My house comes with Red Deal (soft wood) wooden floors upstairs as standard. The builder has said I can change this if I want and pay the extra. Should I pay extra (about double the price) for solid or semi solid oak (hard wood) floors? I only intend staying in this house for 3-5 years so would it be worth putting in hardwood floors upstairs as well as downstairs?
I would always go for a hard wood floor over a softwood floor. Softwood will mark and scratch in a matter of weeks. Unless you have treated your boards nicely over this period by sanding and applying a hard varnish, you will find that the boards will be in a pretty bad state after 5 years. An alternative to expensive hard wood floors like oak would be for what we call unsorted redwood. Unsorted wood has less knots, meaning the fibre of the board is of a better, general quality than other boards but to avoid damage to your floor all together, you really need to get a hardwood floor or cover up the boards with matting or carpet.
I disagree. I would definitely go for the red deal. It often has a nice grain pattern and whilst it will mark (so no stillettoes), that is all part of it's appeal. I like a place to look lived in. I hate to see a floor that looks like laminate.
