors (4" planks, grade 2, which has character variations, but no knots). The floor is finished naturally in a satin finish. I believe the product used was called Traffic finish or something.

First, let me say that they are VERY forgiving. While dark wood floors are very popular right now, I can tell you that natural maple does not show dust and dirt easily. They always look quite clean, even when surface dust is present.

Second, northern hard maple is well, hard! I have two boys and a clumsy hubby, and it takes something very hard and heavy to leave a mark.

Third, the dings we do have, from a variety of mishaps, are nearly invisible, as the wood tone variations in the maple make them very hard to see. And, as mentioned, solid hardwood can be refinished many times to keep it looking great over the years.

I hope this is helpful.

Jan

I have 120 year old wood flooring, mostly oak but some parquet has cherry and walnut. They are oiled. The house has not been babies over the last few decades :) and the oak flooring is still in place, only refinished once to the best of our knowledge sanded by hand then water lox applied. They are certainly a different color than they were the day they were installed, as all wood will do but I would not describe them as faded and they get quite a bit of sun.

I have bamboo, tiger wood, beech and oak in our other house. The oak takes a beating and always looks great. The others are not oil finished and the finish takes a terrible beating. I prefer the oiled floors.

Our house was built in 1952 and has oak floors. We have four dogs and four cats. My DH works with concrete and seldom removes his shoes until night time. We sanded the floors when we removed the carpet (that was GLUED onto the floors) and stained them a dark mahogany color. Then just a couple coats of poly. This was a QUICK DIY job, nothing professional. We've had a little wear in the center of the hall, the one central spot that gets the most action.

We still need to do the floors in the LR and Master, and when we do, we're going to have them professionally finished. I like the idea of oiling them. But, long story short, our floors take a BEATING and still look good.