White oak floors can vary in color (depending upon the finish method of choice) from blonde to light tan to medium brown with some golden tones as well. Although white oak has color variations, I would not call it a busy floor. Ash will also vary some in color tones with striking differences in the heartwood and sapwood. When purchasing unfinished wood flooring, you can pretty much get what you want in terms of grade and sawing characteristics. Since I no longer sell the factory-finished products, I can't tell you how grading and such is typical with these manufactured products. Do more research; if you do enough then you will get what you're looking for and maybe you can then hire yourself out as a flooring decorator and specifier.

hereigo, It's all a personal preference as far as the look or style you desire. The factors that play a roll include size or sizes of floor boards, color of wood/finish, grade of wood, grain pattern of wood, and site finished versus prefinished installation. Be aware that the higher grades (clear,select) will tend to be more uniform in appearance, whereas the lower grades (#1 Common, #2 common) will have more variation in color and/or visual defects like mineral streaks or knots. Lots or grain and/or a low sheen finish will visually hide dings and dents that can occur. The most visible grain will be with R&Q oak or ash or hickory and it will be in a linear pattern. Moderately visible grain will be found in beech or birch. The least visible grain pattern will be found in maple. A cathedral grain pattern is found with plain sawn lumber/flooring and is most noticeable with oak, ash, hickory, or other coarse grain hardwoods. This style seems to be currently out of fashion. Maple is also a good wood for flooring and it is used on gym floors throughout the country. With a durable, low sheen finish and some care, I think it could remain attractive for a long time before needing a refinish. We have mixed width, wide plank, R&Q red oak, #1 common, and site finished in our upstairs. It works well with our family and 30# dog. It has held up well for 3.5 years and is very stable and the dings and dents don't show. I won't say we abuse this floor, but it has seen dirty shoes and dog/cat claws and kids riding toys and yet it still looks good. My son's Plasma car has scratched the surface finish here and there (Waterlox), but this type of finish is considered soft and can be touched up down the road. I'm not sure how well the harder finishes would hold up against a 5 year old and his car. Finally, the great thing is that almost all hardwood floor finishes can be redone to look like new again. When the surface finish of sheet vinyl or laminate gets scratched and dull, the product gets tossed in the landfill. Best of luck with your remodel.

Wallycat, I keep getting those messages also. It started about two weeks ago, I think. Fortunately for me, my first post isn't actually posting like yours is. I've seen a spate of this type of re-posting recently.. Maybe a GW glitch? Perhaps someone should contact Tamra? Kompy--I received quotes on my black walnut island counter with sink from Boos, Craft-Art, and a couple of other places. In the end, I was nervous about the exactness of the sink cutout, placement, etc when constructing something from such a distance. I searched out and found a local woodworker who frequently makes counters. He took my prep sink to his shop in order to get the cutout perfectly perfect, and he did the install himself. Adding my runnels and an up-mounting of sorts with the sink so it wasn't undermounted as deeply as it would have been and hence making a deep sink even deeper, my total cost with install was just a bit less than my highest internet quote.

Has anyone used either of these flooring options in their own home or installed them? Both are solid 3/4" wood planks. I'm having trouble deciding. I know that Hickory is slightly less stable. We are in upstate NY and keep the house around 72 degrees year round. I'd love to see picture of either of these options in a real house! Thanks!