Hi all, hope you're having a good day! Thanks in advance for answering my newbie questions! I'm just starting to research hard wood floors for a house I am closing on in just over a few weeks. The house is about 2 blocks up from the beach in Long Beach, CA.

1) I've heard that one is supposed to allow the wood to acclimate before it is installed. Is this true, and if so, what exactly does this mean? And, most importantly, what's the minimum amount of time I should have it in the house before installation. (This is important because I would like to have the wood installed before I move in, and I've got to figure out other housing arrangements!)

2) Opinions regarding prefinished solid hard wood vs. engineered in this 1926 1000 square-foot, one-story home with no basement? I would guess I am going to live in this house for up to 10 years then turn it into a rental

3) Opinions on good brands of prefinished and engineered? (quality but not too expensive?)

4) Any other advise or tips would be very welcome!

Thanks guys!
Margaret

Have you seen Ken's other website yet?

http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... -pages.htm

Thank you!

Again, I live in Belmont Shore (Long Beach, CA) and I just got a quote for slightly over 10K for:

removal of existing floor, labor, and installation of new floor and 4inch baseboards

Product is Hickory (gunsmoke color) by Shaw Hardwoods; solid hard floor (3/4 inch); prefinished

The whole house without bathroom (which is about 950 square foot total)

The floor company has been around for about 40 years, and they would be installing it, of course.

Good possibility based on my home inspector and the floor company estimator that this job may require the installation of a plywood subfloor, which is quoted at around $2200.

For a grand total of about 13k.

Questions: What do you think of this price? What do you think of the Shaw Hardwoods product? And hickory in general?

I appreciate your input much! Thanks.
Margaret

I'm not sure about the rates there but I would say that is not out of line at all.

To me it seems a little steep compared to what I would get based on the plywood here in Mass.
What is the name or style number of the Shaw wood they have different options.

And Shaw has a new process for applying the finish to the some of there floors that in tests I saw is far better then current finnishes. You had trouble scuffing it with a green pad compared to many other products in a store I work for. From what I understand as soon as they get rid of older stock they will start promoting it.