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Don't buy from Lumber Liquidators

14 years ago

It's been about two and half months since my maple hardwood floor was installed. Boards are cracking all over the tops. Deep cracks along grain lines. LL says it's a moisture issue. Yet I bought highest quality underlay, recommended by the LL store in Springfield, Mo. Flooring was installed by a professional. Lumber Liquidators says the same to everyone.

Join my group on Facebook. The name is I got nailed and screwed by lumber liquidators. I'm collecting as many members as possible to help the message across to Lumber Liquidators. Thanks, d

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Comments (6)

boxers
14 years ago
it may very well be a hot, cold, humidity issue. Just cause there is a problem with your flooring doesn't immediate mean LL sold you a bad product. I'm no fan of LL and if you read the 100's of posting on this board re them you probably would have shopped elsewhere. What did your flooring installer or inspector said was the likely cause of your problem? What was the moisture level of the subfloor and the wood upon installation? How was the product acclimated?
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floorguy
14 years ago
Cracking after kiln drying and finishing, is caused by stress.

The flooring boards effected have been stressed, in one way or another. Cycles of rapid moisture loss and gain.
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So what about DIY hickory? Possible? Insane? Hickory is a hard wood, yes. But speaking as someone who DIY'd a bloodwood floor (bloodwood is about 50% harder than hickory), that wouldn't scare me. :) Your husband may want (or need) to pre-drill before nailing floor cleats into the material, to prevent the wood from splitting. Depending on the amount of area, that may or may not be a deal killer for him. In my case, it was only around 250 square feet, so I didn't find hugely annoying. If you're going to install unfinished planks and finish them in place, he'll find he needs to spend a bit more time sanding a very hard wood like this. No big deal. (However: A quick google suggests that hickory tends to "fuzz" when sanding, so I see some sites recommending pre-finished hickory flooring.) It's worth mentioning that hickory isn't particularly dimensionally stable as compared to oak. I'm thinking of keeping the house humidity relatively under control to prevent it from moving around too much (gaps between boards, or in worst case warping/cupping of boards) after it's installed. But google also shows recommendations that you'd best buy from a dealer who properly dried it, or it may warp badly as it dries down to your house's humidity levels. It's a pretty wood, IMHO. And durable. I like to use it to make utility shelving and cabinetry because it's cheap here, tough, and looks nice. Frankly, any hardwood worth using as flooring is not exactly going to be trivial to install, but it's a DIY project most us can tackle with some patience and care. I'd never done a floor before doing the bloodwood floor, though I am fairly handy generally, and do some amateur woodworking. All towards saying that if you like the look of hickory, I see no reason not to use it! --Steve
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Avalon Flooring, Lumber Liquid. or HD / Lowes?
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The problem with Any big box store flooring is this. They get junk wood which they get cheap which allows them to sell it cheap. Every see lumber liquidators 99 cent hardwood. If you look closely thats utility wood. Which means its all scrap that couldnt be graded for sale. I installed a friends floor they bought from HD and while the floor in every aspect was okay. The problem was each box contains roughly 20 sq ft. Out of each box about 5 sq ft was unuseable. The tongue was busted. Boards were scratched/dented or had visual defects. He had 400 ft to install and had to buy around 550 sq ft just to make up with all the junk wood. The other problem i ran into was what to do with that left over wood? This particular HD would NOT take any wood back that was opened. So he was stuck with that. If your big box store will take returns on open boxes then i say ok. But beware that you will probably need to buy more than 900 as your contractor suggested.
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Stay away from Lumber Liquidators...
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Comments (3)
We all could have told you that. It sounds like an acclimation issue. Where the wood gained normal moisture from the normal living conditions inside your home, swelling it across the grain, after it was installed tight. But then again, I don't know what the humidity level gradient from the basement to the upper living space, is. Sounds like the case of installers that did not know what a moisture meter, or a thermo-hygrometer were. Two very important must have tools of the trade, no one wants to pay for, or learn how to use properly. Just get it in as fast as you can and get paid, is what this country has turned into. There is a lack of PRIDE in ones craft, which is a direct result of the illegal aliens, lowering incomes for the true craftsmen, where they to have to gun and run too, to stay competitive, with the outrageously low prices that are being used today, compared to the rise in the cost of living. But then again, you didn't go to Lumber Liquidators, to pay the highest price. Someone that knows what they are doing, and takes pride in their work, will not be subcontracting to Lumber Liquidators, period!
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Is Lumber Liquidators a good buy. What about Cali Bamboo?
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I have no experience with LL but have heard the same things as others have posted. I have prefinished bamboo and floating cork in my house, both from Cali. I am happy with the quality, but was unhappy with the sales experience I had with the cork. They did bait and switch. With that said, they called for a standard service check, and when I related my experience, they gave me a partial credit. So bad selling experience, but good follow up. Also, Lowes sells Cali and they will frequently have better prices, especially if you wait until the product has been on the market awhile. When I did the cork, it was three bedrooms and a large hall. Working full time as meant it took me a while to finish. At the end, I was a little short on material, so I ordered another box from Lowes. It was considerably less than I had paid a couple of months before (the lowes price was roughly equiv to the direct Cali price originally).
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msgreatdeals
14 years ago
We just bought some laminate from LL and installed it in a rental. Looks great and there was no waste. All the pieces were good. Has a 20 year warranty but if it lasts 10 years I will be happy. For my own home, I would not buy from LL.
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boxers
14 years ago
the warranty is for walking thru to the pattern. It certainly won't look good for 10 or 20 yrs.
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msgreatdeals
14 years ago
Boxers.....for .89 a sq ft....I don't expect miracles.....just turned out better than expected so far. 8MM thick!. If your going to sell your house or rental....this is a great cheap fix!!!!
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2ajsmama
14 years ago
I bought 3/4" solid 3.25" wide Brazilian Cherry Bellawood from LL last Sept and so far so good. It replaced the Home Depot special order BC that started checking 10 days after install. Inspector said it wasn't dried properly - bad batch (not acclimation problem). They offered to replace the material, we ripped it up when they said it was in, went to pick it up, 4 cases were that way when delivered so we didn't even bother to open the rest of the new stuff b/c if the remainder had all been perfect it still wouldn't have been enough to do the floor. So HD refunded cost of material, but I was out labor.

I love our 11-month old LL Bellawood floor!
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