What look was it you liked from the prefinished, a good flooring finisher should be able to match finish. I would however mention hickory is a very busy wood.

Hickory sands just like maple. The finisher is going to have lots of fun removing big machine marks. Don't skip a grit, may have to take it to 150 grit for a good surface finish, depending on their equipment.

Not sure if anyone is still paying attention to this thread, but after more research we're thinking of doing the following:

3.25" White Oak solid hardwood, character grade, no stain, satin/low-gloss finish, site-finished.

Any thoughts? Recommendations on the finish? It looks like Loba and Glista are popular among pros on Houzz.

White oak is a very popular choice. Character grade is still going to look busy. Satin finish is perfect. If you have can lighting anything shinier will reflect. A lot of people like the heavy traffic Bona.

White Oak will also be more stable than Hickory, less busy, and easier to finish.

I agree with Sophie - go with the prefinished hickory. We have a very similar prefinished hickory in our home now and it has been awesome - beautiful and nearly indestructible.

Kristin - what brand did you go with?

I think Hickory is a good choice. We've never had any issues finishing Hickory/Pecan, especially in natural color like the Shaw floor you like. Hickory has grain similar to Oak and is a little harder than White Oak. A knowledgeable wood floor expert should be able to duplicate the look of that Shaw and do so without bevels. That said, the Shaw floor would probably be more durable with the factory finish and it should save time and money.

If you site-finish Hickory you have the choice of select or character grade. The lower grade could have more character than you anticipate so you might want to order extra unless you have closets that can use the culls. I prefer the select grade. Going custom would also give you the option of longer lengths and various widths.

M E, that is really beautiful and we'd be happy with a look like that. Thank you for sharing.

Johnson Flooring, much appreciated, the pro perspective is great and it's good to know you think we'd be fine either way. I have seen many pros on Houzz say they prefer site-finishing so that was my thinking.

I have natural hickory in matte finish in my living room and dining room. I love it. It is actually easy care as it is so hard and the matte makes it less shiny. I love the grain variation and it gets lots of compliments. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Returning to this now having considered all the options and we're probably going with:

3.25" site-finished white oak, select grade with some character grade mixed in

-One coat Bona IntenseSeal

-Two coats Bona TrafficHD

Any thoughts on this choice? Thanks again for everyone's input!

I love my character grade white oak floors, we finished ours with Rubio monocoat..I love the matte natural look.

Go with whatever you love, you will be the ones living with it everyday.

Meris we were considering monocoat also for the natural look. How durable has it been?

I might install wood in my own kitchen but I would never finish it with Rubio Monocoat. It spots with water drips.

We have prefinished hickory throughout our first floor in our house. It's beautiful! I love everything about it. I wanted it prefinished because I wanted the texture & not smooth.

Johnson Flooring - that was my concern about monocoat also (spotting/staining with water or oils). It sounds like the Bona TrafficHD should be fine in a kitchen so we'll probably go with that.

Nope, my Rubio monocrat does not spot with water drips. That's weird. Ive never heard that. 3 kids a dog, in my kitchen as well as living room, and I love it.

I love my Rubio also. Two floors have drip marks which I assume are from my dog. She did have an accident (solid) one night on my BR floor (White Oak treated with Smoke and oiled with Cotton White); surprisingly it left no mark. As a floor refinisher I have to manage customer expectations. If I tell someone that Rubio won't hold up in their kitchen and they do it anyway, I'm covered. If I tell them it will be no problem and it is, I'll catch hell.

Hickory is a busy wood but if you put a light stain on it, it calms down without losing it's character. You could mistake it for oak but hickory grain is prettier than oak.

A factory finish will probably give you a more long-lasting finish. There are technologies they can employ and chemicals they can use that you can't replicate. Am I right, Johnson?

Exactly correct about factory finish.

Thanks, I know that in the cabinet world, manufacturers use an electrostatic finish process that binds the ions in the finish together, making it a harder finish. Do you do something similar?

Johnson, I can see your point in managing expectations. I knew what I was getting into. I love my floors. I am finding that they are wearing wonderfully, I like them better than my old poly floors and find them easier to care for. I never did hear about the water marks though, and I don't have those. and you have to clean spills pretty quickly, but isn't that all wood floors?

On film forming finishes water drips will often evaporate without making a mark. Traditional wax finishes spot almost immediately. Some oils hold up better to drips than others. Maybe I baby my floors too much but I want them to stay nice. Harris Angelique herringbone with Rubio White 2C oil.

And nice floors they are! I really like the long boards.

Looks good Ed B....in our previous home we had oak low grade with a satin finish... we went with the low grade because we liked the look & character of it, 26 years later with a few marks & dings it now has a new family. For our new build we are going with an pre-finished acacia wood in a carmel colour, hubby researched & thought it would be best for us here on the "wet"/west coast gulf islands of BC/Canada.

@Ed B- if you go look at my profile page you will see some photos of the slow process happening here... the house is an ICF/timber frame house. Have a great day.