Engineered Wood flooring - Build Direct, Lumber Liquidators? (Howe: how much, house)

[texas7]

Looking at engineered wood flooring (and we have pets - but hate laminate). Has anyone used build direct or lumber liquidators - any good or junk? Looked at a flooring store in the Bay area and prices averaged 7.99-8.99 ft./installed. Is this about right?

If I order from build direct or lumber liquidators, how much should an installer charge me?

[tstone]

I used LL Somerton engineered in our old house and it held up well to 2 small kids and 2 small dogs. It was used in the kitchen without any problems, too. We had a couple of gouges from a plate dropped on it and Kiwi shoe polish fixed it up. Very scratch resistant. Required a LL cleaner to keep it looking great. My project was 900 sf and $8k all-in, which included 200 lf of quarter rounds. However that was in 2010 and I hired a general contractor / middleman to take care of getting the materials and finding the labor because I was working out of town and mom had a newborn. DM me for more info.

[Rycy]

We just did about 1000 sf of carbonized strand bamboo from LL and we are very happy with it. We installed it ourselves with floor muffler underlayment we bought from amazon (much cheaper than the LL pad). Everything, including tools, underlayment, quarter round, t-molding, and reducers ran us about $3500. I've been very happy so far with the quality. After 3 months no scratches, dents, etc.

We also had engineered hardwood from LL that was installed by a previous owner in our former home. It had a smooth finish and it did not hold up to pets nearly as well. The engineered was not made by a LL brand, which seems to be mostly what they carry now, so I can't speak to the quality of their engineered brand.

As for installation costs, we had engineered hardwood installed in another part of our former home by Joe Hardwoods. 500 sf ran us about $10 per sf installed. I was moderately happy with the service. There was an epoxy issue, which pushed back installation by about 3 days. But the wood itself ran us about $5 sf and the installation another $5. I'm not sure what store they used, but the quality was pretty decent. It didn't hold up nearly as well as our bamboo has, but any scratches were pretty easily covered with the stain markers as we chose a handscraped finish.

[Schumacher713]

Nothing wrong with lumber liquidators. My hardwoods are from there. 9 bucks a sqft for engineered is crazy. I want to say installing is around 2-3sqft. 5 dollars for install is robbery. I can install real 1 inch think hardwoods for 8-9 installed.

[tstone]

Lots of variables when it comes to "installing". I had carpet, ceramic and linoleum that needed to be removed and disposed of, which was a job for a laborer the GC found (not the installer). When that was done the installer came in and they had to clean & level a bunch of spots. Then for the LL warranty to be valid, I had them spread a moisture barrier across the foundation. Then they came in and cut/installed the planks, which extended into the kitchen and 3 closets. Then finally the transition pieces + 200 ft of quarter rounds, which I had them prime for another job I tackled myself. The wood was $4.00/sf, demo+install was $3.50/sf, then the extra material was just under $1.50/sf.

[testmo]

bought our engineered hardwood from Robert's carpet. Went to LL to look and the wood just didn't look very pretty. Heard too many LL horror stories, but the inlaws used them and their floors held up fine. We bought american made oak. was more expensive, but looks better and has also held up fine. not made in china

[texas7]

Thanks for the input on LL and on Roberts (a coworker recommended them). We want to get some engineered hardwood that will hold up to our pets but we also don't want to spend an arm and a leg because we will most likely move between now and 4 years max, so want the nicer floors for us to enjoy (plus to help resale) but won't be here long enough to get our money back so don't want to go really high.

[Floorist]

Build Direct has several current lawsuits against them for defective material. LL seems to include a lot of shorts, pieces 5" long, in their deliveries. Both have horrible records when it comes to customer satisfaction.

[floor de lis]

I ve used Builddirect a couple of times for laminate and hardwood flooring. The laminate I installed myself with no problems and the hardwood I payed an installer about $3 /sq ft. The floors look great! I plan on using BuildDirect again for our next reno. They were always receptive and available when we called.

Hope this helps you

[PedroMartinez]

You might want to check out Floor & Decor as well.