Domestic oak is a commodity and price and availability will vary by region. Any well-established mill is what you want and a reliable distributor. Check out the suppliers contractors buy from. Many times they will sell directly to you.

If you can find Mullican...great. Smith and Zickgraf OK too. Don't know much about what the big box stores distribute or brands.

Unfinished is packaged two different ways. Some are large bundles which contain different lengths in the bundle and some are individually bundled in specific lengths and you get what the distributor gives you, in other words a bundle of 7 footers, five footers, three footers and so forth.

Pay attention not only to species, but also to grade. Decide what you want your floor to look like...color and grain pattern for examples. Do more research on this if necessary. And be VERY CAREFUL in who you select to do the sanding and finishing. A hack finisher (lots out there) can ruin your wood real quick. Ask for references and examples of his or her work. Anyone who has pride in what they do will have a list of happy customers and a portfolio and samples to show you.

Hi, glennsfc, thank you very much for the information and advice. I will definitely look into the brands you mentioned. You're right that I should do more research and pay attention to other things like the grade of wood. Up until now I've been mostly consumed with the color of the wood and width of the boards but I have to take other things into consideration, too.

Thanks again!

So called lower "cheaper" grades are not necessarily less in quality. I have done some common grade oak floors that looked great. It all comes down to your decorating tastes and what you find visually pleasing. Pay attention to how your floor will be 'racked'...poor racking can leave you with glaring errors in board placement, such as butt seams being too close to each other and several similar color or character boards being grouped together or patterns created by the boards that look too much like the letter "H"...lots to take into account.

Along with the grading guildlines some mills have different ideas of what "common" or "select" or "clear" are. While they all tend to be close they can differ where one mill's "2nd grade" may contain a few knot holes and heavy color variation another mill's "2nd grade" may contain a lot more knots and not so much color variation.

It can be very overwhelming. But best bet is to just take one thing at a time and dont put too much pressure on yourself to get it done. Take as much time as you need to get te floor you love. Not one you can live with.

Hi, glennsfc, thank you for the advice about wood grades and racking. Since reading your post I looked up racking and H joints and I'm learning a lot. I didn't even give a thought to those things before. There really is a lot to consider.