we just installed rift and quartered white oak throughout the house and finished with waterlox. the floors are spectacular. the linear grain of the WO is soft, yet varied, and the flecking of the quartersawn adds tremendous depth and beauty. Waterlox actually warms the none of the wood without imparting any noticeable color, and you can, if you like, add a little oil based stain to the first coat to add a little tint if you like. the WO has none of the agitation of face sawn RO, and feels much finer and older somehow. I live in LA, where red oak is common, and these floors are more beautiful than anything else around. so yummy you could sleep on them.

Howmuchlonger, You're welcome and thank you for the compliment. I'm sorry but I do not have an actual name for the stain on our cabinets. See, we have pine, mahogany and knotty alder doors, the cabinets are select alder and then the natural unstained oak floor. So I went to a small local paint store with a flooring plank and asked them to match the darker streaks in the plank to each of these different woods. They did a little blending here and there and come up with what you see in the pictures. And the best news was they didn't charge me any extra for doing all that. I know I wouldn't have gotten the same service had I gone to a mega-box-store like HD or Lowes.

Rift and quartered flooring is going to be more stable because of the movement in cell structure. Vapor barrier underneath the flooring is something that is a minimal investment for an invaluable benefit. You might be fine without the vapor barrier 90% of the time, however, if you were to have a warranty claim this is a big red flag for any flooring inspector. The vapor barrier does not completely block moisture from coming through, rather it allows moisture to pass through at a safe level for your hardwood flooring. A good example is if the basement floods and you have the vapor barrier installed underneath your flooring on the main level, it might save your hardwood from cupping. Having finish on all sides of a plank is useful for slowing down the moisture changes in the wood allowing it to withstand small fluctuations in humidity. Flooring with grooves on the bottom side allow for the planks to get more surface area which is the most important for glue down installation. After analyzing your particular situation, I feel like with a 6" plank it is best to opt for an engineered product with a decent wear layer (3 mm or more). If you can get quarter sawn that would be the best, but this will be a more costly option and limit your choices because not all manufactures produce their floors in quarter sawn. The main thing to monitor is moisture, try and keep things between 35-55% RH and you should be safe.

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.