I have found the exceptionally smooth, furniture finish on most prefinished flooring to be a drawback with the product. Dents and dings show up immediately, just like they do on a highly-finished new automobile exterior. I have also found that many engineered prefinished floors are just not as hard as their solid counterparts. Perhaps yours is one of those. Dropped objects impart very high momentary impact loads to the surface they fall on. Dents and dings are just going to happen. However, if you have flooring that 'hides' these little acci'dents' (pun intended), then they will unnoticed for a very long time.

I'm curious to see the replies. My son almost bought an older house, 1951, the wood under the carpet is about 2"wide strips looks like solid wood, but seems to have a lot of nails. Is that how it was done back then? I wondered how it would look if he had them finished, but he backed out of the deal after the inspection. We are about to tear out decent wood because the sun has faded it and since it is not a big area it would cost a lot to refinish, and I hear the refinished floor would need to be done again much sooner than a new prefinished. I wish I could take out the old wood in a way that it could be used by someone, but I think it will get wrecked. The store I am using charges $3 sf to install it, the wood price obviously varies. They use their own employees, no subs, and did a nice job on our mbr and hall, so I will use them even though I dont know what an independent installer would charge. My maple will cost $5.54 sf, plus install.

First off - can you FIND the same material??? If the walnut is older than 18 months, you are going to have a HELL of a time finding it again. The second question becomes - is it a "floating" engineered or must it be glued/nailed/stapled. A floating engineered hardwood is really the only one "recommended" for a basement. So - you have to jump through two precise hoops to consider putting the same walnut in the basement. Any floating floor will work in a basement. They will ALL require a vapour barrier (the vinyl included). Of course, the warmest "solid" surface floor out there = cork floating floor. But I digress.

Choosing the right flooring type isn't enough for your living condition. You will have to consider the types of cut: flat sawn, rift and quarter sawn, quarter sawn or live sawn. Quarter sawn and rift & quarter sawn will be best choices, because expansion and contraction is along the thickness of the wood. You will need climate control all year round. 70 degrees at 40 % relative humidity is where you want to be throughout the year. The use of a humidifier/dehumidifier will be needed year round. Although, engineered flooring is more stable than solid. Using the wrong wood specie in your living condition can run the risk of de-laminating with engineered wood. If, the top veneer is more or less stable than it's core and backing. You will experience de-laminating in extreme humidity swings. Take in account of what the engineered flooring is constructed of: mdf or plywood. The width of the flooring will account for how much expansion and contracting also. 2 1/4" strips are the most stable. As you go wider, expect to see more wider seasonal gaps. Proper acclimating is critical, should be performed with a moisture meter. For 2 1/4" strip flooring , sub-floor and flooring moisture should be within 4%. For all other widths 2% moisture differentiation is allowed or should not be exceeded. Don't forget proper expansion gaps, which is the thickness of your flooring, example: 3/4" thick = 3/4" gap. Sub-floor type and condition will affect the performance of wood floors. All this needs to be considered for the proper and successful performance of your wood floors.