Replies

1. 
   ed2 | Oct 03, 2004 01:40am | #1

   the higher end stuff is   find the cheaper stuff has relatively sharp "stocking feet catchers" on the square edge cuts    often not cut square, requires cosmetic filling   lot of curvature to the stock, more waste   finish has dust or imperfections that look like it  

   higher cost goods are better machined or micro bevel edged on the butts   straighter pieces too   just installed their 5" oak plank prefinish    made in china, beautiful stock    straight, well milled and coated    white oak, looked like old growth stock w tight grain   waste factor below average

1. 
   WorkshopJon | Oct 03, 2004 04:00am | #4

   Ed2,

   ????????

   Not sure what you are saying.  It's a staple down product.  No filling required.

   I've used it (5/16" "Nat Reflections") IMO Not a bad product for the money. Not great either.  @ $4.15 sq/ft it beats Pergo like products.

   WSJ

1. 
   ed2 | Oct 05, 2004 04:55am | #5

   edhilton was asking about bruce 3/4" prefinished solid wood flooring, takes 2" staples w 1/2" crowns or 2" nails      at 5/16", is the nat reflec. staple down you're talking about an engineered which takes the 3/8" crown staples?     don't think i've ever seen an out of square cut on engineered goods, regardless of brand

   the less expensive bruce solid wood flooring i've installed is imo not milled that well      lot of butt ends which aren't square, leave little pie-slice openings which need filler if you don't catch them before fastening   find it most often on shorter pieces, maybe production snipe problem

   the cheaper lines have micro bevel on the long seams, but not on the butts which are called "square cut ends"    those cuts often seem sharp in comparison to other brands    i can usually find something w better milling in same price bracket and substitute it for bruce    the better the goods you start with, the better the job looks when completed

2. 
   JeffBuck | Oct 03, 2004 02:06am | #2

   has worked fine for me.

   not sure I've ever seen any prefinished w/o a micro-bevel?

   Jeff

   Buck Construction, llc   Pittsburgh,PA

        Artistry in Carpentry                

3. 
   amaruoka | Oct 03, 2004 03:42am | #3

   View Image

   Here is a photo of Bruce 3/4" solid (Fulton LG Strip) prefinished that I just laying.  I had no problems.  2 sticks out of 200 sq ft had non-square ends, a few boards were warped beyond belief, and oddly one box was full-o-shorts.  Other than than, all the other boxes had fairly long pieces (1' to 6', most 3-4').  It was fairly comparable to unfinished hard wood.  The finish is great.  There is a little irregularity between boards, but it makes it look like a real wood floor, not a pergo floor.  The edges are not beveled, but more like crowned and eased, so there isn't a groove to catch dirt.

   Andrew

1. 
   Isamemon | Oct 07, 2004 02:06am | #6

   Curious , you say one box was full of shorts, the rest were full of longs 1-4'

   1) just how short was the shorts, less then a foot, yikes

   2) you consider longs something over 1 foot, yikes

   Ive often thought of trying the prefinished Bruce and Lumber Liqiudators but not if the lengths are only 5 inches

   where Im located I havent seen anything in real wood less then 2 feet and I sure as heck wouldnt waste my time installing anything smaller unless it was a piece of trim or finish out a run or near a vent, even then I would think hard if I wanted to and what my customer might say