You could use most hard wood flooring with a Jap black stain and sealer

Tas Oak seems soft on the Janka chart. I also think too pale. I'm keen on a water based satin finish and not staining. If it comes down to Blackbutt, NSW Spotted Gum or Grey Ironbark which of these would be 'Hamptons' the most in your opinions or does it really matter? The house design is a mix of Hamptons/Queenslander.

http://bona.net.au/HomeOwners/FAQ1.aspx

Timber floors throughout are all part of the look, either in a very
dark chocolate brown or pale and bleached. For dark, try sanding and
staining ordinary boards in the richest, chocolatey colour you can find
such as Wenge or Jacobean Oak. For light flooring, try Porters
Wood-Wash in white and finish with a low sheen clear varnish.

Add natural rugs such as sisal or jute or light coloured carpets for softness under foot.

We've used Aqua Deck around the pool on the Merbau but we have just used British Paint clear Deck oil (water based) and it was cheaper and better?

Hi,

IPF offer incredibly resistant engineered flooring options. High traffic, concentrated scratch and water/stain resistant. Everything you need in over 200 finishes (colour match available at a cost). Contact me to know more :)

Hi there, what did you decide on and do you have any photos? Thanks.

Decided on blackbutt but no photos yet - part of a new build about to commence. Once floor is down will decide whether or not to stain but not going a dark finish.

Great, was thinking the same thing, would love to have a photo when done. Were you able to get wide boards? Thanks so much!

Hello, I could’ve written your original post due to my current predicament. Building a new house, don’t want to install fake laminate or hybrid but the oaks are so soft. I’ve got so many samples and I test them with various things and they dent very easily and with a 4 and 6 yr old, they are going to get damaged. How did the blackbutt turn out? I was thinking I’ll do spotted gum but it’s a bit red for my liking

Hi gailgratland we have blackbutt engineered floor from woodpecker flooring - satin finish and we love it. We have a crazy dog that dashes all over it and the scratches wipe off. No dents so far but the floor has only been down a year. Our last floor was also blackbutt and that was down for 15 years, it probably had 2 or 3 noticeable dents. That one had 2 teenagers galloping across it for years. The only reason it was replaced instead of re-finished was it had water damage from the dishwasher. Hope these pics help with your decision.

I can’t thank you enough for your reply, the photos look amazing. I’ll have a look into them. Thanks again