5K for a whole home's floors is only realistic if you DIY the whole job's labor yourself. Even then, that budget will be perilously tight when you consider the needed accessories and install materials have to be added into that "square foot price" of the basic material itself. For the floor under consideration, the cull rate will be much higher. You'll have a big pile of rejects. Rather than buying 10% overage, plan on 15% or even 20%. That brings the price per actual square foot laid up to the price of a better grade floor. And the labor rate won't be any different to install crap vs. installing something nicer. Also, you're not figuring in the transition strips, splines, quarter round, glue, and the labor to undercut all of your doors and moldings. and moving all of your furniture out or into other rooms for the job. All of those accessories and accessory services add up to just as much as the square foot cost of the flooring plus the standard install fee.

@falusiaa I know this thread is a few years old now but did you end up getting your floors reinstalled? We're looking at having this exact same floor installed in our home- Maxwell unfinished engineered white oak in select grade. Have you been happy with it? Did you apply a stain or go with the natural finish? Like you, we are opting for a bit more modern and don't want the knots and character defects that make it a little more rustic. Thanks!

Just to be clear- the bevels come from hardwoods being prefinished, not engineered. You can get solid hardwoods as well as engineered hardwoods prefinished (which will have bevels). Although less common, you can also get engineered floors site finished. These won't have bevels and will be indistinguishable from solid woods floors on looks alone. A small general summary below, which may help your daughter. I'm sure there are exceptions to these statements but by and large this is what you're looking at. Pre-finished vs Site-finished Pre-finished: Bevels. A more durable finish. Fewer color/stain options. Site-finished: No bevels. A less durable finish (doesn't mean it's not a good or good enough finish, it's just not as hard as factory finishes). Virtually unlimited ability to mix stains and find the perfect color. Solid vs Engineered Solid: Usually ¾" solid wood. More prone to problems (cupping and gaping) with changes in humidity. Can sand and refinish many times. Can only be installed over a subfloor and not over a concrete foundation, making them not an option in some situations. Engineered: Has a solid wood "wear layer" that will look indistinguishable from solid wood floors. The thickness of this wear layer, which can vary significantly depending on which engineered floor you choose, determines the number of times the floors can be sanded and refinished (anywhere from zero to maybe 3 times, always fewer times than solid floors). More stable which means less susceptible to problems like cupping or gaping, although still possible. Can be installed over concrete and in other situations where solid hardwoods are not appropriate. Hope this helps!

@abesmum I don’t know that this is what they used but look at Bona intense seal, amber seal or classic seal looks like it could be one of those to me. I ended up with Bona Nordic seal bc I wanted a whiter lighter look. The Bona seals are amazing in that they only give the floor a bit of a tint and allow the natural wood to really show… hers definitely give that look