You mention the new hickory is "installed"... sounds like the horse has left the barn.
If YOU like what you've got... be happy with it regardless of what others suggest... especially since you've already made the call.

Light color stain floors make the room brighter and shows less dust. Go with a color that at least shows some wood grain, otherwise if stain to dark as in above photo then....

I can call and change the order and get a darker color.... Not too late.

Dark wood shows every speck of dust (I know!). The lighter floors will look great. Enjoy!

Those are tough because the darker floors shown are more of a reclaimed and rustic look. Personally I love both as hickory is one of my favorite lumbers but being a reclaimed guy I also really enjoy that scraped look. With hickory you could also get a darker hickory mix too.

I like the look of darker floors. I have a medium - dark coloured floor, and it doesnt show too much dust/dirt. It is not super dark though. I also like the hickory, because of the variation. It is very interesting. I would say not to worry about resale value, just pick what you like. I fyou like the hickory better then go with that!

I think you should install what you like not what is in style at the moment. I like all hard wood floors for the most part and I can't imagine hickory hardwood floors would hurt the resale value of your home.

I have gone dark, but really they are much harder to keep clean and will go back out of favor.

I think you made a good choice as the wall color looks to be a Terracotta brown with a dark wood piano. This leads me to believe your a fan of dark rustic or original wood from the general appearance this being the case I would stick with the blonde wood to brighten up the room just be careful to not go too bright.

Unless you love to clean, lighter is the way to go. Dark wood is beautiful if cleaned daily. Lighter floors are much more forgiving. Darker colors show dust & scratches.

The saga continues. Floors are finally getting put down. We are worried about the install. There are gaps between many of the boards. The contractor said they are to be filled in with putty and buffed. This is prefinished, 5" hickory. Should this be happening? Any pros out there that can weigh in? This is the third set of flooring that has gone down in our house due to flaws. We are at the point of just letting it go. Thoughts?

Depending on the manufacturer, tolerance is only a business card between the joints. That doesn't mean every board, just occasionally. Those would be filled with putty and buffed. Does the floor have a micro beveled edge? Post a picture of what has been installed.

Attached are two photos. The floors are Bruce 5" hickory.

The pictures actually look beautiful, however; I am not able to enlarge this photo to see it close up. What I would suggest is to see how often you are able to put a business card between the joints and send a picture to the company you purchased the floor from. Armstrong, the company that makes Bruce Hardwood, follows that standard. In my experience, the technical team from Bruce is jam up!

This is the THIRD floor installation we've had from a Lowes subcontractor with Bruce flooring -- the same areas. These guys are doing things the others did not do like buffing the floors, etc. if I walk around with a business card checking the gaps my brain will explode . If you say they look great I am going with that. We are short flooring so they cannot finish the job this week. Kill me now. They didn't order enough at the store. Thanks for your comments. Sanity checks are always helpful.

Hi JJJ&K. I like your choice, the hickory looks good. I was checking for an update to see how it all turned out. Also, what was the reason for changing the floor in the first place? Did you want to change the colour or was there an issue with the maple?

I love both, light and dark floors. You didn't make a mistake in choosing the lighter colors. Enjoy!

I love darker woods, though they are a bit high maintenance. That being said, it's your house. Pick what you love and be happy about it.

@evergreen hardwood floors you must have been getting floor vibes because I just called the company back that installed them. This is the third try on the floors and the installers really messed up. I will include photos because I would love your opinion. Lowes installers did our floors in December 2012 (maple) they started separating, boards were cracked, after a year Lowes agreed to replace (they fired those installers). New flooring delivered (same maple) the boards were bad, they took it back and told me to choose whatever I wanted. Chose 5" hickory. New installers for Lowes. Bad job. Flooring is crooked. See photos and I would love your opinions. Any and everyone.
Photos include: threshold from hall foyer into guest bathroom, doorway between foyer and formal living room where the boards join, front door with uneven cuts of boards against wall, trim around fireplace that was supposed to be mitre framed.

Thoughts?

One more thing. He filled the gaps between the boards with putty and when he buffed it into the cracks it left a film on the floor....

Hardwood flooring is a big ticket item in resale anyways. Light or dark, the flooring will add value. I've had several clients who had steered away from dark flooring because you can see the dirt and dust easier. It all looks great.

This is how they framed the fireplace.

@JJJ&K I'm sorry that you've had such a bad experience with your floors. The thresholds and mouldings can be fixed/replaced fairly easily. I'm not sure why they buffed the floor, so the film will need to be cleaned off by them. How hard is it to clean that off? The framing around the fireplace is the big one though. That can't be fixed without tearing out at least a section of flooring. Have you talked to Lowe's? What is their response?

Personally I think this is their "last attempt" at your home. As Oak & Broad states much of the trim can be fixed relatively easily. The fireplace will be an issue. I hesitate to comment on "putty" to fill gaps (usually considered a no-no but on some occasions it is acceptable...but not as a first resort...more of a last resort). Putty has some concerns with being "squeezed" out during summer when the wood expands enough to force the putty up through the seems. Seasonal gapping should be allowed to occur...because it can be normal for many hardwoods. Even engineered have a bit of movement.

If you still have concerns over these issues, I think you have the right to bring in an expert to fix the installer's oopsas and have it billed to Lowe's. They've had 3 kicks at the can. I would say you gave them every opportunity to get it right. You gave it the good'ol college try...but now it is time to bring in the big guns to fix these last few issues.

If things go wrong again, I would go with another product and another company.

