I'm a fan of Hickory. Love it! I love it's STRONG variation! Yep. Variation is the word that can be used for Hickory. If you are going for "mid-tone" then it means the Hickory is stained. No problem. That's fine. Hickory takes a stain very nicely. But it will still have plenty of variation. The stain will even that out a little bit, but not entirely. The finish is UV cured urethane. I'm not very excited about that finish. If you are going for factory finish, you will want to work with the TOUGHEST finishes on the market (that's why you go with factory finished...for the TOUGH finish). The UV cured urethane is a ho-hum type of finish. Average would be the best way to describe it. The thickness of the plank is 3/4" = normal for sold. The plank width is 5" with random lengths UPTO 60" (5ft). That tells me there will be many planks in the 3' - 4' range. Again, this is ho-hum average. And with a wide plank product, it will need "glue assist". And Hickory certainly needs it because it has a bit more movement (less stable) than white oak. And then there is the "low gloss" format. The low-gloss finish on this depth of colour = nightmare to live with. It will show dust, etc as well as oily foot prints, sock prints, paw prints and will look hazy at certain times during the day. The "haze" is part of the chemical make up of the finish itself = that's how they take away the gloss...they haze it with a chemical additive. The haze goes away when you sand and refinish the floor. That's the only way to fix it. If you must have a mid-tone floor, I would recommend a TOUGHER finish (aluminum oxide or ceramic infused polyurethane) in a satin. Satin is FAR MORE livable. It offers a lovely glow without being shiny. It hides skin oils (like paw prints from dogs) because it is the same gloss level as skin oils....it isn't hazy....you get the idea.

The "Maintenance of hardwood floors with Silk Oil finish assumes regular (daily if necessary) cleaning from dust and grit using a vacuum, followed by a thorough cleaning with Coswick Hardwood Floor Cleaner or other similar product." Is 100% normal for hardwoods. The sweeping vacuuming 2-5 times per week is a normal requirement for hardwood (and vinyl and laminate and cork and linoleum). The 'followed by' part does not mean 'immediately afterwards'. A regular 'damp' cleaning (for poly = water only) is 1/week. A regular wood cleaner (for poly) is 1-2 per MONTH. The Silk Oil will be closer to the polyurethane side of things than the oil side of things. Don't get discouraged by the 'maintenance'. These statements are everywhere for hardwood. The part that is closer to hardwax oil is: "In areas where traffic is most intense, it is recommended to periodically apply Coswick restorative cleaners for oiled floors. Such floor cleaners consist of up to 10% wax, and, in addition to cleaning the floor surface from dirt, they renew worn-down finish." The reappliction of the 'oil' back onto the finish is normal for hardwax oils. In essence this finish is a temporary "ail acrylates" 'polish'. The 4 layers means they have thrown down plenty of waxy finish...that needs a bit of a boost from time to time. My issue is the wire brushing. This is a texture that is known to cause issues with cooking oils and spills. I would personally purchase a box of the floor to test test test the finish out for a few months. After that test, you decide if you can handle the high wearing waxy finish and the wire brush texture. European Oak normally requires a HEALTHY budget. Where are you located and what is your total budget and your square footate?

I'm not sure what LVT is. :) I have an appointment with the flooring person for Saturday to test out samples. Cherie, we hate forced hot air because it bothers my and the kids' asthma and allergies so I am actually very happy about these baseboard radiators as radiant heat is much easier on the lungs since it's not blowing hot air all over the place. There is central air for the summer months. We live in Northern NH... it gets cold here for sure. I am going to keep the tile in the kitchen for now and the rest will be new flooring *all going in the same direction* ! We are ripping out the red carpeting, which is in all four bedrooms as well as on the stairs. We want to replace that with flooring and we don't want yet another type of flooring in the house so it makes sense to do the living and dining room as well. When we reconfigure the kitchen, we'll have to match it up and remove the tile at that time.

Hello, We often use WOCA UV Oils on our wood flooring products. You can learn more about them here - https://www.woodcareusa.com/guide/how-to-care-for-your-flooring-dos-and-donts The oil does penetrate the wood which protects it against drying out more than a polyurethane finished floor. The cells of the wood are not closed off on a oil finished floor, which allows it to breathe, this also helps prevent floors from drying out. If you find your floors are getting a little dry, you can always apply some more oil on them.