lodalady (and others who are considering wood floors), While our house is being built, we are living with engineered Brazilian cherry. It is not to my taste, but beside that, this floor must be installed right on the slab because it is hard as a rock and hard on my legs when I stand on it for any length of time. I don't know the finish because we're just renting this townhouse, but it scratches VERY easily it seems to me because we have tried to be very careful--pads on all the furniture legs, lifting chairs instead of pushing them, etc. And we have ugly white scratches on the floor. I wanted solid wood in our house, and after almost a year trying to find prefinished I liked (and could afford) I decided to look into site-finished. I got an installer recommendation from a carpenter friend of ours and he bought our character-grade white oak and installed it in our house. We are finishing with Waterlox (first coat on now) and it is GORGEOUS. If it scratches, we will be able to patch it up with more finish. You can't do that with prefinished. And the upshot is--it was CHEAPER than prefinished. I have told several people, look into site-finished. It's more beautiful, you have a great choice of finishes, stains, etc. I am thrilled with it. I can't remember how much it was exactly, but no more than $7/foot (installed) and probably less. (I would put up a picture but the floor is now totally covered because the painters are doing the second coat this week). - Magpie

My 1934 old house had had a fire before I bought it. I was told to use terpentine and linseed oil mixture, it looked really beautiful..I sanded it first. Danish oil also looks beauriful on old wood. Stains? You just have to sand first, then use a stain darker than the original. Use a wood conditioner first, then hand stain the wood, trying to blend around the stain until the spot on the floor blends in better. Apply 2 coats of poly. Keep the room as dust free as possible. I still have a dark spot on my living room floor that was burned. Doesn't bother me, just reminds me that this old house has a story to tell.

Hi Amina, Is it drywall dust or glue that's stuck between the boards? We underwent a major renovation of our new old house this past year...and I remember panicking when I saw the filth on my dark hardwood floors. A dry vac picked up all of the white dust that had settled between the boards. It was labour intensive work...I was on my hands and knees vacuuming every single hardwood edge. And then I swept again and once again was on my hands and knees with damp towels.. On the stairwell and second floor, our contractors had put protective covering on the floors to protect them. The glue from the covering was stuck on many areas, and, as Redroze suggested, we used rubbing alcohol to spot clean. It worked. Good luck,

You mentioned Orange County, CA in another thread and concerns over humidity. I lived in the city of Orange in my early twenties and don't recall anything excessive. Prolonged periods of high or low humidity is what can cause issues and not four or five days here and there. Looking at the past year in Orange itself doesn't ring alarm bells. Averages are in the 60’s from my glance. I didn't see 80% I did most of my work in SW Florida where humidity was much higher. The work was anywhere from beachfront, island, to twenty miles inland, but before the days of five inch wide solid planks. Then it was more three inch solid. Yes there were a few issues here and there especially with stilt homes that had no climate control underneath (open to air). That’s all changed now with nearly all homes using those areas for game rooms, guest bedrooms and the like. As far as concrete slab sub floors, which I’m guessing you probably have, engineered floors are all over the place. No issues. Be careful with the reviews you read. Many are probably a matter of installation related failures and lack of awareness, especially with DIY’ers and inexperienced installers. Think about these three M’s Moisture testing - material, subfloor Moisture awareness - in, and around the home. Before and after Moisture control - barriers