At 62 years of age. Me too, until two weeks ago

"My concern is that Birch and Ash are not popular and there must be a reason for that."

In the north Midwest and into Canada, Birch is popular. Ash is an under appreciated hardwood, and gorgeous if you like heavy graining. Called Cathedral grain in the industry.

I've always been of the opinion "buy what you like and want."

I'll remain neutral on LL, but look around. There are far better choices.

Ken Fisher

3/4 inch engineered floors

Thank you ! I deleted this question bf I saw your reply. I just can't seem to find pictured of the wood in rooms and it's so hard to buy 2,000 sq ft from a little slab.

Uptown - I don't know if you are seeing this - I tried to reactivate my post but unable to. Do you know if Ash or Birch would change and yellow more or less than Oak?

Unless, there are no good quality finishers in your area. Get unfinished flooring and have it finished on-site with a water base system. A good start is with Loba Invisible.

PS. I got it wrong - I AM 63

G&S - Thank you - I started to look into exactly that especially since I like finished in place much better and I'm not living there during installation - but I don't know how to find a reliable installer on the cape and concerned about not being sure how the finished product will look.

Uptown- wish you were closer to Cape Cod/ Boston. Having a hard time finding 3/4" Engineered around here.

There are contractors out in the Cape. You can search NWFA.org for one near you. If, you can't find one, let me know. Perhaps I can help. We usually service the area in April up to Memorial day.

My son has beautiful, birch random width floors in his 1987 built house. He wants to add wood to his one downstairs room & his master that have carpet. He was set on Homerwood, but they have recently discontinued birch. I found in searching that Mirage, Mercier & Lauzon carry birch. Lauzon only in 2 1/2 & 3 1/2, all pricier options than Homerwood. Color selections are slim. Seems a lot of manufacturers are slimming down their color optons. He has the option of site finished, but it would be a hassle.

I have oak floors and they have never lightened and I'm on the south shore of Boston. I live very near the ocean with lots of windows. I got a high gloss finish and they have never failed me and it's been many many years, maybe 25. I would choose your top option if it has a good gloss finish. I don't like a matte finish, they look dirty after a while. Just my opinion.

Anyone mention the Elephant in the room? Bellawood = Lumber Liquidators. Yikes! Run away! Lumber Liquidators is one of the lowest of the low when it comes to wood flooring. They use rustic grade wood that is miss-milled. The amount of culling that has to occur is breath taking (a lot of swearing going on by the installers).

I would stay as far away from LL as possible. They are the Walmart of the flooring industry. Sure you can find everything you want at the lowest price possible...but is that something you want out of a floor that *should last 60 years?

The LL stuff is great for low-end homes or entry level homes where the expense would be wasted because the value of the home wouldn't support the cost of 'better' wood floors.

Go ahead and find an NWFA Certified Installer in your area:

www.nwfa.org

Or take up G & S Floor's offer to have a look.

Thank you Yayagal - I don't expect them to lighten but get yellow/amberish. We were looking at a more Matte option. Now you got me thinking about looking dirty after a while. Have you this happen.

Thank you ArchitecturalDetails - I'm also seeing that they don't come in long lengths and in an open floor plan that wouldn't look good.

Have you received a budget from your insurance? You will want to stay within their allowance, unless you plan to pay out of pocket.

Give us the full criteria of the project to help make better suggestions. Location, floor type, installation type, color, specie, finish, budget and things you would like to avoid? You mentioned long lengths, include that also. Not every MFG produce long lengths. Certain species are light sensitive and will color change, same as finish. All suggestions will sound great, but may not fit your budget.

Ash is being used, because all the ash trees are dying & many have been cut down. Expensive or not, it mat not be around long, unless they figure out how to beat the emerald ash borer, which they haven't. Availability in the future will be a problem.

S L , White Oak with a light whitewash and a water based poly finish will stay nice and light for a long time. Most solid floors are 3/4" and 3/4" Engineered is also available. Look at the Bona Naturals collection for some great stain colors.

Educational Plank Flooring Examples · More Info

Ash isn't expensive generally. Ours are priced about the same as red oak.

Here's character grade. Natural finished.

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Clear grade, stained, prefinshed

Fall Sensation

Both are 3/4" engineered