I am new to hardwood flooring, and I am thinking about installing 5" x 3/4" solid Hickory flooring.

I read all this stuff on the internet about certain hardwoods being unstable and so forth. But is the movement really that big of a deal? Seems like most flooring stores I go to don't think it's a concern whatsoever. Why is stability talked about so much on the forums? Is a lot of it exaggerated?

I live in a temperate climate (Pacifc Northwest) and we don't get big extremes in temperature really. So maybe that's why most flooring stores around here don't think stability is really an issue.

I myself wonder if some people are just really picky, and a few millimeters of shrinkage in their wood floors is a big deal to them. To me, I really don't care about a few millimeters here and there. Of course big gaps or buckling can start to look strange, but does that really happen all that often? I mean a lot of these so-called "unstable" woods have been installed in homes for hundreds of years. It they were really that bad, I doubt people would still be using them as flooring.

Opinions?

Anyone have opinions on this?

some people seem to have problems with flooring, while others don't. maybe it's the areas with high humidity, maybe it was the initial installation, maybe the wood wasn't dry when laid down.

true, some floors have lasted for over a hundred years, while others seem to fall apart quickly. my guess is how it's installed.

That's one of them depends on...depends on questions. You are right that your regional climate plays a big factor. Very humid or arid climates would be a more risky undertaking. Forget the species for the moment, any 5" wide solid hardwood is considered a plank floor and is more susceptible to gapping and cupping. Certain things need to thought out and considered beforehand such as the climate, substrate, over a crawl space or a basement, the lived in environment the owners expect to maintain (they may need to run the HVAC more than they are accustomed to.) One also may need a humidifier or dehumidifier to maintain the plank floor.

Some recommend to glue and nail 5" wide solid hardwood. In a nutshell you should expect to pay more attention to the temp. and RH levels inside which means you need to have an hygrometer so you can keep check on that year round.

Are 4 inch planks less suseptible to gapping and cupping compared to 5 inch planks? Is there really much of a difference? Cause I don't wanna go below 4 inch wide planks.

These will be going above a crawlspace.

Viper,

Hickory can be one of the most unstable, but most beautiful flooring. We have 5" Hickory in my own home. and in the summer when the ac is running the floor is just as tight as can be. But in the winter we get quite a few 1/8 cracks all over the floor. We install a lot of Hickory in the east coast and it is the norm for all of our customer.

DerVollender, thanks for the info.

Thanks to everyone for the responses.