Final flooring update. We had them do the best they could and gave up. We had a neighbor who owns a flooring company come in and give us an assessment without expressing our concerns while he looked at them. He thought they looked great and suggested just a few tweaks. We then pointed out all of our concerns. He said put down nice rugs.

If you really like the lighter better, then stick with that. If your not sure or don't care much, then you may want to consider a different look (darker). Which do you like better with your cabinets? I prefer darker (for our home) and most new homes in my area have a medium to dark shade, but what's "popular now" comes and goes. So choose what you like. We just built, and have darker floors. I love it, but I like to keep it clean, because it does show everything!

Darker wood will always show more dust, marks and scratches. My vote is a mid-toned floor but if I had to choose between light or dark, then it would be light!

The Floor color really should be judged in context to the whole room and not just made in isolation. A dark room should never have a dark colored floor as well, and a room of white color and white furniture would look stark with a light maple floor.

Just had this discussion for 7 in planks. I don't want planks that wide. We are building a house now with plans to stay 15-20 years. We have 10 years before the kids are out of the house. If it's your house for that long - do what you want. Our architect, builder, and designer constantly tell me what is "in" right now but we are not building to sell right now. We are building to live in it. When I hear that comment, I always ask, "what will be the 'in design' for 2027-2030"? Since they don't know, we are getting what we want within limits of not too extreme. Listen to advice but don't ignore your instincts!

I like either one! Get what you like.

We recently shared some of the top flooring trends on our blog. Best of luck with your new floors!

I think you've made a good choice. Lighter floors look better longer -- don't show as much dust, and little inevitable scratches aren't as glaring.

We are looking at solid versus engineered. I agree...unless you are going to sell in the near future get what you like. I am looking at a hand scraped hardwood, medium shade with different other tones/colors. I like the variances and options the newer solids offer. Good luck!

We are looking at solid versus engineered. I agree...unless you are going to sell in the near future get what you like. I am looking at a hand scraped hardwood, medium shade with different other tones/colors. I like the variances and options the newer solids offer. Good luck!

Engineered is more stable than solid. Solid will expand contract more. If you get 4mm engineered floors, you can re-sand them, like you can solid. Prefinished engineered floors with a good finish is easy to install and there is no hassle with staining and finishing the floors. Dark floors can be very beautiful, but they show dust and footprints more. The floors you posted would be more forgiving, because they are not solid dark color. They have enough shade variation to show you some grace with maintenance. They also look like they have some textures to it, which is good, because dark floors show light scratches more, too. From a fashion stand point, 5" wide floors are okay for smaller spaces, but if you have a larger area,like a great room, look at 7" - 7.5" wide planks. Also, look at floors that offer longer lengths, too. Short boards are nice, but they can make a living space look cramped or small. I hope this helps? Do a lot of research and don't rush your choice. It's a big investment and floors are the one thing you shouldn't buy online either. Buy them locally, so you get the support and expert advice you need. Lastly, be there when they install your floors. Inspect them to make sure they are still what you want, because once they install the floors, you own them. If you have more questions, you can email us at info@hallmarkfloors.com. We have an expert here that has been in the flooring business for 30 years. Good luck!

This was a 2014 post

Oh sorry, never looked at date. However, thank you Hallmark floors for your response. Just excited about flooring...no matter what date.

It depends on the hair color of the people living there.

You know....could be. Ha

We are installing Natural Hickory, Natural Maple and Natural White Oak all of the time. These are light, fresh and very modern. What isn't stylish are the old, yellowed floors from the 90s.

White Oak

Thank you! We went with a French oak and are very happy. Bernini tritone by Bella Cera. Beautiful floors in the pic you attached!

You are the one who has to live in your house. Choose what you like and enjoy it. There isn't enough inventory on the market so when it's time to sell, you don't worry about it. If you have a lovely house, it will sell because buyers don't have much of a choice unless they are in the luxury market. Enjoy your house and don't let anyone chastise you, especially someone who you gave birth to. These kids, we teach them how to speak then they think they know more than we do :-))). Next time she says something about your floors, just tell her "Lucky you. You don't have to live here, I do." :-))))

pamhawkinsky I know this is an older thread, but how have your floors stood up? Did you install in the kitchen as well as the rest of the house? Thank you for any thoughts :)

Hello all - not sure if someone was asking me about our floors but they have held up extremely well - animals and all. Very easy to maintain.

Happy New Year!

Also, I want to thank everyone that weighed in over the years. The comments were very helpful.

Hello all! It's 2026 and I am back buying new flooring due to a Category 3 - bio hazard (backed up drain pipe from toilet on main level - flooded our hardwood flooring and our basement). All of the flooring above is being demo'd and I am trying to find something to replace it. I wanted the same thing, which we ordered from Lowe's - Bruce brand again - and the installer came by to look at it and said he would not lay the flooring because the quality is so bad. He showed me where the several of the randomly pulled boards tongue and groove sides left huge gaps when put together. We tried several different boxes (there are 58 boxes ready to be installed) and they are so bad it is ridiculous. I want hardwood. I'll take engineered hardwood. I cannot find any with decent reviews that I can get in a reasonable amount of time. This damage occurred October 15th of last year and they are just now getting to the floors. SO MUCH DRAMA! Would appreciate your thoughts and comments (again). I am looking at at wire brushed Malibu brand from Home Depot. I see that it is manufactured in China. Also looking at Blue Ridge brand manufactured in Virginia? Thank you, Jeannine.