Has anyone purchased hardwood flooring from Lumber Liquidators? I am looking for a respectable, price competitive source for hardwood floors in Southern/central connecticut?
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I bought a small amount of flooring for a repair job from Lumber Liquidators in Berkeley, CA. There prices were fairly cheap and the stuff I got was reasonably good, particularly for the price. The sales person seemed pretty knowledgeable and was a good guy to deal with - of course that can't be guaranteed at their different sites. Unfortunately, they didn't have some of the other stuff I needed such as 3/8" by 3" oak strips to repair another floor.
There website is:
http://www.lumberliquidators.com/
Thanks for reminding me of them. According to their website, they now have a Portland, OR, store, so I will check them out up here...
The one here in Lynchburg, Virginia has a poor reputation. Bait and switch is one of their favorite tactics. Buy cheap and get cheap……
regards
Mark
Edited 5/18/2004 3:16 pm ET by Mark40
lumber liquidators has different grades of material they showed me 2 different unfinished sel & better strip oaks in stock, one at higher price had less mineral streaks, looked good... if you want exotics in unfinished or prefinished try "florida wood" on the net, seen some quality stock from there mention them because they have matching exotic species stair treads and millwork avail which is hard to come by in CT average floor jobs require occasional stair bullnose which can be made on-site from flooring stock new construction or heavy remodels need handrail, balusters, treads, etc., if you can't provide it, lose a customer too expensive to quote custom fabrication of exotics from a local shop when they have a production line... if domestic woods are needed, strip to wide plank, long lengths, etc. email a tel#, have a rolodex of suppliers
I can understand why you are looking for a respectable source. LL is the armpit of the wood flooring industry.
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I'm reluctant to make any recommendations here about suppliers I work with infrequently, but in the past year and a half I have purchased flooring several times through Fast Floors; I think their Internet address is http://www.fastfloors.com
Every order has been on time and in good condition. One order of bamboo flooring came in 2 bundles shy of 78 bundles. The missing bundles were delivered within 4 days.
Their freight rates are minimal.
From what I could tell, everything at LL includes shorts (like really short). They may offer longer lengths at a premium.
Rob Kress
Jorge,
I can recount a story about them from a friend of mine who works for a large hardwood flooring distributor:
My friend sells 20,000 feet of Brazilian Cherry for a commercial job. It arrives, is delivered to the site...oops, mismilled (inconsistent widths), can't be installed.
Mad scramble to replace the goods, favors asked of other distributors. It gets replaced.
Now...what to do with the goods? Manufacturer doesn't want it back, just issues a credit. Distributor doesn't want to sell or warehouse it. So, what to do?
Why, Lumber Liquidators of course! They buy it for pennies, and run one of their screaming ads about "$1.25 Brazilian Cherry! 20,000 sq. ft. just in!"
I've always wondered if their receipts have an 'all sales are final' clause.
Caveat Emptor.
skipj
i got my last floor from L.L., i live within an hour's drive from their warehouse in albany Ca. (Berkeley).
i wanted a rustic look, different colors, lots of knots, i wanted it to look like wood!, not plastic.
went with a cheaper grade of red oak, and ordered extra to eliminate some of the short pieces, had to sort through a lot , but..... 1000 sq ft of beautiful floor for just under $2,200.
if you can drive to a warehouse, a couple of truckloads will save money and you can always take it back if defective, as another poster indicates you run the risk of missmilled lumber no matter who the supplier. i doubt any warehouse or salesman knows what is in the bundle, milled it him/themselves.
I installed a hickory Bella Wood floor from LL out of Charlotte, NC. Very pretty stuff and very few culls.
HO ordered 2 bundles short, LL delivered next day for a nominal fee ( a truck was in the area). Don't worry, we can fix that later!
In my opinion Lumber Liquidators is trying to grow too fast. I've had countles phone calls from people that have ordered material(mostly exotics) paid for them months ago and LL can't fill the order. Sure there's been a strike in Brazil that has exotics in short supply, but they continue to advertise like crazy.
I've heard good and bad, but over the last 10-12 months it's been mostly bad. That coming from installers who have worked with their prefinished exotics lines. Bad finishes to poor milling and different widths as someone has mentioned--off 1/8" here and there.
I'd be careful with their prefinished exotics until there's a clear sign of improvement.
Ken Fisher
hardwoodinstaller.com