I loved the look of the floor, but the finish cracked in several places. It also feels warped and has felt that way since it was installed. I showed the installed a few of the cracks the 2nd day he was installing and all he did was put some waxy putty on them. Also, the floor was delivered on a Friday and he started the install on Monday. The flooring didn't have time to acclimate to our home. We were told that process takes two weeks. After $8,000 and issues with the wood I'm not loving my new floor so much. I have Honey Ash and it dents easily and the finish looks blotchy and scratches easily. I guess I will have to put rugs down all over the place to protect it. I was also told the snap-crackle-pop would resolve itself, but a year down the line it still making those sounds as we walk on it. I had wood flooring in that area that was 80 year old and solid as a rock now I wish I would had refinished it. I don't want to say all of Chelsea flooring is bad, but it's not been good for me. After driving over 200 miles directly to the factory and talking to a manager I felt they won't stand behind their product. Anything that goes wrong with the flooring is the buyers fault. I was going to put more solid wood flooring in other areas of my home, but now I think I will play it safe and use ceramic or engineered wood flooring.

Goodbyekitty, thanks for the reply. I don't really want engineered because I already have some hardwood in my foyer and its 3/4" thick. If I go with engineered then I would have to use something below the engineered so my doors/frames wouldn't be too short at the bottom. I was told kempas was harder than ash, but I was also told some ash is harder than certain oaks. I have 2-1/4 oak already in my foyer but I have been getting quotes of $5-6 per square feet and I don't even like what I have so I'm going to rip it out. In my opinion, even if kempas is harder than ash, I think the ash I'm looking at will disguise scratches better because of the grain. No matter what, both types will scratch so I have been thinking more toward the ash but my mind may change again tomorrow.

I noticed that you did not get any comments to your questions, so I was wondering if you ended up using Chelsea Plank flooring? We are considering it for our family room which is a high traffic area. We like the look of the sample we chose, but I have seen some reviews say that it chips and scratches very easily. This is a high traffic area for us, so we we are looking for any feedback if you ended up using this flooring. Thanks.

What are your HVAC capabilities? Do you have a humidistat built into/onto the unit? Can you add/subtract humidity with the push of a button on your thermostat? The HVAC is the deal breaker for wood in a 1960's home. Without climate control (humidity control) wood is going to have a very hard time. Right now the oiled floors are more in the mid-width range 4" and wider (10", etc). Anything narrower and you might have to look at site finished solid or engineered that has been specifically made for you. What is your budget for the materials?