The Jotoba has different grain and it is very easy to distinguish the two when you have worked with both species. check google images for santos mohagany and then search jotoba, the jotoba or Brazilian Cherry will have much different grain then the santos. When shopping for the two, you will find the Brazilian Cherry more affordable over the santos mohagany. The brazilian cherry will look much more brown when first installed and will darken and become more red over time. The brazilian cherry is also a little harder then the Santos but not much. Both are an excellent choice and beutiful. Here is a link that might be useful: Hardwood Flooring Purchaser's Guide

Thanks for the responses! I'm in upstate NY, if that makes a difference for the type of material they probably used, and it's a pretty big, nice house but not a super-fancy Victorian. The wood has been refinished at some point--you can see on the floor in the pantry where they didn't bother to refinish--so I'm not sure how accurate the color is. It's got no knots in it--so I'm wondering if that rules out southern yellow pine? I did see that 100% heartwood doesn't have it, but maybe it is fir instead? The majority of the house has this type of flooring, but the flooring in the living room is diagonal and has never been redone--wondering if it would look the same refinished. ANYWAY, thanks for your posts--either way, I really like our floors, even though they obviously could use some refinishing. There are a few small spaces in between boards, but I'm so cautious to have them redone, because I don't want them to look like new!! Just old floors in good shape would be nice!! :) Sarah

i don't think those are too modern at all! they're not your classic high shine hardwood though - they're both a wax treated finish. not sure if you knew or cared even if you did. :) if you wanted a more classic highly protective (poly) finish, they have all sorts of stain colors now to help achieve that naturally aged look. i've been researching stain colors like crazy because i'm refinishing a huge farm style table. anyway, i came across this project that might be helpful... she's got red oak with a gray stain and i think it looks great! pic below post. on another note, in both your images above, you've got a very wide plank hardwood. those are typically a lot more expensive than the 2-3" plank and depending on the subfloor, sometimes you can get cupping with wide planks. again, maybe you're just using the pics for color, but thought i'd mention it. i remember your kitchen from when you were updating your backsplash - maybe that was on the kitchens board. looks like you got the backsplash you wanted! well done. so i know you got some interesting (read that as rude) feedback on that post, so i hope this isn't taken in that way, because oak cabinets are not a crime! :) but based on your "inspiration kitchen" you shared above, have you thought about painting your cabinets white to get a similar look? then you could take that out of the equation when choosing flooring. just curious. here are red oak samples with classic gray stain on top and weathered oak stain on the bottom. both are laying on top of her old existing clear stain which have yellowed over time. and here are the finished floors where she chose to go with classic gray stain over red oak: both these pictures are from a blog called "finding soul balance"

You can't nail or staple to concrete. So your options would be to glue or, yes, forgot about floating. Not sure I'd want to float a floor with potential for liquid spills. Research slab installations for limitations and requirements, but the specific flooring documents will tell you how they need to be installed and cared for. It looks like the linked floor is 3/4'. Glue down is typically 3/8', some can go up to 1/2' but I'm not sure it's a best practice. Can't remember floating specs either but they are usually thinner, maybe up to 1/2' and need to be at least 3 inches wide, as I recall. They are certainly easier for install and removal. These new floors just do not hold up like the solid wood ones of the past. Engineered can be better than solid depending on the weather in your location. Beveled edges are often if not always used for prefinished floors so the boards can fit together as a flush surface. With square edges on solid unfinished, they install, sand flush and then finish. There are micro bevels that are less noticeable. Be aware of the board lengths of the floor you select, if you want a traditional random length look. The cuts today are often shorter and sometimes even all the same. Note how much variation in color/grain there is. There is a scale for comparison. Also be aware of the way floating floors sound and feel under foot, with or without underlayments, before you commit. They have a different hollow sound and feel. One I walked on in a show room, supposedly professional install, squeaked like the devil all over. Unfortunately, you need to do your research quite a bit on this! Make sure you know how they will install it so that it will meet specs. Avoid the mass production stair stepping method and H joints. Make sure the wood is acclimated to your house for a number of weeks; stored flat, only two or three boxes high. Floor must be flat and level; checked for moisture content and be in equilibrium with the flooring boards moisture content at install . Etc! And verify anything I've said, lol. Installers are not necessarily diligent (or even reasonably careful) with this stuff. Here's a link with some pointers: Here is a link that might be useful: Hardwood installation tips This post was edited by snookums2 on Wed, Jul 31, 13 at 20:11