My question is ( I am from central Pennsylvania) are different species of hardwood better than others for a given area. I was told that hickory is not good in Pa because of the climate--high humidity in the summer and very cold/damp in winters. I remember reading what species are good in various climates but I cant find or remember the website now. The local installers never heard of anything denouncing what type of wood to use. I am considering southern chestnut (from central america-brazil??) for my flooring in my living room and was wondering if its a good choice.
Thanks in advance for your replies.
Gris

If you have large swings in temperature and humidity, it is considered to be a good idea to install flooring that is more stable. You can try to control indoor climate with the furnace, air and humidifier/dehumidifier. Either that or live with the seasonal gapping that occurs with solid wood floors. Some good choices for stability are Australian Cypress (56% more stable than red oak), Merbau (57% more stable than red oak), Mesquite (65% more stable than red oak), and teak, wenge, padauk are all at the top re: stability. The least stable are American Beech and Hickory. Don't know about Chestnut from S. America.

Gary, thanks for the reply and for some of the suggestions. Yep, I have oak in some rooms and do get the occasional gapping and cupping so I figured I would try something else for a change. I found the southern chestnut on the international hardwood flooring website and the wife likes its color. Its fairly new at least to my understanding as an offering to the states.
gris

Southen Chestnu is normally the Brazilian specy Cumaru. Cumaru is not very stable -- a lot of shrinkage. There is another wood (sweetia panamensis also known as Chichi pâté) which I am not so familiar with but websites I've checked say it is about the same stability as Red Oak.

Cumaru is often called Brazilian Teak also.

If you are looking at Cumaru, expect at least as much gapping as your red oak, if not more.

Buying an engineered floor will help a lot with gapping, although engineered does not mean it is made of plastic. It's still made of wood, which under a microscope looks like a sponge and explains why even engineered floors will shrink or expand a little.

mcjava
thanks for the heads up on that wood. I have oak already in some rooms and wanted something different, stability wise. But since its about the same I may still go with it due to its color variations.
thanks again
gris