In the whole scheme of things those are all quite similar. Both the white oak and hickory will have more variation than the red oak. The red oak is more grainy and has a red hue with most finishes. The Hickory is likely to have the most variation and has a nutty light brown hue with darker brown sapwood. White Oak is similar to the Hickory but with a more almond/green tone. All three have prominent surface grain.

Look at hard maple. You have all kinds of options to color it and very little grain.

Maple is a somewhat horrible idea. It's very hard to stain uniformly and since it has no surface grain it readily shows scratches and indentations. It is however fairly uniform when purchased in a higher grade and has a pleasing color when finished natural.

Thank you, for your input on maple. Any thoughts of white oak and/or hickory?

Nothing to add to what I wrote earlier. I like hickory and white oak but I like the variation and I'm not a fan of the orange/red hues in red oak. Both of those stain nicer than red oak but some people love their red oak. It's all personal preference so there's no wrong answer.

I'm with you. Don't like reddish hues, knots and uneven stain. I'm actually going for this look. I believe it is unstained white oak. I should mention I have a 75lb German Shepherd. Thoughts?? [not on my dog, she stays!!]

Custom painted kitchen with oak island · More Info

Nice! That looks like white oak, possibly rift and quarter sawn.

Amazing the popularity of White Oak today when only ten years ago few used it, particularly in the prefinished form. I've always loved the look and had it in one house back in the 90's.

Ken Fisher

Re: the dimensional stability of hickory, what range of humidity levels would be okay for an engineered hickory floor?

@arlandria - it depends on the manufacturer. The stability of engineered comes from the layers of plied wood sitting underneath the "hardwood" (the stuff you pay money for).

Stability is determined by species used in the plied wood, the amount of species used, the amount of layers and the overall thickness of the plank...and finally the top wear layer.

Find out what your humidity range is...and then see if you can find an engineered hardwood that fits. The rule of thumb is: you need RH to be between 40%-60%...some are higher, others are lower. If you shoot for 40%-45% humidity in your home, you should be fine.

Good luck.

Thanks!

Ken, I could never understand why red oak was more popular than white oak.

We have hickory floors. I believe they are less likely to get dented by your dog's claws than oak. I have seen heavy tools dropped on my floor with no effect. It is a very hard wood.

It is also very rustic. I like that about it, but if that is something you want to avoid, stay away from hickory. There are a lot of variations in the floor.

We debated solid and engineered, but because of the lack of stability and the fact that we wanted wider planks and it involved our kitchen, we went with engineered. I don't monitor the humidity levels in my house, but we do have A/C when it gets humid in the summer. My floors are in my kitchen, which can be a moist place. I also have children who drop ice cubes on it all the time and leave them there to melt. The floor is holding up to all that abuse, although we are only two years in with it.

"Ken, I could never understand why red oak was more popular than white oak."

Could have been price. Even if it was a penny or two back in the day of massive affordable tract home building going back into the 40's and thereabouts.

Hickory is too rustic, unless you're in the mountains or love that rustic feel and life. I never heard much about it when I started in the business in the early 90's. Very likely a regional thing. Now it's the rage as much as White Oak.

It takes two kinds of people to accept Hickory. My opinion with resale is Hickory may be too much for a new home buyer, as least a natural. Staining it will help the massive contrast. But it's also a great hider of dings and dents in any color.

I found the look of this Hickory floor used in a modern design home interesting. The builder hand sorted the boards to provide ribbons of flow in the design.

Are you talking about pre-finished or finished on site? I'm a great fan of traditional white oak flooring that us finished on site. It's beautiful and can later be sanded and refinished. I have dogs and have grandchildren who now visit. Over the years, I've lived my high gloss "gym floor" finish floors. Yes, they look like the U of Louisville basketball team is coming for practice, but that lasts for only a couple of weeks. Then it's just nice polished floors. They last SO much better than a satin finish. My ones done upstairs 32 years ago still look great.

Finished on site

"Hickory is too rustic, unless you're in the mountains or love that rustic feel and life."

I can see that hickory might not appeal to some, because of the visual color variations and wild grain characteristics. I refinished a hickory floor once, but never installed new.

One of the most attractive floors I did, in my opinion, was a 3 1/2" site finished Northern Ash...beautiful blondes, tans and browns...lots of contrast. Of course, my white oak floors were awesome too and remain my favorite specie.

Thank you, glennsfc. It's white oak for me, as well