First time poster and terribly glad that I found this site.

First off, I want to say thanks to the owners of this website. It is admirable that people who are skilled in trades such as this put together a resource for DIY homeowners like myself to find information and ask questions. A lot of information can be found on the Internet but the voices of experience usually help disseminate it into something that makes sense. To people like myself, you're godsends.

I am in the process of renovating the last sections of our house. It was given to us several years ago and I've pretty much rebuilt it in place with 2 rooms to go. You can see the progress here.
http://bakerjw.org/PhotoGallery/index.php?/category/108
The old living room was original to the house and well over 150 years old. A half basement had been dug out many years ago and consisted of a concrete floor and dirt walls. It was a horrible place, damp with standing water and steady trickles across the floor.

I've poured footings, installed a drainage system, lined every dirt facing surface with 2 layers of 10 mil plastic, laid new block walls, poured a new floor, installed a sump pump. It has gone from a damp unusable place to an area where I will be able to easily control the moisture level.

For the living room, we're going to put in a solid hardwood floor. Most likely 3/4" x 2 1/4 or 3 1/4. This brings some questions.

Question 1 - I am almost ready to start putting in the subfloor for the living room. In the past, I've used regular 3.4 T&G OSB. I've read where OSB is not preferred but Advantech is considered acceptable.

Question 2 - Originally we were going to go with unfinished oak. But when I look at the prices for it compared to prefinished offerings and then combine the time to sand, stain and urethane the prefinished stuff looks better and better. Any preferences? Advantages or disadvantages to either?

Question 3 - Some hardwood flooring offerings state that they can be glued down. Bruce flooring alludes to the fact that gluing is acceptable and a couple of others from Home Depot are listed as being glue or nail capable. Is gluing acceptable? I figure that if I go with gluing, then I can possible go with the regular 3/4" OSB rather than the heavier Advantech.

Question 4 - The old nail versus staple quandary. I have a flooring nailer that I bought for doing a pine floor on regular 3/4" OSB a couple of years ago. The floor is still holding up well considering that it was old pine that was in the house originally and had to be planed down. I also have access to a top of the line Bostitch flooring stapler that a friend used to do his floor. To me it's 6 of one half a dozen of the other.

Last question. Any flooring from the big box stores to avoid? I've read some bad things about Bruce flooring quality. Home Depot also has some other brands. If I buy from them, I'll buy an in stock color so if I run into quality issues, I have some recourse. I might even go with Mullican flooring as they have a factory a few miles from my house.

I am not going to be laying any flooring for a good month or so but the subfloor will be going down this weekend. Most likely it will be Advantech unless gluing is a very viable option and I can go with the regular OSB.

Again. I greatly appreciate the opinions of the experts here. any and all feedback is appreciated.

Thanks for the comments baker:

I'm the owner but the thanks should really go to the guys that make this message board work.

Lot's of questions. I'll go first.

1. I've always thought CDX works best.

2. I personally I like a site finished floor, providing you can maintain it's perfection after the work is done. That means paying strict attention to moisture levels within the residence. Maybe strict is too strong, because some people think a few days of relative humidity outside of the preferred ranges manufactures suggest will cause problems.

-- consistent moisture conditions. More later if ...this could take a long time.

3. Gluing solid 3/4 inch hardwoods? No

4. Stick with the nailer you have. Staples actually hold boards too tight.

Last Question:

It's kind of disappointing people think about HD and those other stores first. You'd be far better off with a local dealer that has better choices. And they'll be far quicker to respond to problems if they do happen.

Mullican? Good mid quality product. Plus it's a local source. Maybe you'll feel better about that. I know I would.

I agree with what Ken says. I've installed Mullican Castillian 5" and it turned out great. If they were down the street to me that would definitely have great bearing on my choice - buy local.
Plus they have their own moisture mat system.

http://www.mullicanflooring.com/collect ... lian-solid