I wanted to order Select oak for our floors and stain it with natural cherry color. My contractor said that we couldn’t do it with Select grade, it’s should be only Clear oak. Is there a big difference in staining process between these two grades or contractor just pushing me to buy more expensive type? Please advise. Thanks.
The vast majority of hardwood floor installed today are select grade. The clear is better, you get a more uniform finish, but it's up to you to decide if it's worth the extra money. The cherry stain would show up better on clear lumber as opposed to the select grade. If possible, have a few pieces of each type stained and then sealed to see the difference. You can do this yourself if your contractor isn't willing to do it for you, it's not that difficult to stain and seal a few small pieces of flooring. Unless your contractor is charging you more for labor with the clear, then he's probably just trying to get you the best floor possible.
