Thanks Dan! I especially appreciate the disclosure. I have to admit to sheer ignorance when it comes to pre-finished hardwood, I don't know how the manufacturers differentiate from one another or even how the product lines differ. I know Bruce is carried at Home Depot, but with a lot of other things (say, plumbing), the big-box stores get a dumbed down or cheapened version of what you'd get at a supply store. Am I better off going to another distributor, would they have other, better lines from Bruce? Also - who would you say is Bruce's main competitor, just for comparison purposes. Thanks again for the help.

Not exactly what you are looking for, but we installed about 1300 sq ft of Bruce Dundee 3 1/4" (butterrum stain). We were very pleased with Bruce's product. Most all of the boards were very nice, the few that were 'less' pretty than the others went into closets (and there was maybe 2-3 of those).

Thanks Floorguy! Expect the worst, hope for the best! Ordered them today. :) This will be our first hardwood flooring project we've done ourselves (we have a lot more experience with tile). I've watched videos and read books, so hope we will be prepared.

we put them (bruce prefinished "plano marsh") in i think 2 years ago (maybe 3) in our kitchen. over an old plank subfloor and roofing felt as an underlayment. we rented the airnailer and did it ourselves, which was exhausting. the flooring itself is nice, but to get the planks butted against each other, it was really a two person job, with one person jamming the wood up against the previous piece while the other used the nailer and mallet. i suggest seasoning the flooring by leaving it out and separated for several weeks inside the house (we built a kind of log cabin structure with it in the guest room). also, the planks are widest in hot humid months, so we installed in summer so that we would not see buckling as the temperature rises. we do see slightly larger cracks between the boards in the winter, but it's not significant. buckling however, is no good (had that in a previous house with older floors). the floor is holding up well in the kitchen....there are scratches, but only the cast iron pan has managed to chip through the top finish in one tiny spot. good luck kren