Hi my house is ten years old and we installed Bruce birchall wide plank flooring. and my wife wants hardwood in the master bedroom. She likes Braz Teak From L L Bellwood. But I have read about the gaps and how bad this wood can be and how L L is terrible to deal with. Most of the reviews I read were a few years old. Is this true today? She loves the color of the Braz Teak. Is their a better brand of teak? Or an hardwood with the same color? Any and all advice would be welcome. I am in Cincinnati area. Thanks again. George

Guess the best question is , does all teak or woods like it get gaps after been installed ? Thanks George

Geo:

A lot of those problems are related to lack of skilled people doing the work and questionable material, not to mention what's done before and after the installation. It's all about price with LL and I doubt it will ever change, because all they want to see is a great bottom line and a good stock price. Personally if there's a two dollar square foot difference from them and better known brand in a local retail store, I'd choose the latter. You'll also get far better customer service after the sale. Unless of course you can live with minor problems as it's only a bedroom where many will not see anyway.

I would agree w/ Ken. LL wood is low quality, esp due to the milling which means it's not straight, which causes gaps - when it's installed. We try to avoid this like the plague and we don't put any warranties on those since they are so low quality.

For exotics, we often use a brand called Nature, but there are other brands and some are regional so go w/ a higher quality, even if you need to pay more.

I really don't think there is another wood that looks like Braz Teak (except for maybe Braz Walnut sort of). Graining is similar but color is different. both are very hard. All that aside, Braz teak does tend to shrink, regardless of brand - it's the nature of the wood. So, first, you may want to avoid 5" (go for 3 3/4 or 3 5/8") and second make sure you have a good humidifier/way to control the humidity.

Also, there is a Floor Coverings International in Cincinnati that you could call. I know they do good work.

Debbie Gartner, aka The Flooring Girl
http://TheFlooringGirl.com
Owner of Floor Coverings International in Westchester, NY

I agree and I do not mind letting the flooring set for however long it takes to adjust to the room. That one reason I have painted the room before we put the hardwood in. And we keep the house at a constant temp. Guess I just don't know who makes good braz teak. And yes I pay more for good wood. Geo

Because Brazilian Teak is a dense wood, be sure to let it acclimate for at least 1 week.

Debbie Gartner, aka The Flooring Girl
http://TheFlooringGirl.com
Westchester County, NY

Both Ark and Nature make a Brazilian Teak I have always been happy with eiter manufacturer

Yes, I agree. I had mentioned Nature above, and yes, I like Ark, too.

Is a week enough for the wood to acclimate ? I don't mind longer if necessary to be safe.

Geo:

To do it properly you really need to measure the moisture content because you may not know if the source follows standard drying (kiln drying) and storage of the product. I believe most of us familiar with those LL problems come from the pre-production part. Back in the boom days of flipping houses they couldn't keep up with demand. They would announce a sale and some people were found waiting months for the product. Production was rushed. The end result was a "green" product that after installation shrunk width wise causing the gapping.

The result, even though some may have acclimated for one week, it still wasn't enough time for two reasons. One, exotic hardwoods are denser, acclimation takes longer. And number two, perhaps they acclimated to what the manufacturer recommended and felt safe in a 60% humidity environment, but didn't maintain it during the winter months. Heating systems pull a lot of moisture out of the air and that includes that new floor. The result..gapping, unless some sort of humidification is used.

It's all about recognizing what the average moisture levels will be in the area where it's being installed and maintaining it, or preventing very wild prolonged swings in Rh levels.

Id stick with a 3" or 31/4" and let it sit in there for a month at least. Cumaru will shrink if you let the r/h in the home get lower than 35% probably better off keeping it closer to 45%. Ive sold it several times over the years and go above and beyond to let the people know what they are dealing with. Even with proper acclamation, quality milling, expert installation and finishing the stuff will still move what I feel is excessive amount. Its just rolling the dice with who's ever you chose. I know of at least 5 diffrent mills that at one time sold it then after one or two years of problems pulled it from their lines.

Looks like I need to go with a different wood. Cause the gaps if they did occur would bug me.Is all braz woods like this? Thanks so much for all the information

Cumaru is the worst offender of the more common exotics. Ipe, braz. cherry, tigerwood, scupira are all more stable.

The price from LL BW teak 7.37 sq foot plus cost for their underlayment,I figured around 4 to 5 00 sq ft for master bedroom so that way over 3000.00 plus installer 1.75 sq ft, I dont mind paying a decent price for a good product but not for and inferior product..and after your good people advice I started searching and found more bad then good about LL .I dont mind letting wood set for a month or two or whatever is best for the wood ,So my bedroom is down to the plywood . but lol it newely painted no good thing ..thanks again for guideing me away from a bad choice means a lot less worry down the road ..George

Has anyone dealt with unique floors? Thanks George