I am getting ready to build a home...I have been involved with construction for about 20 years now. I have put about 5000 square feet of solid pre-finished 3/4" hardwood flooring down in my day on various jobs and it turned out really well.

I am sub-contracting lots of the work for my house build but have decided to take on the flooring (hardwood and porcelain) as I enjoy it. Anyways...I decided on a Somerset 3-1/4" x 3/4" oak pre-finished product. I have installed cheaper solid flooring in the past and particularly the big box store stuff seemed to have a lot of scrap and take a lot of time to install due to the reject rate and "messaging" that it took to get the warped, bowed material in place. I do have kids so I didn't want to get carried away with Mirage or similar. The review and feedback I have gotten from everyday installers seems decent on Somerset...milling is generally good, little waste, and nice finish. I'd like some feedback on if Somerset 3/4", is it a good product?

Now the heart of the matter...so I have the drawings complete and while figuring on paper where to start laying material I note that the darn floor joists run parallel to the direction that I want to run the flooring. I have joists 16" OC with 3/4" T&G OSB Flooring. Haven't had this happen before with the direction being parallel...guess I got lucky So...I know my options are add bridging between joists (I think this is crazy for 1500square feet), adding 1/2" plywood, or running the hardwood at a 45. I haven't doing any hardwood at a 45...that scares me. If it was a room or two...OK. It's an open floor plan that transitions into a formal dining room and entryway. So I guess my options are add the plywood, or install perpendicular to the joists...unless someone has trick I am not aware of? Right now I am leaning towards installing perpendicular to the joists.

Take a look at Muskoka. Same parent company as Mirage but less expensive. Pre-finished and advertised as the smallest (micron) bevel in the industry.

The ¾ inch sub-floor will support the flooring laid in any direction. I would use staples with OSB.
I'm not sure if I have used Somerset pre-finished in the last 10 years. We generally use un-finished. We use the short boards for starter of ending of rows. Never had a problem with longer boards.

Use caution if you are selecting the product based on samples. I've found Somerset samples don't match what you get. A recent floor I did had open holes, open knots and other blemishes. The shipped product was no where near the quality of the sample.