Hello Everyone,

The wife and I are building a home here in Northern Colorado and are interested in putting in hardwood floors. We have an 11 year old girl right now, but have a new one on the way and are planning on having one more after that. This house is going to have to last us 20 years with little ones and all that comes with them.

After reading a lot in the forums here about hardwood and warranty nightmares we're going to have to get something that's good for our climate. Humidity levels here vary quite a bit and so that pretty much throws out warranty value right away. So that brings me to my questions. What type of wood would you suggest for this climate? What hardness would you suggest with the kids and such? I really like the look of hickory and maple, the color variation in those types of woods are beautiful. I should mention that we're on a budget, but I would rather get it right the first time then have to do this again in 10 years.