You do not need to match the floor to the woodwork exactly - just don't go extreme light or dark or grey. My first thought is a traditional natural wood floor - like 2 1/4 inch oak. Traditional natural oak is usually what you see in older homes with lots of wood work - Victorians and Craftsman's style. Older homes often have a mix of woods and tones - the natural evolution of a house over time.

If you do a Houzz search on "oak wainscot" and / or "craftsman interior" you will see many pictures with wood floors to give you some ideas and think about what you like.

❤️craftsman style. These rooms are all lovely and I would love it if our wainscot was the library panel rather than beadboard. The floor that I have looked at is very similar in tone and color to our existing woodwork. It is hickory rather than oak though.

Hickory can work. It does have a lot of movement - grain. Make sure it does not compete with the oak making the room feel too busy. It seems to work in this picture.

Good advice. The floor I looked at is mannington Provence collection in champagne. It is a three ply? I have read that the more ply the better. Should I hold out for a five ply or would three suffice? This will be laid over a concrete subfloor and my flooring guys want to glue it down. We live in southern Oklahoma and our subfloor had waterproofing added.

@sheilamae57...

I'll agree that more layers in an engineered floor are probably better... but the key to making a good choice is always going to be what those layers consist of.

For example... we use a 9- ply birch plywood for our substrate, which makes it a 10 ply with a 4-5 mm face layer (actual hardwood).

Some (many/most) of the imported products use cheaper species which are indigenous to the locale, and the species as well as the systems in use make for cheaper products, but that doesn't always equate to being a quality product. (IMHO)

Usually a 4-6 mm wear layer indicates a quality product. I've used several different brands with much success. As Select hwd mentioned the substrate does matter. You get exactly what you pay for these days.You want a really great deal? There is no fast and cheap-period! Take your time. Do research. Visit flooring stores not box stores. Read reviews about those flooring stores. Check if their installers are NWFA certified and thus held to an industry standard. Buy the premium adhesive. When your floors look great, perform well and last a very,very long time... now that's a great deal !!!!!!!!!!!!

This is all good advice. We have been looking around for a year or so and just haven't found the balance of color and quality. We are considering the unfinished and having it stained onsite.

Site finished performed by a pro is Definately the way to go.
Look up on this website for a certified pro. Don't waste your money on an uncertified company. You can read some of my earlier posts about that horrors of that.
nwfa.org
Clic on find a CErtified Pro
Clic on sand and finisher
Scroll down and enter your postal/zip code
Viola!

Are the finishes applied onsite as durable as the factory ones? I guess it would depend on the product used, or the layers of product?

@sheilamae57..

You'll get opposing opinions on that subject (factory vs. onsite finishes).

It's quite a subjective topic. In the "olden times", there were a few site applied finish that were just this side of bulletproof. But they were VERY hazardous to ones health both in application as well as long term.

The typical "prefinished" products have a U. V. cured finish, many with components such as Aluminum Oxide, which make them quite durable and abrasion resistant under normal conditions. However, those finishes are problematic to "recoat" should the desire or need arise after a few years. There are (theoretically) a few products available which make the option less problematic, however I'm not in a position to comment on the mixed reviews I've heard... oops! I guess that was a comment.

We use a variety of finishes ranging from our proprietary Aluminum Oxide (which is easily recoated), to other forms of surface finishes...

My learned colleague, who apparently plays the "viola", is a huge fan of natural oil/wax penetrating seal finishes, which we also work with... their strongest feature is easiness to repair and a "hand rubbed" appearance.

There you have it! VOILA!

Another self perceived "expert" heard from, although admittedly, I'm not a "fan" of the certification process of buying a certificate to hang, therefore my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. haha

Thank you, this is all good information. I will be sure to take my notes when shopping for flooring.

If you don't find anything you like, you know where to find us.

Be nice now! If it were only as easy as " buying" a certificate I'm sure every single guy out there wood have-but it's not that easy. You have to take a series of courses progressing up to the certification process. I have seen people fail the hands on test. You also need to keep up on that certification yearly with more education. Maybe you should look at that? I find that RMC out performs 99% of the finishes out there. Can't say that for all the penetrating finishes that's for sure.

@Ultimate...

Haha... that wasn't directed at you... you obviously take the trade seriously, as opposed to the many "hacks" out there who consider themselves "experts"...

You'll have to admit, having a certification doesn't always guarantee artisanship.

Same with having a degree or diploma hanging on the wall... just means someone invested the time & money to obtain an education (presumably).

I know a LOT of people with degrees that don't have the common sense to come in out of the rain! lol

As far as RMC... it's definitely a great product & concept... but I find that it's not a "one size fits all" approach to hardwood floor finishing. We use it with great success when the customer wants that style. ;-)

Agreed on all those statements SELECT. I'm just bustin your BALLZ a bit. It's Sunday and I'm at work still. I do all types of finishes. I just happen to like RMC the most. Cheers!

Got it Ultimate...

Consider them "busted"...I was working as well.

No rest for the wicked, I guess.

Agreed on RMC... great stuff, and smells nice!

Definitely a learning curve involved. But it reminds me of when I was just getting into the hardwood floor biz... almost everything we did was oil (Dura Seal) and WAX finishes... predominantly over wire-brushed OAK... it was easy to repair, easy to maintain, and wore extremely well.

But that "little" bit of occasional maintenance got people to move toward surface finishes... which have been all over the board in pricing & quality for years.

We typically try to give all of the details & allow the customer to make the call.

What's your website address david?

My fun filled Sunday evening.

It was on the emails we exchanged not too long ago... does this mean you deleted them? I'm hurt! haha

I'll email it again... I'm sure the original poster wouldn't appreciate an "advertisement" in their thread! lol

By the way... my Sunday afternoon... finishing 20- 5' walnut stair treads.

I'm adding maple wood look plank tiles flooring what colors are best!!!

Norma - you will get more answers if you start a new thread - and a picture of the room the flooring is going in will be helpful too:)