Joe,
Really. You stated it yourself, "... does it really matter?"

Are any hard wood floors ever out of style?

At the moment the wider boards are the fad.
If you look at history, they went from wide, to the more desireable and regular thinner, more difficult to manufacture strips, and now we're back to the more rustic look. But wood overall, is a major design point, thinner or wider.

If it's wood and looks good in your house? Go for it. If your home is contemporary, the only consideration for me would be the grain. The more grain, the more rustic. If you're looking at a very regular board, it'll be more contemporary.

My opin-onion. You're looking at a great buy!

I was specifically told NOT to use wide width maple due to maple's instability.

Thanks for the thoughts. What I'm hearing was echoed by the floor guy. Being a strip maple product he said its more stable than a wider plank so it will tend to stay tighter with humidity fluctuations. He also said wider planks are worrse for that. Secondly since its a maple it has a very tight grain and a micro beveled edge. It would really lend itself to my contemporary decor.

Having said all that I do like the look of the handscraped wider plank floors. Trouble is they all look rustic to me and too woody-if that makes any sense. I have zero wood in my house save my cabinets, otherwise its all stainless, glass or painted wood. Great for my dog but bad for my decor........decisions decisions.

I'm likely going with the maple floor and hope my doggy doesn't destroy it. She's big and clumsy and hates smooth flooring because it offers her no traction so I'm thinking it will be ok.

Any other advice appreciated.

Joe

Factory finished is much more durable than site finished.

I like the tight grain of maple though and my wife would never put up with the dust or smell.

If you like maple and want it stained rather than natural, prefinished is your best bet--maple is very difficult to stain on site.

I predict that the next trend in hardwood flooring will be:

2 1/4" medium toned oak. Doesn't show dirt like a light floor--doesn't show dust like a dark floor. Holds up well, looks good with a variety of styles, from contemporary to MCM to Victorian.

Can't wait to see if I'm right!

(Get what you like, not what's on trend. Less likely to look "dated" in five years...and if it is, who cares?)

Our hardwood is 2 1/4 since they are the original floors of our 25 year old home. They are prefinished but have been sanded down 3 times which completely removed the bevelled edges which I like. I think they look great! The wider planks are hard to pull off sometimes. Remember that many older homes don't have wide planks but they still look good.

Agree that wood is the main design factor, then color and species, THEN width of boards. In your modern setting, prefinished narrow maple sounds perfect.

"(Get what you like, not what's on trend. Less likely to look "dated" in five years...and if it is, who cares?)"

Well said. Thanks for all the ideas. The tight grain of the maple, the perfect color match (a grey/taupe that blends perfectly with my dogs fur and my decor) and very fair price for a 3/4" solid maple makes it a no brainer in my opinion. I'm going for it. I've known the flooring guy for 30 years and he's a good guy. He's having one of his installers come on his off time for $1.50/sq.ft which I think is a good price too. So a 3/4 maple for $5.50/sq.ft installed seems very fair to me. Also the milling/quality of wood is very good imo as well.

I've got tons of great decorating advice on this forum so I really appreciate all the help. I'll post pictures when its done which will be a month or so due to scheduling.

Joe

dlm2000: "Other advice???
Skip the micro bevel, get site finished floors. That's my opinion based on 30 years of wood floor experience"

dlm...can you use site-finished wood flooring in a home on a slab? I've only been to 2 floor places so far but they both say we need to use engineered wood.

Thanks in advance!

We installed pre-finished maple in our vacation home and my husband's study. We both love maple but the only mistake we made is that the finish is rather shiny so it shows all the little scratches and dust. Since the oak floors have more grain they don't show the scratches or the dust.

I guess that I would be more concerned that the wide planks would go out of style more quickly. I don't think that you can go wrong with the 2-1/4 boards.

Redroze, is your hardwood maple or oak and what color did you apply to your 2 1/4 boards? I'm loving your space :)!

mpwdmom - Although I've had new, old and refinished wood floors, I'm no expert by any means. But since engineered flooring hasn't been around nearly as long as slab construction , I'm certain there are proper installation methods to use solid wood on a slab. There has to be a proper underlayment/vapor barrier but I'm unsure what would be the best material(s) for that - new products come out all the time. My advice would be to talk to an *old* floor installer - the younger ones tend to want the easy way out.

That's what I think, there must be some way. Thanks for responding. I love wood. Real wood. I just can't get my brain around the fact that engineered wood is real.

I went with the 5" wide engineered Brazilian Cherry planks which I love but there is movement and I prefer more color variation so if I ever moved, I would go with no wider than 4" with 3.25" preferable for smaller rooms. I also think if I ever move I would want Maple floors or white oak because despite the Brazilian Cherry floors looking gorgeous when clean, they get dirty looking so fast and scratches really show up.

I feel hardwood floors never go out of style. I love my floors and I would love them no matter what the board's width was I have learned.

My neighbor put in solid red oak 2.25" hardwood floors throughout his townhouse on a slab floor with a plywood floors built underneath and it looks great

We are building a home, and I thought I really wanted 4” white oak, but I’ll be honest - I love the look of the 2.25” wood floors - site finished with no beveled grooves. Question - will 2.25” white oak be less expensive than 4”? I know it seems like a no-brainer, but with the narrower strips, are they made weaker by the install, making it a more labor-intensive process? If I can save money by using the smaller size, I would be fine with the 2.25”. They seem to add more old charm to a new house. Thoughts and advice would help welcomed.