http://www.bellacerafloors.com/hardwood-floor/floor-care.aspx It is odd that Bella Cera floors would suggest a material (Murphy's Oil) that the care/maintenance instructions CLEARLY state are NOT ALLOWED. Did you contact Bella Cera or did you contact the point-of-sales (the store)? I can believe a store will offer the wrong information... Bella Cera has 2 finishes = Valspar Laquer and Oil Finished Floors. The OIL FINISHED floors require the oil refresher. The VALSPAR Laquer (of which your floor belongs) are NOT allowed the oil! I'm going to guess the person on the end of the line didn't know which product you had. They should have directed you to the website to find the instructions for your particular floor. Please use the link to down load your care instructions. Please stop using the Murphy's Oil. It will do weird things over the next decade or two. One application will be OK...more won't work out so well.

I can only hope our floors look as beautiful as yours. We are installing at a beach house so I was concerned with humidity. We are on pilings up about 18 feet with spray foam insulation so the humidity should be low. I also gave 19 steps going to the second floor, so hoping the stairnose matches really good. How do you clean the floors, they suggest not using a steam mop? Thank you so much for responding. By the way where do live? just curious if you are in a humid climate.

The "white/gray" is in a wide plank is going to be what kills your budget. There are DOZENS of them out there...for $15/sf. If you must have the wide plank in silverish colour, you will want to look at European Oak. It's tones are NATURALLY silver. Yes. As it ages it turns SILVER. Which is why it is SOOOO popular right now. And popular means high demand. And just like in economics class, the rule of supply and demand is what drives the price. If you want to get AWAY from the SILVER, you can start dropping the price. There are TONS of the wide plank (anything over 5" is considered wide plank = MUCH MORE expensive to INSTALL = higher labour costs = more out of the budget). White Oak in a wide plank presentation in a NATURAL tone will offer plenty of rustic style. And for a much better price than silver/gray or European Oak (which can be VERY pricey). How wide is wide? And do you have the correct humidity control for your home heating/cooling system for wide plank wood? Ask to see if your HVAC has a humidifier/dehumidifier as part of the package. Make sure you can control your indoor humidity at the touch of a button. If you do not, you might wake up to a nasty surprise. The wider a piece of wood, the more movement it can have. Engineered planks reduce this concern but they NEVER remove it completely. There will always be a concern with humidity. Why? Because it's wood. With a budget of $9/sf (or so) you will need to know the "extras" this will cost to install wide plank (can add another $2/sf for labour simply because of the "glue assist" that is needed).

Engineered wood is still wood, and wood has a natural amber/yellow/orange tone that is tough to mask without extensive processing. If you are set on a light, "sand" colored floor, it would provide you many more options to expand your search criteria to other flooring products.