Is the hickory in the 5" plank a solid hardwood or is it engineered? If it is solid, it will take some extra effort to keep it happy. Hickory has stability issues and certain climates (either too humid or too dry) will have issues with solid hickory. If this is solid, please make sure you home has an EXCELLENT Humidistat that has pin-point accurate humidity control at the touch of a button. It should be attached to your thermostat with a button where you can play with the humidity settings. If you don't see it, then you don't have one.

But this warning is mainly for SOLID hickory. If this is engineered, you have a little bit more wiggle room - but not much.

I think what you "like" about the first 2 floors is the lovely soft creamy pale of the wood up against the softer browns. The movement is subtle (for hickory) and quite sophisticated. The 3rd photo has LOTS OF YELLOW and ORANGE that is MUCH STRONGER. The photo was taken at night, with artificial lighting in a room with yellow based paint. I would say the yellow that is being cast onto the floor is what is scaring you. Try to find a photo of the same floor in daylight to see what it looks like.

The first 2 photos have the floors in FULL DAY light surrounded by WHITE. These are two different settings. I have a feeling the white photos are what appeal to you whereas the yellow photos are not something you want to see.

And hickory will fade just a snick as it ages. It mellows. Just so you know.

Hickory is one of the "love it or hate it" materials because of the knots, flaws and wild color variations.

If you have doubts about your long-term feelings, don't use it.

Hickory is also harder than maple or white oak. It will wear better in the long run. Most engineered products on the market are made of Hickory.

@Apolonia3, I love Hickory floor with a natural low gloss finish though I've rarely seen it is used in a modern design. I want to point that once the furniture is put in the room of third picture, hickory could look more attractive. Here are couple of Hickory floor projects of ours. Both are with uv oil finish and lightly scraped surface in 5" and 3-1/4"

You need to be able to keep the humidity between 40% - 60%. Wood gains moisture QUICKLY (inside of a week) but looses it slowly (could take 3-4 months to let go of that same moisture).

Keeping humidity stable is important for any hardwood - including engineered. Large swings of humidity can cause delamination of the layers in an engineered floor. The lower layers "move" in a completely different way to the hickory top layer = serious amount of sheer stress load on the adhesive binding the layers = eventual failure.

Some people have been able to keep a single room (like a bedroom or a dent) contained using a portable dehumidifier....but it takes time and effort to empty the tanks twice a day - every day - during the summer. And goodness help you if the tanks overflow and the shut-off switch doesn't kick in. That can be an almighty mess all by itself.

If all you have to work with is a dehumidifier, then go for it. You will need one for every room that the hickory sits in. You will have to have them running some time around May.

Have you tried looking at their website for installation guidelines of their products? Most companies will include these documents online for their products.

Solid Hickory in the 5" width will be unstable in a poorly conditioned home (gaps in winter/swelling in summer). A wide plank (5" or wider = "wide plank") will require "glue assist" for the install (it isn't "just" nail/staple/cleat...it needs glue as well).

Acclimation isn't about "time" it is about Moisture Content (MC). The moisture of the hickory is #1 of 2 MC ratings that your installer will need to document. The other MC rating is from the subfloor. Is this plywood or concrete you are installing over?

The indoor conditions MUST MEET "average indoor living conditions". That means heat must be on, humidity controlled, and the flooring "stacked and racked" properly in the area where it will be installed.

The HIGH END flooring installer will measure MC of random planks of the flooring (can be 5% - 10% of planks should/would be tested) on the day it is delivered. They will also document exterior temps/conditions and INTERIOR conditions. This will be on a single sheet of paper.

They will CONTINUE to take measurements every few days (if things are close to install) or every week or so if the wood/interior conditions aren't quite ready. Each day s/he documents will have it's own sheet of paper. A copy of these readings should be given to you upon completion of the job. It covers EVERYONE'S butt should anything "odd" occur.

As a homeowner, it is up to YOU to control the environment. The indoor living conditions should be "set" several DAYS before delivery. Then those identical conditions will be MAINTAINED during acclimation. And maintained DURING installation. And maintained (as close to identical conditions as possible) THROUGHOUT the LIFE TIME of the wood floor (60 - 80 years).

