I want to put down hardwood floors I the kitchen and living room and have been looking at samples. Any of you out there who has done this what made you pick one brand or another. What brand have you learned is the best and why. It's confusing to me since this will be the first wood flooring I am dealing with. And sales people are able to tell you anything. Thanks for your help!

I don't know about a specific brand but you need to be careful in a kitchen since water into the joint will swell it up severely. I prefer 3/4 solid oak, machine sanded, stained with Minwax or similar and 2-3 coats of floor grade polyurethane. Do not use water based poly on hard walking surfaces. I installed our kitchen floor 15 years ago using the above practice and it looks new today. Also suggest you remove the base trim, not just the stop. After the floor is in replace the trim at the new floor level. You can always tell when this wasn't done because the base only sticks above the floor by 1 1/2 inch or so and looks very funny. Take your time, you may have to cut door trim and doors too.