I’m applying hardwood flooring over two areas of the house. One has sheet vinyl and one has simply 3/4 plywood subfloor.
I’ve looked at a couple of products and was wondering if anyone had experience with them?
-Lumber Liquidator’s Bellawood and Durawood (I was looking at their 3/4″ solid red oak)
-Bruce 5/16″ solid red oak.
Will the 5/16″ material be thick enough? This is a very “average” home, in fact the older part of this 1946 house looks like it has utility-grade solid red oak, so there’s really no need to go too high end.
Oh, and one other alternative would be bamboo. I was VERY surprised at it’s affordable price.
Thanks all.
Replies
I did two rooms with bella wood. It was easy to work with but you have to be careful with dropping tools and stepping on your tools. Lumber Liquidators ran an internet special less than 4 dollars per square.
Chris
bella wood .. you have to be careful with dropping tools and stepping on your tools.
Since you had to take such precautions against denting it .... have you seen how it holds up under regular use?
The finish seems to hold up well so far.
Thanks a lot guys.I had hoped that this thread didnt turn into another review of LL. That company sure does seem to stir up strong emotions. I'm always reminded of the fact that "you get what you pay for", and researching places like this helps me go in with open eyes. There are too many times that I go shopping and I know more than the salesman does.But back to the subject question...Thanks CAG and cb. The contractor who did the addition 15 years ago wasn't very attentive. There are ridges in the transistions between the new and old portions of the house, and over a few of the joints. Not sure which would be better: 5/16 because it'll cover the ridge (perpendicularly) better because it'll bend, or the 3/4 because it'll not be as affected by dips in the subfloor.Am I thinking it right??Oh, and as for the finish, Bellawood is supposed to have Al Oxide finish while Durawood and Bruce have Poly. Not sure on H-T.
The bruce I used has a decent warranty on the finish, can't remember exactly what it was, but it was up there... and they claim you could even sand and re-finish once, personaly I wouldnt want to though.
how bad is your existing subfloor?
You're not going to want to "bend" the flooring over the ridge. It will creak like a banshee... and will wear much faster than it should. I also would only want to span dips that were of no significance.
I would fix the sub-floor problem. How much is it "out"?
Edited 3/21/2005 12:55 am ET by Rich from Columbus
At the transition between new and old floors, there's a 1" slope when measured over a 2 ft distance. The flooring was going to run perpendicular to this transition...
Ken, a 1" change in level over 2'? That's gonna be tough to do. The 5/16" flooring might take the bend, but would be prone to sqeaks. The 3/4" flooring you'll have to really fight into place, and will be prone to squeaks. Is there anything you can do to ease this transition a bit?
Mike
I agree with mike... that much of a bend has some obstacles to overcome.
Is there a way to ease the high side? Is there enough room to spread that slope over a longer distance if you can't ease the high side?
Well, I suppose that I could change the diretion of the flooring at that point. Run one side horizontally and the other vertically. It might be a good trick to help in visually separate the rooms. Leveling the floor or tapering it would be A LOT of work. Not even sure how it'd be done.
Another question on this thread.
I am planning on using bamboo with the 25 year Al-Oxide finish, 5/8" nail-down variety.
Is there any difference between vertical and horizontal other than appearance?
I'd also like to do my stair treads by gluing/nailing to 3/4" OSB treads and bull-nosing using the flooring pieces. How does bamboo mill down using a surface planer and route (to bull nose the edge?)
Do the boards nail down ok using a standard pneumatic floor nailer? Is it prone to split if you nail too close to the end?
Any and all help much appreciated!
BruceM
warning, be VARY carefull of Lumber Liquidators. Some of their customers happy, some VERY unhappy.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
LL is like anyone else... if you have good people taking care of you and your order... no prob. If you have people who stink taking care of your order... it will stink.
Personally, I have had reasonably good experiences with LL. But I have one guy that I always go to for orders... and only him.
I've heard some bad stories of service from LL. From trusted people. I have no reason to doubt the validity of the problems.
