I don't think the wood flush mount looks country at all. I thinnk it is a very finished look. I kind of wish we had done the flush mount as we just had white oak floors installed and finished. But, I didn't think of it at the time, and our finishers just refinished the wood registers we have that sit on top of the floor.

My one concern would be--can you replace the registers. I would guess yes, but would make sure. I say this as my daughter jumped all over our registers in the kitchen and broke the slats, so I need to replace them--no big deal--I can pick some new ones up at home depot. Just not sure if it's equally as easy replacing the flush mount ones.

good luck--I love my white oak floors!

When we had hardwood put in a few years ago we had all the registers changed to flush mount wood. Our house is definitely not country and the registers are also definitely not country. The look is integrated and it also makes vacuuming / washing that much easier.

That being said, HVAC people say wood registers are much less efficient than the metal because the wood is thicker and doesn't allow through the same amount of forced air. Living with the wood I can tell you that's true, but I don't care. The flush mount wood, stained the same color, looks that much better, plus it's really negligible. The air does eventually come through!

My recommendation is to do the wood -- it'll blend in, not detract from your lovely new floors.

I'll put in a vote for metal. I've always preferred the contrast between the metal and the wood and associate it with a more traditional look.

I have the metal, and saw a friend's home with the flush mount. Based on looks only, the wood is a much more finished and clean look (IMO). I wish I had gone that route.

Thanks kristinekr, lizbeth-gardener, rmkitchen & trilobite! You've given me some things to check with the GC...

We have 2 dds (11 & 14) so damage to the registers is probably not a big risk, but I need to find out how easy it is to replace them if something happens & whether they can be replaced w/ metal if airflow does become an issue. I didn't think about those issues before.

Thank you very much!

I agree with the others.......flush mount wood. Regarding reduced air flow, our floor registers are 50% larger than the metal ones, probably to make up for the narrower spacing of the slots. You may want to mention to your GC that you want the larger size .

Also, I don't think you have to worry about durability. Ours have had furniture sit on them and my GD's toddler riding toys run over them with no problems.

If you ever change your mind you can just pop the wood registers out and pop the metal ones back in. Ours are the same size. But I bet that with the disappearing appearance you won't notice / won't want to change them. We've a bunch of pets and two children (6 & 4) and our house is where (little) friends congregate: it's been nearly four years and not a single problem with the wood registers. I think the flush mount are actually less likely to be damaged because there's nothing on which to catch anything, or for anyone to be tripped. Good luck!

Another vote for wood.

I bought matching Brazilian Cherry wood registers for my family room and I am very happy. The registers in my home office are on the walls and not the floors so I kept the metal ones and had them painted the same color as the walls.

I remodeled 5+ years ago and replaced all my flooring (except in the baths) with finished-on-site hard wood floors. I ordered the wood registers at the same time I did the flooring, as it was cut to order by the company that cut my wood floors (back east somewhere). I LOVE the wood registers. They're the same thickness as the wood floors, they blend in so the eye never notices the register and it is style neutral. They'll blend with whatever style you have in your home.

I definitely have a traditional home, and these registers fit right in. They are worth the extra money they cost, and I'm so glad I ordered them!

This was one of the last decisions we made in a six-figure remodel job, and the amount it was going to cost to make and custom stain registers on our entire first floor just made me saaaaad. ;-) We have the narrow 2-in. registers, too, and to inset those flush, the slots were going to be really small. So I just bought a can of dark brown spray paint and painted our old metal registers. They don't look as good as the flush wood ones, but you can hardly see them, and they work better. Just an option, for anyone not wanting to go the other way ...

THanks for all the input!

annz, thanks for the idea about the extra large vent & register --- I'll ask GC about it.

segbrown, Your brown paint was a great idea! My 4" registers must be a standard size b/c they don't need to be custom made (whew!) -- according to DH, our contractor said it would be only an extra $20 per register. He gave us a brochure from 'all american wood register' in Illinois.

P.S. My old metal registers were so old and rusty so I needed to replace them anyway so choosing the matching wood ones was not so much extra when considering that I would have to buy metal ones anyway and I only needed two registers. But I like the matching wood ones.