Wood Flooring
I am planning to have new wood floors installed throughout my apartment. I need to know the pros and/or cons of using either Lowes or Lumber Liquidators.
I am planning to have new wood floors installed throughout my apartment. I need to know the pros and/or cons of using either Lowes or Lumber Liquidators.
Both Lowes & Lumber liquidators is common commercial low grade stuff.
Laminate/Engineered flooring is garbage and after you pay installer his fee,which is the same no mater what he puts down, you are left with a thin veneer of wood over something that hardly matters.
The best grade is CLEAR..then SELECT & BETTER…and forget the rest if its something you care at all about…this only applies to the commercial type stuff…where many lengths can be VERY short & hardly any of it more than 7 ft..which is pathetic.You can get this at PC Wood floors in NY but better haggle.Don’t expect anything better than 3rd world level of service and they are not of high honor…very base people.
May I add in any oak.. Quartersawn is the most beautifull.
If you are after the real thing…historic lengths/widths..call
Hull Forestry Products who are somewhere in NY State who is a mill…& very nice people.
But do not expect nit picky selectiveness to apply here.you’ll get wholesale pricing but wholesale service as well.They will deliver & it’s not too pricey.
Good luck Nick
Both Lowes & Lumber liquidators is common commercial low grade stuff.
Laminate/Engineered flooring is garbage and after you pay installer his fee,which is the same no mater what he puts down, you are left with a thin veneer of wood over something that hardly matters.
The best grade is CLEAR..then SELECT & BETTER…and forget the rest if its something you care at all about…this only applies to the commercial type stuff…where many lengths can be VERY short & hardly any of it more than 7 ft..which is pathetic.You can get this at PC Wood floors in NY but better haggle.Don’t expect anything better than 3rd world level of service and they are not of high honor…very base people.
May I add in any oak.. Quartersawn is the most beautifull.
If you are after the real thing…historic lengths/widths..call
Hull Forestry Products who are somewhere in NY State who is a mill…& very nice people.
But do not expect nit picky selectiveness to apply here.you’ll get wholesale pricing but wholesale service as well.They will deliver & it’s not too pricey.
Good luck Nick
My client purchased flooring from LL. That was about 4 years ago and they are still like new.
If you want to see them they are under the portfolio section under Wice residence
http://www.primerenovationsnyc.com
The success of a new floor has a lot to do with the subfloor. What is your sub-floor and why are you seeking to replace existing flooring?
Assuming the existing flooring comes up with minimal protest, and the sub-floor is perfect, new T&G flooring can be laid by any competent professional. In a vanilla sort of way, the contractors used by LL and Lowes are minimally competent. They don’t remove existing flooring, that’s on you.
Real wood flooring as opposed to “engineered” flooring, should be allowed some (1/4″)expansion room around the perimeter. This will be hidden by the quarter round or shoe molding that buts to the baseboard. A professional job must include this.
I usually go with select oak flooring, unfinished. Unless you like knots all over, make sure you get select. Unless you know, one might assume that #1 is the top grade. My main reason for unfinished as opposed to pre-finished, is the bevel between the boards on pre-finished.
Yes, the pre-finished does save from having the scraper come in, but subsequent scaping doesn’t have to worry about the bevel grooves. If you will protect the floors well, the better pre-finished finish will last a good while.
Don’t know about Lowes, but if you get anything from LL be sure to ask not only about the width of the planks you’re getting but also the lengths. Otherwise you may end up with a lot of short boards.
My own feeling: get someone to install the floors using wood from Premier Flooring and then have them stained (if you want) and polyed.
Also, if you’re doing new floors, now’s the time to think about soundproofing.