Andy R

I am in the process of learning about wood flooring options (and alternatives) to replace the flooring on the first floor of my house. Previously there was carpet and tile so there is no subflooring it's just the exposed concrete slab now that the old flooring has been removed.

Before I ask about the product I was informed of, I'd like to precursor the conversation with some information about my lifestyle. This house is going to be my primary residence but I plan to spend up to 6 months per year out of the country. Typically this will be on 2-3 month trips. The reason I bring this up is because I am worried about having to air condition the house when I am gone and the added costs this will bring to my total cost of ownership. The sales guy I met said I would need to keep the house no warmer then 77 degrees to protect solid wood floors. He said if I went with an engineered product that could be more like the low 80s. I will have some artwork that I want to protect anyway but 77 seemed a bit cool, I was thinking low 80s as the minimum since it might get kind of expensive to keep the place really cool in the hot Texas summers.

Yesterday I met with the first wood floor sales person and we discussed some of the various options available. I really liked the solid wood floors and he mentioned that quarter sawn wood is more stable meaning it expands and contracts less. He also said their was a product called Solidly Engineered Flooring which was in essence an engineered flooring product but instead of having a very small layer of real wood on top it has 5/8 of an inch of real wood which allows for more refinishing in the future. Since this product is one piece with the subfloor and wood together he said it would have less expansion and contraction (1/32 of an inch) vs a regular solid wood floor.

So my question is how cool do I need to keep a house if I have solid wood floors?

Have you heard of this "Solidly Engineered Flooring" product? Do you know of some vendors where I can read more about it? A quick Google search did not render much info then regular engineered wood flooring.

Do you all have any rough estimates on what I can expect to pay per square foot (installed) for an oak 5" quarter sawn with 3 coats? He was saying this Solidly Engineered Flooring could reach as high as $15/sq foot. I have had friends tell me I should be able to get very nice floors for $10/sq foot including the subflooring.

Any help or advice for this flooring newbie is appreciated!

Floorwizard

All solid should be quarter sawn. If engineered is, it's more about graining than stability.
Engineered is more stable than solid.

Nope. But Kahrs and other manufacturers also have thick sandable finishes.

It's more about humidity. 35% to start.
Keep the temp normal.

I have no idea where you live and even if I did, I may still be way off without on site inspection.
I am in Alaska...so prices vary.....

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jaros bros.

Humidity is more of a problem down here. I've noticed the only time people condition the air is when it gets hot and not during the off season even though it can be humid during that time peridically.
I have also noticed, coming from the NE, that the flooring does run higher in Texas. You should be able to find a good flooring from $8 to $13 a square foot uninstalled. If you are looking for a specific stain or style that is trendy, expect to pay on the higher end of that.

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Josh Jaros Remodeling in The Woodlands, Texas www.jarosbros.com