Thanks for the info. about your estimates. We understand that buying wood flooring online is not for everyone even though if using common sense and in-depth researches, it can save quite some for similar quality products found locally. By the way, you have done a great job noticing the confusing facts in wood flooring business. Now let's talk about you 2 flooring quotes: Acacia Walnut is from Asia and has a 2300 janka rating. It has similar grain patterns to American walnut which is 1010 in Janka rating. It is one of the few hot colored and inexpensive wood floorings on market now. We stock the solid moldings for the floor. But for vents, treads and risers, we would prefer to use unfinished American walnut and then stain match the Acacia color. So if you decide to go with the first quote, you may consider to have your installer do the same for your 30 stairs. The cost for unfinished walnut should be quite some more than Oak, but still affordable. $60 installation per step is fair to us. The second quote with Walnut is still fair to me. $7.41/sqft RW walnut is a reasonable price with a 3mm wear layer. $4.33 to install RW flooring is not too much either in this business. It is also about right to install a prefinished Walnut tread and white riser at $190. So to conclude, a lot of it has to do with sourcing and the type of business you are dealing with.

My pleasure as this *is* my current obsession, lol. The price was quoted at 7.41/sq ft, but because of the size of our job (over 800 sq ft with almost 30 stairs and some other work too) they seem to be willing to work with us on price. I had the same refinishing fears, but in the end for me, I realized that I probably wouldn't be there when and if the floor needs to be refinished. Not to pas the buck, but I'd screen if it came to that - have you heard of screening? I'd probably recommend that for engineered hardwood. Garrison does claim that a 3mm wear layer can be refinished up to two times, but I think if you want to refinish you'd be better off looking into 4mm or higher. I have seen a few brands that offered that or higher. I looked at a brand called Portofino briefly with an impressive wear layer on many of their boards - at least 4mm and 5mm on some I saw (Quercia Mezzanotte had 5 from what I saw - it's a dark stained oak). Of course that might be above your price point too. What range are you looking in? Walnut is typically on the more expensive side as you know. If you are DIY or into buying outside and contracting with a sub to install, I have seen better prices online for this wood if you like it. floorsbynature.com has it for 5.54/sq ft Here is a link that might be useful: Floors by Nature - Garrison Da Vinci Walnut Carrera

Jeri, First off sorry for the confusion and stating you had gotten a good deal on the Garrison DaVinci since I meant to address that section of my post to vestirse who was the purchaser. Confident? LOL Believe me I still ask myself if I should have went with two of my other choices on the ultimate short list. One of the is Hallmark Hallwoods Sapele from their Exotics line. It is a smooth finish and leans more towards the contemporary or formal look. I bought a box of it too and in the right lighting the 22 sqft of it is AMAZINGLY beautiful. It has an incredible grain that shimmers. However, since I am laying down 1300sqft the lighting in the hallways, entryway, living room, dining room, family room, and kitchen all varies of course. So in the end considering that and my concerns that it was less dense than the other two choices and that it may be slightly a bit too reddish I decided against it. The other short-list contender that was seriously weighed was the new Ernest Hemingway Wild Amber (which is actually Acacia) that just came on the market a few weeks ago. I actually delayed my purchasing decision because I wanted to see it before doing so. It was actually the designers first choice and it is definitely gorgeous and the construction is top notch (as is the Hallmark). However, I was skeptical that it would look too busy in the large open areas because it only came in 1 to 4' lengths and it does have a pronounced (and beautiful) grain. Throw in the fact that at the point I decided to just take the designer's advice (which has not failed me yet nor have I disliked any of the work he has done for other clients) I was unable to make the purchase because the initial shipment of the Wild Amber to the manufacturer had completely sold out (17K sqft). One of my concerns with Tigerwood (which I have always liked) is the variance of color I had seen between samples from different manufacturers in my local flooring stores. However, the Zinfandel Tigerwood has a slight golden stain which I suspected would even things out a bit. Thus, I decided to take a chance and buy a box because I think the "tiger" striping is gorgeous and would provide the body and character the designer and I are looking for (otherwise I'd just buy laminate ;-)). Obviously, it did turn out to be gorgeous and the slight stain did provide the result I was looking for. The designer was hoping for more of the striping and it to be a bit darker (less golden) but I told him to not to worry because I ordered more than the recommended 7% scrap to ensure that I get as much long lengths and striping as possible and given Tigerwood is photosensitive it will most definitely darken. ;-) Needless to say I am totally excited. The only bummer so far is that the my order got stuck at the local freight company's warehouse for the weekend given all their trucks were already out for delivery when it arrived on Friday and that they will not do the "inside" delivery option I paid for. Oh well, if that is the only hitch to my new flooring I can most certainly live with that! I will definitely post some photos after the install (which should be in about 3 weeks) since I live in Scottsdale, AZ. However, I guess that is not too far for you to drive especially if you wanted to tie it into a weekend getaway. ;-)

I ended up going with a different brand (California Classics). My contractor has had no problem with Garrison but after the research I did I wasn’t confident with the brand and the spend.