I agree - site finished good hardwood will last forever. The floors in my house will be 70 years old this year!

Yeah, we put 5” wide site finished white oak floors in our house and love them. There are 4 of us including 2 kids and a dog...no issues at all and the floors are beautiful. We have a medium brown stain also.

What king of price is expected for a 4-5" quarter sawn oak, site finished? Of course will vary based on location, but just curious what others have paid say vs your normal boxed pre finished flooring.

Where are you located? That also dictates what the best choice is.

Site finished Oak. Educate yourselves on the different grades (clear , select etc.) and the ways it can be sawn. Lots of options.

Another vote for site finished oak.

What's your foundation type? It's my understanding that some wood floors aren't good on slabs, so foundation matters.

We installed site-finished oak in the 50-year-old home we purchased a few years ago. Absolutely beautiful. Make sure to get a skilled installer. This is not a place to cut pennies.

This was taken right after the floors were finished. The horizontal planks were not stained, while the inset design was lightly stained. A good wood craftsman makes all the difference.

Is quarter sawn "better" than rift sawn? I like the looks of the rift sawn a little better.

The way it is sawn (rift vs. quarter) affects only the appearance. It’s not like one of them is “better” in terms of quality. It’s just that rift sawn typically involves more wood waste, so it can be more expensive than quarter sawn:

http://www.hardwooddistributors.org/blog/postings/what-is-the-difference-between-quarter-sawn-rift-sawn-and-plain-sawn-lumber/

AHH, thank you so much!

Actually the way wood is cut (such as rift) WILL effect how it MOVES! Plain sawn is the cheapest but the LEAST stable (will expand and contract quite a bit = gaps in winter...every winter). Quarter sawn is more expensive an a bit more dimensionally stable. Heating/cooling does not effect it quit as much as plain.

The most expensive, rift sawn, is also the MOST dimensionally stable. This is INCREDIBLY important with wide planks (5" or more is considered wide....many people will consider 4" plain sawn as wide as well) in a climate that has wide swings. Hot humid summers and cold, dry winters (interior space is dry because of ALL the heating needed to keep the house comfortable) will cause wood floors to expand and contract quit a bit. The wider the plank, the more it will move. The more it moves the more you will see gaps in winter and possibly cupping/crowning in summer.

Wide planks are stunning but they require plenty of planning. The appropriate install and the appropriate heating/cooling systems must be in place to keep these planks happy and healthy.

If you are unsure as to your HVAC system's abilities, an engineered plank in the wide presentation will be dimensionally more stable than even rift sawn. But again - ALL wood moves. Just because it is engineered doesn't mean it will stay perfect in a poorly controlled home.

We are building in upstate SC and the hardwood flooring supplier advised that we should not go with oak strips wider than 3.5 inches. In our area we have very humid summers and low humidity winters. That much variation in humidity wreaks havoc on wider plank hardwood flooring as SJ McCarthy advises.

Edit: I forgot to add that the flooring supplier said that in the deep South, like along the coast, they can use wide plank hardwood because the humidity doesn't vary as much during the year.

Long story short....it depends on where you live, what the material will be installed on (slab, crawl space), what you can afford, and what you like. Prefinished often has bevels on the edges but you won't get that with site finished.

SJ, thank you so much for all the valuable info! I appreciate it.

Engineered is gaining in popularity in my area. The color options are much more interesting and with the preference for greater width (in larger spaces), the greater dimensional stability is very important. Had site finished Walnut in the last house. Too much patina for our taste.

If you like wide planks and maybe thinking about using underfloor heating, go with engineer, it is more stable than solid.

Regarding pre-finished and onsite:

Pre-finished.

1: More durable. The boards are cured with UV light and that makes a difference

2: No dust

On site:

1: More waterproof

2: You can achieve whatever finish you want

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We are going with site finished oak. Interesting that since it is hard to find a new home with site finished floors as they all seem to be using engineered, it is becoming a feature in "used" homes when selling.

What kind of hard wood floor is better - engineered, pre-finished, or on-site stained hardwood?

Hardwood floors and engineered floors are two different species.

Pre-finished is easier as it allows you to see finished product.

Carolyn-

One of the reasons you're seeing prefinished more frequently in new and used homes is that it's faster, easier to install, and frequently cheaper than a traditional, site-finished hardwood floor. Some of the engineered floors look good, but I prefer a tradtional floor that lasts many decades and adds more value to a home.