<p>antique floors - one of my obsessions but don’t think they will work for dstark. :)</p>
<p>just painted a 150 yr old southern pine floor in one room and am waiting to see how it wears before proceeding… soft wood antique floors vs hard wood antique floors has been a learning experience for me.</p>
<p>I really like pine …but no…not in this place…</p>
<p>When i was a kid, I used to go to Playland at the Beach in SF. There was a pie shop there. Ironically, I think it was called. The Pie Shop. I loved that place. I loved the Chocolate Cream Pie. The Pie Shop had walls made out of pine. It was great.</p>
<p>My wife is choosing anyway…:)</p>
<p>Dstark, if you can afford it, go with bird’s eye maple. It is stunning. Our maple floors have some patterned boards mixed in, and it breaks the typical maple floor monotony. Maple will darken with light exposure, so the spots covered by rugs will be lighter. You will want a rug under your dining table to protect the floor from denting due to contact with sharp objects, such as guests’ heels and chair legs.</p>
<p>bird’s eye maple does look nice</p>
<p>My elderly folks have maple in their kitchen and are frustrated with the softness of the wood. It seems to ding and scratch rather easily given that they are pretty ‘soft’ users of the floor. We had red oak in a previous home and it held up very very well. Yes, there is red/amber hue to it.</p>
<p>Currently we have California Tan Oak in our entire (less the bathrooms) home. I LOVE this stuff. It is even harder than red oak and has a honey colored natural hue. The California Tan Oak is considered a ‘scrub oak’. Tan oaks grow in areas with redwoods. When redwoods are logged the tan oaks must be removed so that the newly planted redwood saplings will have access to light. I don’t know about the general availability but if you can find it it is worth considering.</p>
<p>California tan oak looks nice too…</p>
<p>Thanks for the link to the alternet article. Red oak. To me, light woods, esp. maple look like faux wood, in addition to the extra dirt they show and mark ups.</p>
<p>Funny how every single decision is complicated these days . . . wood floor type, paint color . . . college to send your kid!</p>
<p>In our current house we have maple (K, FR, back hall) and the rest of the house (except bathrooms) has Oak (not sure red or white) floors. I like them both, but the polyurethane on the maple floors has a few areas where it is pealing at the seams. I am the only one who notices this flaw. I don’t have any scratches on the either maple or oak floors and the house is 10 y/o.</p>
<p>I have a 100 year old house with maple floors in living room, dining room, and all bedrooms. The floors have a nice golden color that I love. They were completely refinished about 30 years ago. We have applied polyurethane several times ourselves to help maintain the finish. We are quite happy with the floors.</p>