I had one round of bad stuff that got delivered (off color, kinda skanky). Called my rep and I had new in my hand the next day. I expect an occasional bad batch to get away... it happens in any manufacturing environment. It's how someone takes care of the problem that is the true test in my book.
So I guess the long and short... no matter what company you deal with... it is only as good as the people behind the product.
Good point but more to it than that. It goes to top corporate philosophy. When the goal is to sell volumn rather than quality and move as much product as possible to maximize the whole process, there is no time to focus and shop the service and quality aspects of the sale. I can hear Sgt in the background shouting, "move it, move it, Move it Gomer!So in such an organization, there will be fewer good people than in others, and fewer odds of getting good stuff.You are lucky enough to have a good guy who treats you good based on a good relationship, but you can bet they sold that skanky batch on to the next guy still
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Actually, I dumpsterized the bad batch... but I understand what you are saying.
Similarly, I have a good fellow I work with at my local Lowes. Real pro... more of a pro than 50% of the guys working at the local lumber yards. But I can fully understand why others have had different experiences than I have... some of their commercial reps have no more business dealing with contractors than the man-in-the-moon. I just don't do business with Lowes if I have to deal with one of the other guys that have the mentality of a pin-head.
The point being... if the basic product is good (or good-nuf fer gobment work... depending on what you are buying)... it's the people that make the difference between a good experience or a bad experience. Bellawood is a good product, in general (not the best... certainly not the worst). Now... one only needs to get a rep that will take good care of you in the event an issue arises.
I had a batch of Bruce flooring that was absolutely unacceptable (damaged in shipping). The supplier put me in the middle of "it's his fault... no it's his fault" situation between the supplier and the shipping company. It will be a cold day when I deal with that supplier again... and I'll think hard before dealing with Bruce products (they did nothing to alleviate the problem when they were notified, after no success with the supplier). In an ideal world... I could say I wouldn't... but when a customer specifically requests Bruce.. I put it in. But certainly not from the supplier I had the issue with.
Bob Vila liked Bellawood so much he had it put into his own house. I wonder if Riley installed it for him or did Sears do it. We have a product up here by Mirage. Best hardwood I've ever put in.
Have a great day
Cliffy
Edited 3/20/2005 12:05 am ET by cliffy
Thanks for the quick replies. I've seen the many negative comments about LL. Guys I talked to in Richmond seemed to be ok. I'm going to pick up rather than have delivered, so I'll be able to check out hte material before buying.Will 5/16" work well enough over a wood subfloor?
I just installed two rooms of Lumber Liq beech, one was select grade and one was natural. Very pretty but a little soft ... probably harder than pine. It was 3/4" solid x 3-1/4" and we paid $5.50/sf for the selct, $4.50 for the natural. You won't have much chance to check it out by going to the store ... it's all boxed up. The advantage you will have is being able to carry it home. I ordered twice ... once the service was very good, once it sucked.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Lumber Liq beech .... pretty but a little soft ... probably harder than pine.
By now in this thread I'm really wary of LL. Isn't beech supposed to be an unusually hard wood?
The beech was softer than the Bolivian cherry ... that's all I know.
The wood that LL uses is plain ol' ordinary wood. So if you like oak, they have nice oak. They have a wide range of species and grades, and prices to match. Just go into it with your eyes wide open and there won't be any surprises.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
"Bob Vila liked Bellawood so much he had it put into his own house."He also like how much they where paying him to advertise it.
One of my customers is putting bamboo in his new home and I think it's definitely a "keeper". The price is right and the stuff is beautiful. One reason for the low price is that bamboo is almost inexhaustible - the stuff grows almost as fast as they can harvest it and make it into flooring.
I installed the Bruce 5/16" solid oak once, it went down pretty easy and looked good. as for durability it's only been about 6 months so I can't say.
The hardest part of the installation was making sure the sub-floor was almost perfectly flat, small bumps would transfer through, so I ended up belt sanding most of the joints in the subfloor.
I have the bellawood (Husky when I bought it) rustic maple in my ski place. The quality was pretty high, and it went down fine. It has worn well.