The price sounds great! I can't seem to find this particular brand and color doing a Google Search. Do you have a link so we can let you know if it is a good wood. It sounds great but what is most important is the finish on top needs to be scratch resistant. I'd be interested in a picture and more information since I like Stained Maple wood.

Lynn:

The reason I called out "the professionals" is because we know zero about what to look for, and what to ask, regarding wood floors. I am reading up online right now.

I went to a well thought of individual's business website (gardenweb won't let me mention his name) and read up his "What to look for in engineered hardwood" and he said " I suggest staying away from names you never heard of and only use Name Brand hardwood flooring from manufacturers that have been around for a long time. They will be the ones who will generally stand behind their flooring if something should go wrong."

Since I cannot find anything at all on this "Manufacturer", I am getting the idea that maybe I should pass on them?

That's the hard part. Here's the pluses:
We like the way the floor LOOKS
We like the guy who came out to our house (part owner in the company I believe)
They seem like a reputable flooring company here locally (http://www.summerswoodfloors.com/)

BUT - where do you draw the line in the plus and minus columns? I guess I am just SO gun shy because of the last floor we had put in, and now are replacing. We made a bad decision. But how could we have known? The company came recommended by a friend. We liked the cork that we chose. They seemed nice enough. But they did a very bad installation - using unlicensed installers.

ARGggggggg...

Anyway, to answer your question, Lynn, I don't have a website, but I'll take pics and post them in just a little bit.

Boxiebabe

Summerswood Floors Link to Click

Here is a link that might be useful: Summerswood Floors Link to click

The About Summers Flooring & Design seems to indicate that the company has been in business for many years. I would find out more about them from the Better Business Bureau to see if there are any complaints and if there are no complaints, maybe they can find a few customers who would let you see their floors and talk with you. Their floors look nice.

Here is a link that might be useful: About Summers Flooring & Design

I took pics, but they didn't turn out the best. Taken with my brand new from Christmas camera, so I haven't had a chance to mess around with it yet.

I called the guy at Summers. He was SO nice. He never lost his patience while I asked him about a zillion questions.

Here's what I found out. He said that since their business has been in business for 54 years, they have been very cautious about what floors they sell.

I asked him if the flooring they sell is #1 retail, first quality hardwood. YES.

I asked him the thickness of the wear layer. For the Maple Chocolate Cherry: 4mm. For the Jatoba we also considered: 3mm

Can it be sanded down and refinished: YES
Is it sliced-cut veneer or rotary-cut veneer: SLICED
There's 8 layers of Aluminum Oxide protectant on it.
I asked him if he was satisfied with our current wood sub floor, that it wouldn't be any problem: YES (satisfied)
I asked him what board sizes we'll be receiving because we have a very long run. He said "Nested bundle is average 3.5'. Some will be as long as 72", some will be as short at 1.5".
I asked him glue down, stapled or both? He said STAPLED.

I checked out his Oregon Contractor's Board license. Clean as a whistle. Checked his BBB rating. "A".

Guess I got screwed so bad the last time I want to be certain that we're doing it right this time.

Gonna talk to hubby, he's out moving things around on this ATV (playing), but I think we should go for it.

What do you think?

Boxie

Boxie, I feel the floors look very nice and the company sounds like a great store to buy from. Thanks for the pics. Due to my 4 little dogs and home office, I am looking for a floor that has micro-bevels with as little space between the boards as possible. Your floor would be perfect for me if the bevels were smaller. But for a floor, I feel it is beautiful and rustic looking with a very nice color that I love. I like Maple that has character that is stained which is what this floor is. I feel you will be very happy with it. The width of the boards is nice, Maple is a wood harder than oak, the engineered thickness and the MM layer on top is great, and the price is very good for installed.

Maybe some professional flooring people will reply since I am just a home owner looking also for a floor to install after my busy season. I am home since the roads are bad so I can't afford to get into another car accident. I was invited to a few parties but I prefer to set up my files for the new year, call friends to wish them a happy new Year, and visit others in the day-light when the roads are not so bad tomorrow.

"" I asked him what board sizes we'll be receiving because we have a very long run. He said "Nested bundle is average 3.5'. Some will be as long as 72", some will be as short at 1.5".
I asked him glue down, stapled or both? He said STAPLED ""

You should call him back to clarify that. The above specs are normally for a solid, select & btr. grade product. Your photo shows 12" to 47" random lengths, and my experience with engineered products would offer you average lengths of between 24" to 28".

Jerry, you are good! You are right, if you read the information on the wood samples, you will see that lengths are shorter than the owner said but are about the length of engineered floors and no stapling is mentioned for this engineered floor of the choices it gives. Maybe the owner got mixed up and thought you had the solid wood sample?

Nail down is sort of a generic term Lynn. One has to dig into the instruction sheet to see what type of "fastener" the manufacturer recommends..... most will call for 18 or 20ga. narrow crown staples instead of nails. This floor says it can fastened down, glued down or floated but the store owner did not mention the last two options.

I am going to follow up on his comment about 72" boards. I think he probably just made a boo-boo after my barraging him with questions.

As far as the fastening method, I asked him if it would be glued down or stapled, and he said stapled. Sorry, I'm confused here. Did he make another boo-boo by saying that it would be stapled (or nailed)??

Jerry, as far as the specs go, are you saying that the specs on the back of the sample - aren't for the right sample?

Is this a crummy product?

I am wayyy confused now.

What is printed on the sample is normal and routine for most engineered products. From your conversation it appeared to me the store owner may have been reading specs. normally reserved for a high end solid product. I was merely trying to point out that if it is important to you to have some very long lengths..... well, the sample says 47" max. :)

I don't know anything about this product or the manufacturer so I can't comment one way or the other.

I emailed my contact asking him for clarification on what he said vs. what's printed on the back of the sample. (see below) I don't know what all the little hash marks & such mean, but all in all I am satisfied with his answer to this and the many other questions I've asked. We will be moving forward on the job with this provider. We feel good about it. He's presented himself very professionally and I think we're going to be very pleased with the end result. I'll be sure to repost when it's all finished so y'all can see what we got. :) Thanks for the help!

Here's what he had to say:
"I was mistaken in that particular product as to the length size. The chocolate cherry is 12"-47" which is still a beautiful floor. The checker board look is caused by poor installation. When we install a floor we are very particular with how it is laid out to avoid what we call stair steps: ------I and H patterns ------I---------------I which makes the floor look "checker board".

------I I-------------I-------------

-------I ------I---------------I

Hope that helps,

He's absolutely right .... good luck with it.

Please post pictures when the floor is installed. It is probably going to look beautiful. I love the color of the wood planks.

We actually placed the order for the Maple engineered in "Chocolate Cherry". After placing the order and the store charging us the deposit (50%), we were told that particular "on-sale" flooring had run out and we'd have to choose something different. The company wasn't making any more of this flooring. We, of course, got our deposit back.
We were totally bummed.
Back to the drawing board......

Boxiebabe, I am sorry about your situation and I know how disappointed you feel since I have been there also where I took too long to make a decision on stomething I really wanted but I needed more information on before making the final decision. Please keep us updated. We are all here for you.