You might try posting in the flooring forums... We've had polyurethane over oak for the last 14 years. This has held up well with minimal maintenance required. We refinished the kitchen area once in that time. In our remodel we are putting in some new floors and going with reclaimed oak flooring milled in downtown L.A. from beams salvaged from a railroad depot in Alabama. We will refinish all our floors at this time and going with either an oil finish or hard wax oil. Our flooring installer recommended Waca oil but the place that made the flooring recommends a hard wax oil. We ordered a bunch of sample colors of Waca oil to check out. Here is one source of samples: http://www.1877floorguy.com/wocooilsafte.html Osmo Hard Wax oil is pretty popular. We'll probably order some samples from them as well: http://worldclasssupply.com/store/OSMO-Wood-Wax-Finish-Transparent-Starting-as-low-as......html My sense is that hard wax oil gives a bit more protection than just oil. I've only seen small samples of wood with these finishes and they look different. Sounds like your finisher will be doing a waca-like treatment. You might want to check into a hardwax oil finish as well, so you know what your options are.

It looks to me like your walnut furniture isn't "too dark" for dark stained floors. It sounds like you enjoyed having the high-contrast look of the maple floors and the walnut furniture (it sounds lovely). I would suggest you going for the darker stain. Darker than your furniture. This way the beautiful graining of the walnut furniture will pop. Red oak, naturally has a busy grain pattern, and it also has a lot of variation in color when kept natural. I think it may look like you have too much going on if you keep the Oak natural. I also understand that you may prefer the water-based finish, but as a professional, I have to say that especially on the steps and in the entryway, it's not going to last nearly as long as an oil-based finish. So again, if you choose a dark stain color, you can have a win-win situation. The finish can then be oil based, giving you many more years of protection, and you can bring back the beauty of the high-contrast style in the new home. Dark floors, medium furniture, light walls and super white trim = stunning. Plus, with your beautiful big and open entryway, the dark stairs and floors will look really amazing with the light walls and trim. The Flooring Blog The Couture Floor Company

Wood vs. Engineered Wood? No contest in this case. If the home was built in 1905, put real hardwood in. This preserves the integrity of the home's building materials. Plus, as you can see from the age of these floors, higher grades (i.e. thicker) hardwood can be sanded several times; you usually don't get even one chance to sand engineered wood. The hardwood layer at the top of this multilayered product is simply too thin. Level Floors and Subfloors There are ways to level a subfloor, ranging from replacing parts of the subfloor with thicker or thinner sheets of plywood (or planks, see below), to pour-on leveling compounds that harden to make the entire floor level. What you use to level uneven areas depends on what the subflooring is. If it is plywood or concrete, the compound works. But more likely with this home, on floors at or above grade, there will be wood planks laid at a diagonal across the floor joists. So in your home, the layers were probably joists first, then subfloor planks of wood, then hardwood with tongue & groove joints. You cannot effectively use a pour-on leveling compound on a plank subfloor, as there are cracks between the planks. However, you can lay a new hardwood floor directly on a wood plank subfloor as long as those planks are sound and relatively level. Replace individual planks that have been damaged by water or insects, are otherwise compromised, or even missing (it happens!), with either new planks of lumber, or with plywood of the same thickness as the planks. Any lumber you install, for either the subfloor or finished flooring, should be brought in to your home several days prior to installation, so the materials acclimatize to your typical interior temperature and humidity. Unlike for ceramic or porcelain tile, the subfloor does not have to be perfectly level. And unlike vinyl sheeting, planks or tiles, the hardwood won't "telegraph" minor differences in height, and minor surface irregularities, so the subfloor doesn't have to be absolutely perfect; it should be sound, strong, uniform and essentially level. Your flooring contractor can give you specifics on what upgrades your subfloor may need once the original hardwood is removed. Joists If the floor is significantly not level in parts, or if certain areas feel spongy when you walk on them, I recommend you have your flooring contractor, a home inspector, or structural engineer inspect the subflooring and especially the floor joists. You don't want to invest in a new floor, only to have it become damaged because some joists weren't attended to. Transitions Transitions (a.k.a. thresholds or molding) between existing rooms and the new floor ought to be made of the same wood and same finish (stain, polyurethane, etc.) as the new flooring you are putting down. As wood ages, the finish becomes darker, so trying to make the transitions match the finishes of existing floors is very difficult and not recommended (what will match those floors right now won't match later after your transitions age up a bit). Eventually, the transitions wouldn't match either the new or the old floors! Transitions come in four types: reducer (when the two floors being joined are of different heights), seam binder (when the floors are the same height, and the boards from each are very close to one another), T-mold (when the two floors are the same height, but there is a crack between the two rooms' flooring) and stair nose or stair edger (when the flooring needs to curve around the front of a stair's "tread"--the flat part of a stair upon which you tread!). The transitions for your particular project can be ordered when you order the hardwood, so make sure to include measurements for those doorways/entrances. The contractor can tell you if he/she anticipates there will be a height difference or gap between the floorings, which would require those particular transitions. Dry Air Concerns Consult a local lumber supplier or flooring contractor familiar with your local climate conditions to discuss finishes or other tips for keeping your wood floors healthy in the dry winters. Sounds wonderful! Have fun!

For people looking for a durable domestic hardwood our hickory has been a very popular option. Because you'll be finishing in place your installer should be able to stain any color you want but make sure to see how it looks on the specie and grade you choose. The hickory has a very noticeable color variation between the heart wood and sapwood and because of this will stain a little differently. As far as finish goes we usually recommend a tung oil finish because of the fact that it is spot repairable. This allows you to re-finish or touch up areas where the dogs make their loop, leap, or general jumping around. I know pointers can sometimes be a little high energy and this will allow you smooth out those areas without re-finishing the entire surface like you would need to do with a traditional poly finish. Another option that many large pet owning customers have really liked is our saw kerf texture. This does give more of a rustic feel to the surface but it also disguises many of the "accidental blemishes" that can happen with your flooring. What ever your decision we wish you luck!