I had med-dark floors and what made them look dirty was the sheen! I believe chinchette. They were engineered wood and they were so smooth you could see footprints in sunlight with CLEAN feet right out of the bath not even wet. Drove me nuts. I've been wanting to go with real wood (handscraped with a little tonal variation to hide dings/scratches). I may consider engineered if I can get it in a matte finish, because the engineered held up beautifully in my previous kitchen, and I'm worried about a true hardwood in that area. It will be one or the other, I love wood floors. My friend had a darker almost espresso floor, now those you had to dust all the time to keep looking clean.

Hola, Sorry, forgot to post layout: And no, we're not thinking of using our huge fireplace as a heat source. My kids have asthma, so all the tiny particles from wood burning or pellet stoves are not good for the kids. And I don't think they're that environmentally friendly. If we have the money, we would do geothermal heating. Here's our house in about 20inches of snow last year (does this help your decision, since it's nice and warm today?): plllog: "You have young children. You have a budget...Then the children can spread out their painting projects on the floor, roller skate, or whatever. Real linoleum, such as Marmoleum, is an ecologically friendly choice...you can easily replace it when you decide you want hardwood. In fact, you can do the subfloor as if you're getting hardwood... Then it's easy to mop. And you can make the change when the kids are older and you feel like spending the money--or not." These are my thoughts exactly!!! roobear: "Hardwood is better for resale, it would add value to your home, it can be refinished etc. Plus, it would fit the period and style of the house better." EXACTLY! The flip-side of my thinking as well. If I'm going to do hardwoods later, why not do them now and enjoy the benefit of the flooring, rather than pay twice? I've also thought about the heated rugs; the Japanese use them all over their house. circuspeanut: "have cold feet 6 months out of the year" Argh: sometimes it feels longer. cleo: "using engineered hardwood floors" Great idea, but because we installed some in our previous house, I really did not like them. My main concern w/ them is wear and tear, especially in between the planks. What happens if water (or raw meat juice) gets in between and swells the ?particle boards, etc? lovilynne: "have you considered DIY wood" Oh, while my house is not historical, it seems like it with the uneven floor, no insulation in the walls, etc :) We are DIY the hardwood floors for the 2nd floor right now. The learning curve was HUGE for us. And I'm not sure about my skills w/ hardwood floor over radiant heat. "they make a special heater to go under the cabinet" Oh!!! Can you please tell me more? Do you have pictures to share? Hmmm...

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.

@shead, it is not an either/or between engineered and onsite finishing. I am planning to get an engineered floor — that will be supplied with the raw white oak top layer (to the thickness I specify) and it will be finished on site. There will not be bevels between the planks. I can specify the quality of the wood of the white oak (character grade or less knots — I’ve forgotten what all the grade levels are called). It is my understanding that if I want boards over 3 or 4” wide, the engineered boards help prevent cupping, curling and etc distortions. The humidity in the house also needs to be controlled. Although I love the look of really wide planks, I understand that people have more problems with 10” and wider boards so I plan to stay around 7”. There are various companies that offer this raw wood engineered product. The color of the white oak varies from where the trees are grown so that may impact your choice (and mine). I haven’t yet decided on what sealer (or stain) I’ll use — the installer will provide samples on site. If I go with Bona for the sealer, I also plan to use the Bona water-based protective coat (leaning towards 3 coats of Bona Traffic HD as the installer uses that a lot and is not as familiar with the similar quality Loba product). The installer also uses Rubio Monocoat; I haven’t researched that yet to see how it compares to Bona. So far, I haven’t heard a downside to taking this route — if there are any pros out there that think differently, please let me know.