I prefer the second one, but it’s a big difference in cost! I really don’t like those short pieces of wood that the sample shows in the first one. It really doesn’t look 4 3/8” to me, either.

Do you know the brand/manufacturer of this hardwood? I would do the research to figure out the real cost of this floor and where it is made.

Those short boards look bad and are usually found in cheaper brands. If they have mostly short pieces, then you might as well get tile!

Another option is to go with the cheapest flooring the builder offers and then upgrade to hardwood floors on your own after you own the house.

Both are vintage brand. I just took the picture from their site . But 1st one is 4 3/8 inch and 2nd one 5 inch

Not much difference in size

I can’t speak about the hardwood quality because I have vinyl plank, but based purely off of looks, I would choose light over dark floors. I am in the process of taking dark flooring out of my kitchen and putting one light lvt throughout my house. The difference is night and day for how much easier it is to keep looking clean and how much brighter the room looks.

Thank you knitsewoften

This is another pic from builder website though size mentioned is different

We were also contemplating the 2nd Floor, it is beautiful. I’m just not sure of the way they fill in the knots. In person, it looked awful.

Quick research says that Vintage is a quality floor made in Canada with good wear layer. The 5" Oak Nautillus comes in either Pearl or UV Oiled, I'd want the Pearl. I would try to talk them down a bit on price [everything's negotiable]. But I think you'd like that better for longer. Do it everywhere you can on the main instead of carpet. It will look better longer.

Best of luck.

Thank you so much for the comment . Will white oak good in a long run on quality compare to red oak ? Also I am going for pearl finish

Is it worth to spend double amount for white oak compare to red oak for extra 5/8 inches .

My question is: do you want DARK floors or do you want "light" floors?

Red Oak has red/cinnamon undertones. Those undertones have been 'out of fashion' for a few decades. A SUPER PALE Red Oak (ie. the 'raw' look) is a very pretty floor so long as the grade is high enough. Red Oak is relatively abundant so sourcing it is less costly. The narrower width is also a more common width to find and therefore easier to source if anything goes wrong in the future.

The dark floor will look very dark once it is in the home. It will suck the light out of the rooms because it is so dark...thereby making it look and feel DARKER in the home.

White Oak is slightly harder to source AND it is the "upgrade" material everybody wants so the price doubles simply by the concept of 'supply and demand'. The wider planks of the White Oak could mean a more costly form of install. As soon as you hit 5" width, you need a full spread glue or a glue-assist install. That INCREASES the cost of the LABOUR. So now you have a double hit to the budget.

Personally I would prefer a white oak in a natural finish in a narrower plank (4" is fine). These trendy colours can be just that...trendy. I do not like dark floors - and I know the darker one will turn DARK inside a home. Only a SUPER WELL LIT HOME (ie. 3 walls of windows) will lighten up a floor like that.

The lighter plank is a pretty product, but we've seen horror stories of these floors showing 'cooking oil stains' that seep through to the wood = disturb the stain = super ugly = super upsetting for the homeowner.

Thank you so much for the comment. As most of you are telling to go for lighter shade I will stick to that . I checked with builder now . They have 2 lighter one for white oak 5” . One is nautilus which I shared before . Another one vintage white oak oracle . I have attached the pic . Which one everyone please suggest

When I said short boards, I was talking about the length, not the width. Check the specs to see what the lengths are. The specs should state the shortest, longest and average board length shipped with that model.

Superior length

I like the warmer color Nautillus better on my computer screen. Vintage seems white washed? which is a little more trendy...but really get what you like 10 years from now it will all be something else that's popular.

I think the 5" is nice in between width as current trend is 7 or 8 " width and previous trend was 3-4 inch width...you're in the middle. LOL

I am in the process of building and we went with a warmer light white oak in 7.5" width. I'm wishing it was super wide right now as we are doing the work and it would go faster ha ha.

I am definitely biased. My current house we installed 5" red oak 15-18 years ago and they have gotten redder/oranger over the years so I'm ready for a change.

I love that White Oak Nautilus. Strangely, in the last area I lived (Toronto), that color was the touch of death for resale. Asians would not touch it.

Here on the west coat the lighter colors and clear/neutrals are much more popular.

Thanks Trish . I too wanted to go for wider one but due to budget constraint am thinking atleast to do 5”

Thanks strategery. Due to Covid I am not able to go to some open houses to see how exactly light color floor will look like . But as you said it’s selling fast am now inclined towards nautilus