PROS: The most popular of all the hardwood floor species, you'll always be able to get red oak in all the parquet styles, as well as strip and plank. It has a most prominent grain pattern, and is so porous that most stains work well with this wood. Very moderately priced and is available in at least 3-4 different grades. It's light pink tones age beautifully and turn amber when an oil based finish is used.

CONS: It's so often used that it looks like everybody else's floor. Being so popular it's turning our hardwood forests into a mono crop of red oak. Remember what happened to the elm? This wood is becoming so mass produced that milling is getting sloppy in some of the lower grades. I would not install common #1 and #2 as they usually self destruct within a decade. It's too bad because 15-20 years ago I could use these cheaper grades to make some interesting floors.