We had 3.25" and 4.25" (varying thicknesses) red oak installed and it looks great. You can also get white oak. Both take stain very well, but we left ours natural with no stain, just satin poly. It's less $$$ than walnut, I think. I don't know about maple, but I think it probably is less too. But it's a great flooring choice, IMO.

Maple does not take medium or dark stains well at all. White oak is highly stainable. However, clear white oak (assuming you want clear) is not always easy to find in wider widths. I had trouble finding enough 3 1/2".

Before you make a decision you need to get a sample of the wood and stain it and poly it to make sure it will work for you. Red oak will look different stained the same color as white oak. Not bad, just different. I wanted white oak because I wanted the toasty brown/golden colors of white oak. My father has red oak in his house, and that was the right choice there.

When I think of maple, I think of light colors. But I saw one last night on house hunters that was really rich and pretty. It was a medium stained brown and it just dazzled.

I don't know the prices very well but we love our Brazillian Teak. I "think" it would be more than maple but less than Walnut. We also looked at White Oak and it was pretty too.

I wish I could find a picture of that House Hunters floor. It was gorgeous!

Be careful of the 5" boards if you're in a wet climate. Our builder steered us away from it in the PNW. He said he's seen lots of cupping with the wider planks.

Good Luck!

lindy- I saw that episode of House Hunters too! The floor actually looked to me a lot like Brazilian cherry (because it had so much movement of colors in it and the stain was that rich reddish/gold color)...I was surprised when the realtor told the couple that it was maple. If that is what maple looks like with a dark stain, it looks great!

We did maple stained dark in one area of our home, and it has been awful. I think you would be better to try some of the Brazilian woods, white oak or the like. Unless your flooring guy can really work wonders with the maple, and you are comfortable with his capabilities, you will be unhappy. Because the wood is so hard and doesn't take stain well, if you nick it or scratch it, the white maple shows through, then you have another maintenance issue to deal with.

Just throwing in my two cents! Good luck with everything else.

Yeah Dixie...I am wondering if the Realtor was incorrect when she said it was Maple. I have never seen dark maple look that good! As others mentioned, I had heard it was difficult to stain.

Love my Teak! ;c)

Maple is one of those hardwoods that is best left finished natural. As mentioned, it does not accept any stain well. Maybe the pre finished hardwood flooring outfits have a way of staining it dark and being reliable, but i haven't seen any.

We went with Lyptus by Weyerhauser. It came in 3/4 solid, prefinished, natural color. I love the variation of colors in the wood. It hides dirt well (and the already inevitable dings of a wood floor!) and pulls together all the different woods and colors of my house.

We wanted random plank walnut also and were about to give up when we found a less expensive source: Elmwood Reclaimed Timber outside Kansas City. (There is another Elmwood on the web but you want the one in K.C.)

It is worth it to give them a call as they were significantly less. They offered two grades. We are not building in K.C. but across the state so they shipped it to us. We went with the tung oil treatment--Waterlox, I believe.

We're happy with our decision.

Teresa

By the way, it is now down and everyone loves it.

Mbritton,

You may want to look at Sheoga's website for a quality product. They have a special now on cattail (stained) quartersawn white oak.

perryrip2