Whew! I would NOT want to deal with a room sized dehumidifier for 60 years. That's a LOT of work.

@ Jay Muse,

Thank you! Yes they are both prefinished in UV oil, the first is 5 inch wide and the second is 3-1/4 inch wide. The thickness is 3/4" engineered with 5mm wear layer. Hickory floors are rarely graded like other species since most Hickory lovers want everything on the floors.

I love hickory, but I like movement. I don't think hickory will be quiet and behaved. I am doing hickory cabinets and acacia hardwood. If you are scared it will be overwhelming with the different colors stick with maple.

And sometimes I find it funny with all the warnings about temperature and humidity. My grandma's farm house, as well as the house I grew up in had hardwood floors, both built well over 100 years ago. And they never had air conditioning or dehumidfyers, they heated & cooked with wood and later gas yet the floors still held up just fine.

We installed 4 inch solid hickory in our kitchen, dining room, living room & hallway (all connected) five years ago & I still love it! Of course we are not designers, so YMMV. While hickory is harder than some woods, the finish still scratches, LOL. I have a 36 pound dog & 2 men that do not take off their shoes & yes we have scratches. That being said, looking over the floor with the pattern, it still looks beautiful. I am the only one that notices the scratches. It has lots of character, but works in my ranch home. We have a whole house humidifier on our heat pump, but heat with wood during the winter & it doesn't run enough to keep the humidity above 35%. Mostly run AC constantly in the summer. It was installed in the summer. Never had a problem with swelling or shrinking too much.

We have solid, site-finished, 5" hickory planks in our house. We like them, but, I'm actually writing this to tell you to be very cautious about hickory floors.

We've stained our floors dark and have a hardwax oil finish. Our floors were stained dark because we did not like the strong orange/yellow undertones. Staining dark is, imo, the only way to reduce or eliminate the orange/yellow tones and, from what we experienced, hickory is not easy to stain and also not easy to stain evenly. I know that first floor you posted is blonde/brown and beautiful, but, beware.... Hickory yellows over time, with exposure to light. They call it "ambering." I may be mistaken, but I am not sure if any finish will prevent color change of the wood, itself, over time. Someone else may know more about this. But...be very careful and do your homework before you purchase.

So far as humidity fluctuations and hickory, I don't think that there's any way you're going to get away with solid hickory in your state unless you are highly committed to very tightly controlling humidity levels in your home. We live in CA, where we do not experience fluctuations in humidity that are anywhere near what you get, and our floors expand a little in the summer and contact a little in the winters, and so we do see some cracks open up a bit here and there in the winters. We knew hickory was a relatively unstable wood when we installed it and so we knew we'd see a bit of movement, so we were prepared for this. It was one of the factors that led us to use a hardwax oil vs a water or oil based polyurethane.

If you are uncertain if hickory is for you, or if you like the blonde/brown look of that first floor you posted and you would be unhappy if you floor had, or developed, yellow/orange undertones like the second floor, I think you need to rethink hickory. Start asking questions about yellowing over time. Some finishes yellow over time and so you will hear about this. But, wood also changes color over time. Will any finish prevent this? I don't know.

Finally, know that there is significant variation in color even with select and better hickory. I think that it's possible that one of the things you dislike about the second floor you posted is that you can see where the planks meet up....one plank is dark, the next is light, maybe a solid dark plank meets a plank that's half dark and half light. This phenomenon is not so obvious is the first photo, because that photo covers a much smaller area vs the photo of the second floor, which is of the entire room. But, I'd advise thinking about this. Some planks will be dark, some will be light. Many will have both dark and light areas. One plank may have a 1/2 inch strip of light on the left. Another may have 4 inches of darker wood on the left, etc., etc. Think about how the planks will look when installed, both next to each other and also where they meet on the ends. Plank length matters so far as overall look too. Your first photo looks like it has longer planks than the second floor.

It's beautiful, just beautiful! It looks great in your space. I'm really glad you like it!

Looks clumpy. A lot of short boards, but they key is that you like it. Less clumpiness below but it is a clear grade.

Yes looks great. I am happy you went with it