From a professional perspective, we (people in the trade) have known the lack of quality since the beginning. Its not hard to see the flaws while installing the products, while we may not have known the extent of lies, we all cringe when someone says they just got a steal of deal from LL.

LL I wish would become a reputable company where I look forward to installing their products, but i dont see that happening anytime soon. Their too big and I feel they don't care about anything but the almighty $.

I purchased my hardwood from ProSource and later realized it came from China. It's solid hardwood but I definitely watched the special aired and now worry about my product . But that's only the tip of the iceberg considering how much other stuff in my house is likely from China too.

I was relieved when I heard the issue with LL was laminate but I certainly still worry since my hardwood came from China.

When I started shopping for flooring, I scoured houzz for ideas and visited a multitude of stores, from speciality retailers, to big box stores and finally found Lumber Liquidators.

(Sidebar: I think their name is very misleading as it implies downscale products ~ inferior or lesser quality flooring. Not true.)

They sell flooring sourced from all over the world (including the USA) so to associate their brand with China is misleading.

It was the Lumber Liquidator staff and houzz that educated me about flooring (kudos to houzz!) and I ended up choosing reclaimed pine and the natural rubio monocoat. I couldn't be happier with my decision.

I wouldn't hesitate to shop at Lumber Liquidators. I'm not a laminate consumer, regardless of source. Overall, I believe that this laminate story will end up being about the safety testing of compressed wood products, regardless of the source (think IKEA and the many manufacturers who use the same materials in manufacturing consumer products).

I'm disheartened that Lumber Liquidators was considered guilty BEFORE anything has been proven outside of a 60 Minutes show. Bah!

"I'm disheartened that Lumber Liquidators was considered guilty BEFORE anything has been proven outside of a 60 Minutes show. Bah!"

60 minutes did their own research before jumping to conclusions. Their opinions are backed by tests and undercover video of the factories in China. I'm not saying I believe everything 100% and nor do I think LL is 100% guilty but given what 60 minutes aired, I certainly think LL should be held accountable if they are falsely labeling products in order to save a buck.

If you thought 60 minutes made LL out to be guilty after watching, then that's your opinion. They are just doing a story.

I too looked at LL while shopping for hardwood. They had a lot of beautiful options but I was not impressed after leaving. Maybe the sales guy didn't impress me. I don't know. I do know that if I had laminate flooring in my house right now from LL I would be freaking out and looking into replacing it if there were unsafe levels of toxic chemicals...

It's been an open secret within the industry for years, and not just about their laminate. Look at the threads on their bamboo here and elsewhere. Ask any flooring professional about LL's quality of flooring. And then ask them if the first words out of the customer's mouth were, "Can you give me a discount." People want diamonds for diamondique prices. Can't happen. So they turn a blind eye to the quality cuts. Until it's shoved in their face.

Not all import flooring is bad. There's some really nice things being done by several manufacturers. Look at Bella Cera. And a few more. But, the key is that the companies care about more than just the bottom line. They have some form of quality control on site, not 4000 miles away playing monkey hear no evil, see no evil.

There are a few more parts to this story yet to be told and one includes installers. Yes, the testing was done in a deconstructive phase, but that's the same thing that happens when installers cut the flooring. Taking a hypothetical job of say 1,000 square feet, these guys accumulate ALOT of sawdust. Worse yet, it's a fine dust that flies and travels everywhere. I don't want to alarm anybody because I don't think we know the extent of formaldehyde and long term consequences. But had the company known about the high levels...You fill in the blanks.

I don't think I've heard any disagreement with the formaldehyde levels. It seems they're just trying to focus on what they can salvage in their reputation.

Engineered floors are cold-pressed at the mill. There are no formaldehyde emissions that happen after installation.

Laminate is hot-pressed so the emission takes place once it's installed rather than during fabrication.