Help me select flooring for my new home

[mariko]

Hi all,
I have just purchased a new home in Philadelphia. It’s under renovation so that I get something better of my choice before we shift.
I am puzzled as to what should be my choice in hardwood flooring that I have purchased from Hosking: White Mountain flooring that gives a glossy finishing look or Anderson Wood Flooring that gives a rough pre-finished look!

I am planning to go for Anderson Wood flooring. Any one may please suggest.

[christo]

I just put down prefinished 3/4 inch white oak flooring in my bedroom and closet.

I found the flooring on Ifloor.com (no connection) - but it was a pretty good deal compared to the quotes.

I chose prefinished solid 3/4 inch as the rest of the downstairs is white oak and I figure with the dogs, I'll need to refinish the whole downstairs one day. Laminates will not work for me in this respect.

It went down well but took twice as long as I planned - but we were overly careful about lengths of wood and made very few cuts.

I'll be offering the leftovers on Craigs list next week for free....

Christo

[Les]

I would go with the rough look. But I guess it depends on you life style, Kids, dogs, etc... I went with a laminate when I built my game room for historical reasons. I was always in a home with real hardwood flooring and it is a BITCH to maintain. Before I installed the product, I slammed it with a hammer and tried to burn it - It passed! I do have friends (with hardwood floors) that require us to remove our shoes when we go into their home, and I must say, it is beautiful.

Les...

[Modthyrth]

I've installed three hardwood floors--bamboo twice (our house, my parents' house), oak once (the cabin). I've used the prefinished type each time.

I have to say, I LOVE the bamboo product. 5 years of abuse later, and the bamboo still looks perfect. It was cheap ($1.49/sf from lumber liquidators), it's a sustainable resource, and it's incredibly durable. Love it. I've walked on high heels on it many times. I've broken out the hardshoes and have done Irish step dancing on it on occasion. No marks. This stuff is tough.

The oak, not so impressive. We do rent out our cabin as a vacation rental property, so it's getting walked on, but less than we walked on the bamboo at our house. It's not holding up nearly so well. We'll have to refinish it before too long (probably at about the 3 year mark).