How are the installers finding the chinese flooring for quality, fit, finish etc. One of the distributors we work for purchased a container. The first one was alright. I warned him that the next ones will be a problem and they were.Warped short etc. I have some concerns about the toxic finishes that may be used. Anybody have concerns?

Always always a concern even if a major US manufactuer is having it made for themselves. From the adhesive used for bonding the plys to the moisture content of the plys when bonded to the iffy finishing and milling

I hate installing the "5 size" only flooring. Some times your lucky and you get the "3 size" flooring. Wow what a treat . Racking it sucks. All shorts. And I always get a plank 1/8" too thin on every sinlge job. Of course I don't notice till my whole row is done. I installed a "birch" and I was literally able to snap a board in half over my leg. It's weak, soft wood. Some of the "ashes" and "oaks" are not terrible. All their finishes smell horrible. Some times I get a board that is still wet with stain.

I think it's safe to say that 90% of our jobs where a customer has already purchased the wood are chinese floors, because they found them on sale at Home Depot.

It's a shame they are permitted to sell these woods as birch, oak, ash etc., when they are a chinese species. If they had the word "chinese" in front of them, I'm sure alot of people would think twice before purchasing it. Some times I cannot help but show them where it came from when they ask me if it's a good product. When I point out the "made in china" sticker they usually shake their heads.

The thing that makes it difficult is when you have a brand new staircase ready to be stained to the same color and the red oak stairs don't look anything like the oak floors. The grain is different so it looks like crap.

I warn clients about generic branded flooring from China on my website. But if produced by an American Manufactuer at least you have some chance of recouping your investment if something should fail. Course that depends on the gunslinging inspector that was hired by the manufacturer. "Gunslinging" means paid for by the manufactureer who writes a biased report.

Maunfacturer'd out of country means they do not have to follow our industry standards for manufacturering. It's the ticket out of any claim filed. Simply put, buy American. Ever try suing a foreign manufacturer? Better have a deep wallet.

Al:

I believe there is very little actual Chinese hardwood being used as it's sourced outside of the country. I learned this at a Surfaces seminar. It has to do with deforestation, flooding problems in the past. So the Birch comes from Russia and the rest? Who knows, at one time a large amount came from the US in raw logs. Probably still does. In effect you're buying American hardwood but it travels 12,000 miles first.

I'm glad I never had any problems selling the stuff but I do recall some real junk back in the early days c. 2000. A lot depends on the source, but that's a real guess. Even Kahrs has some product made in China ... Spirit line. That really threw me for a loop when I heard that.

Just to add to the conversation, one of my contractors used to be a wood manufacturer.They made generic furniture and also made the base for some pre finished flooring. They lost the contract to a Chinese company and the product turned to garbage. Then they got the the contract back after the parent company lost a few hundred thousand dollars on unusable product.

On another note, my good friend is a guitar builder and also created his own brand of pickups. He sourced out the magnets to a Chinese magnet manufacturer and they promised him a magnet type called "alnico 2" But they delivered a totally different magnet called "ferro-chrome"

The CHinese have not had an original idea in the last thousand years and make it their business to rip off intellectual properties of other manufacturers around the world as well as rip off their own customers.Their standards in manufacturing are far below America's and Europe's so be very wary about buying CHinese flooring.

Just about every major manufacturer has a line made in China these days. Especially when the product is bamboo or exotic. Hopefully they have some personnel on site to manage the production.

Anyone ever see how some of those places store the materials before and after production? Well......some just do not have the capacity or proper conditioned warehouses to store product. It;s stored outside with only a roof covering it.

Then it gets wrapped in plastic, boxed and shipped. It's no wonder I have seen condensation inside the plastic wrap and hit up to 20% MC with my pin meter.

hmm...i had no problem yet in few years with chinese flooring. well... isn't that why chinese hardwood is cheaper than american? i do install, sales and everything but um... i never seen chinese wood go over 6 dollars per sf. i saw one wood from american company that they sell one hardwood for 13 bucks per sf. i guess it's all up to customers to choose chinese or american. we explain about price range and most of them choose chinese flooring, not american flooring. i think we have no choice because what they want is what they want.

Seen the chinese delam in my dry sones, cheap adhesives for laminating. I know some of them store the prodiuct outside in high humidity and then manufacturer it in the same without ambient controls in open warehouses that are just covered over top but no sides and temp/rh control what so ever.. Then packaged and wrapped in cellophane, boxed and shipped.

I stuck several that had visual water droplets inside(condensation)...@ 20% plus. Walked away.

chinese is just garbage . last job i did the planks had been putty then finish . even at the ends , not just a small knot , large cracks. what a joke. sizing is always off . same size planks , looks like your laying plywood. u want cheap , u get it.

feel bad for the guys who have to sand these floors in couple years.

Appearances are practically identical, but look at those price tags!
For those that may be interested in the Naturally Aged product lines, they do not sell their common lines directly to the public, but your contractor or installer can make the arrangements.

Ive seen my share of the stuff and basically like a lot of things in life it comes down you get what you pay for. Ive seen some really nice stuff come out of china but its carries a price tag close to or equivalent to the American made stuff. You really need to be a knowledgeable buyer to tell the difference from a sample board. Keep you money here and buy local, end of rant.