Solid wood flooring - do shoes mark it? What do you recommend?

[SecondhandRose]

Not sure what to buy for our hallway and dining room as there will be a lot of wear. Have looked at several in Allied Carpets at £55 a metre but still can't make our minds up.

I got one from Allied carpets for £65 a metre, red wood can't recall the name but it is very good BUT it can't really be mopped so you end up having to wipe it with a cloth on your hands and knees (although I guess I could make dd a duster dress and let her crawl around)

Pamina, does it pick up stains at all? We are looking at lacquered and unlaquered.

WLMC - does it mark much with high heels?

My brother and SIL have new oak floor. Apparently it does get marked by high heels,as we all had to take our shoes off for their New Years Eve party.

We are havibg a new oak floor in our kitchen/dining room and I will probably be less vigilant avout the shoes off thing. Partly becuse I'd forget anyway and also we are ging fir an 'old' llok wood anyway, I think it's differnet if you want that new modern more perfect kind of look.

Secondhandrose, no, we have a solid oak floor and it doesn't get stained at all (in fact this is one of the great things about it compared with carpet). But it can get scratched by stiletto heels or furniture. We've put felt pads on the bottom of all our furniture (from Lakeland) to prevent scratching.

I think the answer is to just accept that wood floors DO get scratched, and every 10 years have them professionally sanded down and revarnished.

DH has tonight brought home some engineered wood (not solid) but has lots of knots and looks very rustic. Still nearly expensive as solid wood though, can't get my head round that though.