We had unfinished Brazilian teak floor installed in a kitchen/dining room remodel in 2012. We have had no problems of any gaping and absolutely love it. Also, the installation was a breeze for the contractor who is our son-in-law. In 2017 we remodeled the master bedroom suite with walk-in closet and again installed Brazilian teak. Flooring material was purchase from the same dealer and installed by the same contractor on both projects. The wood had more than 7 months in the room it was to be installed in to acclimate to the indoor environment. Our son-in-law had a lot of problems with the installation on the bedroom project. Installing the flooring took more man hours and we are convinced that the second batch of wood came from a different supplier. It seemed to be a lower quantity even though we were told that it came from the same supplier. There are some gaps but after having the salesman we dealt with inspect the flooring he had them filled before his finisher completed his work. We absolutely love the floor in both areas and wouldn’t hesitate to use the same material if we were to ever move.

Sandra, FIX - Borrow then replace with new 17 - Brazilian Direct Ltd. Flooring Inquiry by Dan Cosgrove For 15 years BD Ltd. has had a 500 square foot Minimum. This policy was in place as we cannot get involved with trying to match what we did not sell you. The other larger reasons are listed below. Brazilian Direct Ltd. - Exceeding Customer Expectations for over 15 years Mill Direct Premium Exotic Hardwood Flooring, Lumber and Decking Hardwood Flooring Repair - Do Not over commit or over promise! Lost a lot of industry buddies trying to do a favor (100sf repair) for a friend. Hardwood Flooring Repair (IF weaving/patching) After 30 years, I will say this. On unfinished flooring, the only way to try to weave or patch a repair on an old Exotic/Tropical hardwood floor (or any hardwood flooring) is to figure out a smart way, to use the existing hardwood flooring on site. We recommend that you borrow the hardwood flooring from the closets or from a back room (pop the last few rows) to do the repair. Then replace the newly created inconspicuous areas, with whatever you find that is close. Only way you can guarantee the match is with the same hardwood they used during the original installation. Then the entire floor should be then resanded. Prefinished adds another issue as now you have oxidation (darkening), the micro-bevel and gloss levels to contend with. Most exotics will change depending on species from light to dark approximately 25-35%. Sheen levels will vary per manufacture and the gloss level will have dulled and have scratches after years use. It is even more important with pre-finished to borrow then replace. Even the exact same product will be 25% lighter in color, the sheen will be different as the finish will be new. Make your repair with hardwood on the job. Then find something, as close as you can and install that in the area that is not highly visibility. In the end, it will never match perfectly, so do not over state. This is as close as you can get it. This applies to ALL species: Brazilian Cherry (Jatoba), Brazilian Teak (Cumaru), Santos Mahogany (Cabreuva), Brazilian Walnut (Ipe), Brazilian Koa (Tigerwood), Bolivian Rosewood (Tiete-Sirari), Tiete Chestnut (Sucupira), Amendoim, Patagonian Rosewood (Curupau), ETC. We want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. PS: The insurance company should pay for complete removal & tear out for the entire room - doorway to doorway. That is the real answer. ------------------Followup # 2 was Sandra, was also explaining to the different grades, another reason we do not try to match. LL lies and calls this species Bolivian Rosewood, which it is not, (Bolivian Rosewood is Morado & cost 4 x more) so there is a lot of confusion about this species. In addition, I then said upon hanging up, that I have another call I must take, as a conference call with Brazil started at 11 am, I had to jump on this call. So sorry if I cut the call short and appear to be rude, that was not my intent. Dan Here are essentially four grades of exotic flooring: - Straight-grain (quarter-sawn) - Premium/A grade (Clear) - Select and Better (S & B) - Select-grade All of our flooring at Brazilian Direct Ltd. is Premium/A grade flooring. Advantages of using Premium/A grade flooring over select grade include longer average lengths, less color variation from board to board, and less waste requirement. Brazilian Direct does carry straight-grain flooring as well. Straight-grain or quarter-sawn flooring is only available in unfinished Brazilian Cherry and Santos Mahogany. We recommend this floor specifically for radiant heat application. Brazilian Direct does not offer select-grade flooring. Brazilian Direct discourages the sale of select-grade flooring due to quality issues. Quarter-sawn or straight-grain flooring is a slightly different cut of hardwood flooring than clear grade. It has the same features as clear grade; however, it is cut so all grain runs vertically. This minimizes the risk of horizontal board expansion, making quartersawn the only choice for radiant heat applications. This premium cut will carry a higher price. Premium/A Grade (Clear) is the highest grade of hardwood flooring available for that species. It offers the minimum number of character marks and discoloration, providing a uniform appearance while allowing for natural color variations. Premium/A grade flooring has the longest average board lengths as well as the highest quality milling. Our average clear grade board length is 38.5". Select & Better grade flooring (S & B) is a ranking assigned by some mills in Brazil indicating the highest grade of flooring they offer. S & B offers the minimum number of character marks and discoloration, providing a uniform appearance while allowing for natural color variations. S & B grade flooring is synonymous with longer average board lengths as well as exceptional quality milling. Our average S & B grade board length is 35-37". Select-grade flooring (not offered) is a lower grade of flooring than clear grade. It has more character marks and possible discoloration, creating a less uniform appearance. Small knots and some imperfections in face work are acceptable. A typical average length for select grade flooring is 28".

odiegirl13: a p.s. on your earlier post. You mentioned finish. One of the installers we interviewed uses three coats, so that should help. Nothing like the seven coats of aluminum oxide you mention, of course, but still pretty durable. Also, we are just two and aside from possibly dragging in gravel now and then on shoe treads (all of our entrances will have tile flooring for just that reason), wear will be relatively gentle. One of the reasons I prefer the on site installations is the little white scratches you mention in another post. The entire area is very open, visible, and well-lighted, so scratches will be difficult to camouflage. Lumber Liquidators: thank you for the warning. I wonder if the good/bad experiences are at all related to the individual outlets? Some with better customer service than others maybe? I have heard that recently, their products have gotten better as more people are using the company and their not-so-great overstock supplies are dwindling enough to warrant them buying in better woods. Not sure if that is true or just someone's hope? Thank you for your help.

Thanks for the advice. We currently don't have a home humidification system. We do run heat in the winter and a/c in the summer. We don't keep track of the humidity level in the house. I guess we should start checking that. The house currently has 60 year old white oak floors that we are having someone pull up and replace with new floors. The floors have very little to no gaping. The previous owners must of had pets because the floors has a lot of pet stains and also some larger water damage spots. Because of these issues the flooring company would have to repair much of the floor (probably 40% of the house) So we decide to replace the flooring in the entire house. The flooring company seems to know what they talking about but I am always the type of person to educate myself as much as possible to make sure its done right. We are buying the flooring and having the flooring company install it. We were not looking at the really cheap stuff at $1.99 a Sq ft stuff. What we were looking at is in the $5-7 range. Since the Brazilian Teak flooring seemed to be unstable I think we will pass on it. Our 2nd choice afyercthecteak flooring was a hard maple. Any advice on this type of flooring? The question I do have is about the moisture test. I understand that the flooring and subfloor must be tested and be within a compatible range. The problem we might have with testing the subfloor is the flooring guy is pulling up the hardwood and so it might be difficult to test until he pulls up the floor. If it's not capable we would have to reschedule the job and live with subfloor for who knows how long. Is is there any way to test some floor without pulling it all out?