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We bought a 16 year old house last fall that has the original hardwoods. They've been sanded at least twice. The entire main level of the house is hardwoods with heavy traffic (have two little kids in a neighborhood packed with little kids - yeah, we're the "Kool-Aid House").
We want to replace them in the spring with 5 inch wide plank. We live in the DC area. We replaced the builder-grade stuff in our last house with 5 inch engineered wood that turned out to be too soft, and therefore scratched easily. Don't want to make the same mistake again, as this house is going to cost us a bit more to do.
I'm now familiar with the Janka scale, and was steering towards Cumaru (Brazilian Teak) due to it's super hardness rating, but then realized a new scale exists called "stability". So, on that learning curve now too. Don't want the wood to shrink/expand too much with the changing seasons.
Locations are in the main living areas of the home - kitchen, living room, office, dining room, etc. Additionally the stairs, upstairs hallway, master bedroom and changing area. All-in, approximately 3,000 SF of space to replace. So, want to make sure we do this right. Cost is a consideration here, but not entirely the driver. Not looking for over-the-top $7 PSF stuff if possible.
Any suggestions on what type of hardwood to look at? Something that could withstand kids, chair legs, dropped toys, and the like, but also not gap-out or pinch-up every winter and summer when humidity levels are 10% and 50%+ (we do have whole-house humidifier for winter).
I believe it's oak. We had it looked at for sanding/surfacing, but the guy pointed out where it's already been heavily sanded in the past and not entirely comfortable doing it again. Plus we'd really like a wide-plank setup with some slight color variation between the planks (pre finished).
Sometimes, but we're talking a neighborhood of 15 kids all under the age of 12! So, while I'd love to say yes to your question..... Ummmm.. :-)
15 kids with shoes on and grit/dirt on thier shoes...... there is simply no product that will hold up to that. You will simply need to do regular maintenance on the wood if you want to keep it looking nice.
The best way to get stability in traditional woods (oak, maple, hickory, cherry, chestnut) is to bring all the boards into the house and let them sit for a month.
Why? Moisture content will stabilize to that of the house.
Thanks all, I'm not really worried as much about the kids and shoes as I am about a wood floor that can handle the occasional kitchen table chair slipping back from the area rug and not gouging the floor, or accidental matchbox car dropping from a 6 year-old hands and putting a huge dent in the floor. What we have now is oak and appears able to hand this sort of stuff much better than my last house where we installed wide-plank engineered. I believe Oak is a 1200 rating on the Janka scale for hardness. Wanting something a bit harder but but stable too in a wide-plank, that can also be resurfaced later in it's life if needed, and not pay $7/ft in supply cost. Hoping to be in the $4-$5 +/- range in that aspect.
The OP should realize that the issues of dimensional stability are different than resistance to impact and even different than resistance to wear -- one is more about how the material reacts to changes in temperature & humidity while the other is property of how the molecular structure reacts to deformation and the last is an issue related to the kind of finish chosen...
Things get more complicated for impact resistance, but generally the hardness is a function of density -- Wood Strength
The most complicated issue is abrasion resistance, which is really about the type of finish used -- Selecting a Finishing System
The top rated finish for durability is catalyzed polyurethane, also called "oil based poly" or "Swedish finish". The most well know brand for residential use is Glitsa -- Choosing a Finish - Glitsa The downside is that while it cures the home most be completely vacant and all sources of ignition shut down. For an existing home that means it has to be scheduled while homeowners are on vacation or staying at hotel / with family / friends.
There are now systems to do field application of UV cured finishes which are essentially instant, though these are generally still more of factory finish except in extremely high traffic commercial applications -- Professional Coatings, Inc. Products
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