I would suggest an Engineered Hickory floor with a satin finish. The engineered aspect will keep it flat despite being in the basement, the stain finish will help to hide any marks. :-) Hickory is a very hard and durable wood, harder than Oak.

Where are you buying this? I ask because we are planning on putting in solid hardwood and have gone round and round about what to buy based on reviews we've read. After some advice from the pros on here and over at theflooringpro.com's forum, we learned that the reason you get a better deal at places like Lumber Liquidators and Home Depot is because they sell an inferior product. We ended up going to a local flooring store, and bought Mohawk.

Thank you all! We are going to check into your suggestions! Very helpful!

Thanks, again!

We put vinyl planks in our basement and I love them, they clean easily and look great. We have a doggie door in our lower level so the dogs are in and out all day and this level also has access to the pool so wet feet in and out , best flooring we could have chosen

Pergo Max warranty states that moisture testing in a basement must be done and that the cement must not exceed 5lbs/1000sf over 24 hours (dry to very dry basement slab) OR if you use a moisture meter (much better) then moisture should not read any higher than 4.5% moisture in the slab (dry to very dry basement slab).

Pergo states that moisture/spills MUST BE REMOVED in 30 minutes OR LESS. I would assume that this is NOT going to happen with people under the age of 25 years. Pergo does not warranty/guarantee the performance of their flooring if water/spills are left for more than 30 minutes.

A cork floating floor can be installed in basements. They can be surface sealed against moisture...I've personally seen water sit on a sealed cork floor until it evaporated (48 hours) without damaging the floor in anyway.