I agree with Greendesigns on the color--the darker they are the more maintenance they will require with dust mopping or swiffering. I am guessing with all you have going on, you don't have the time to be swiffering every square inch of flooring twice a day. Going with a medium stain or even clear poly is a more practical option. Handscraped floors are beautiful without a doubt, but as you're finding are very $$$. Going with a #1 common grade vs. a select grade or clear grade hardwoodis a less expensive alternative to handscraped that still gives you plenty of character. On-site finish vs. engineered finish is really a personal preference IMO. With engineered, once it's installed you're ready to go, but if your floors are ever damaged (think dishwasher floods kitchen), you run the risk of not being able to match it to the rest of the hardwoods in the house at a later date, and you are limited on how many times you can refinish the floor. Going with site finished gives you the advantage of unlimited refinishing, ability to match at a later date if need be, but it does require drying time. I think the engineered prefinished floor have come into favor with builders who want it done quick + current homeowners who are upgrading their existing flooring and don't want to deal with the sanding & drying time required with unfinished. When building new, as you are, the sanding & drying time really don't play in as much--the builder has a cleaning crew come in to take care of any sanding dust + most hardwood guys use the dustless sanders now anyway & typically the floor finishing is done last--so while you're working on closing on the house, the floors are being completed & drying). Hope this helps!

there are 2 ways to do it. first is to create it out of you hardwood product, using stair nosings and the manufacturer of your hardwood flooring should carry them for your product type and wood species. Ask them for prefinished or site finished depending what you have. if not, you can get them milled by a local wood supplier out of the same wood species, then stain and/or finish them to match. If you cant find any of those resources, you can try a search for Hardwood Stair Nosing for an online resource. Secondly, you can buy prefinished or site-finished hardwood stair treads and risers out of the wood species you desire. you can use their risers or your hardwood for the risers. I think the most important issue here is getting the look and finish you desire. Stairs can really be made out of any hardwood, although the harder wood the better in terms of durability and wear. Here is a wood hardness chart if you are open to different species. As to installation, you want to screw and glue the nosings so they dont turn when someone steps on the nosing overhang. Improperly installed stair nosings have caused problems in the past coming loose and could potentially cause injury, so follow all instructions to the letter.

We have visited two so far, one being a very high end store.seems like everything we have found is rotary cut not plain sawn. I was hoping the experts could refer me to specific brands. The Anderson's have the distressed finish but not plain sawn, same with Shaw. The mirage and lauzon are plain sawn but not a lot of distressed options.

As stated above, mixing manufacturers can be tricky. DuraSeal works well with water based finishes because DuraSeal MAKES water based finishes. Minwax does not. Minwax produces oil based finishes that are illegal in 11 states. Bona is MUCH more expensive than either DuraSeal and most definitely more than Minwax. I am extremely pleased to see a professional reach for Bona stain for Bona Finish. That tells me all I need to know. @Design2 girl - If you are getting used to the colour (as it is) then feel free to see if a small discount can be given for leaving it in place. If you feel this is not the colour you want to live with, then you will need to have it sanded off and start fresh. A double application of stain is a NO-NO in the flooring industry. The second coat can and will PREVENT bonding of the finish to the wood! That means you run the risk of the floor pealing like a sun burn! Yep. In a few days to a few months the whole thing could slough off like snake skin. Not pretty. Personally I like the colour as it is right now. This mid-tone cool brown (not much yellow/orange) is very desirable. I would put down some satin finish over top and enjoy a very handsome floor.