I wish that I have read your forum before buying Bolivian Rosewood (Tiete Rosewood) pre-finished product from lumber liquidators. This is my second bad purchase in my life (First is Tech stocks!). When we ordered a select grade product, they delivered natural grade product. It took me lots of time and effort to get the correct product. I ordered matching molding from them. They have huge quality issue. It was a reject from other manufacturer and I paid 2.58$ for a linear Sq Ft!!!! Customer service is bad.

Anyway, We are installing the rosewood floors in our Kitchen and Sunroom Area. The milling is so bad, I can see gaps in so many places. We live in Philadelphia area. It is summer now. I worry that when winter comes, it will have huge gaps. Is there any wood putty available to match the color? The finish is high gloss. It is flaky. Can I coat it with water-based poly to reduce the gloss and avoid the water going through the gaps to the sub floor? I don't care about breaking the warranty. House is a newly built home.

I hear squeak noise in couple of places. How can I stop it?

Thanks for the helping me and helping others.

Yikes! That is a problem! Some folks sure are attracted to all that massive advertising LL does. It may have been good stuff when Bob Vila put it in his home 3 years ago...but wheeeew!

Filler? It will shrink and fall out with the heating season.

Squeaks? Subfloor not flat enough? Can't do much with that one either.

Large area rugs work wonders.

Good Luck

Pull it up. Take it back!!!! and get a full refund!!!

That stuff is JUNK!!!! It has never met the expectations of the purchaser, no matter who installs it!!! It's a bad deal all the way around.

If a perspective client calls me and says they have just purchased some bellawood, and would like a installation labor quote, I say no thanks, I can live without the headaches. Find some other fool! Then I explain.

As a wood failure analyst, Bellawood is my job security, when an end user calls me direct, instead of a mill.

"Huge" gaps? that is not something to be filled within reason and also suggests a poor installation.
Why was this installed? When first finding problems; why did the installation continue?
Trims are never a perfect color match and vary in color from piece to piece and characterstic, not a defect. If you desired perfect color match, Don't buy wood products. Vinyls and laminates are able to achieve perfect color matches and match color piece to piece.
I know we are to be consumer friendly, but having inspected so many consumer installed jobs to find the consumer failed to follow, or read, directions combined with lack of knowledge and proper tools.. I have to mention the other possibilities when I read such posts.
Gapping is not usually the wood or milling of the wood. Sub-floor problems and installation problems are the normal cause for such failures.

I totally disagree!! I have personally witnessed very bad milling with that junk!!

Thicker boards then others. One end thicker the the other.

A board wider then others.

Wider only on one end.

Out of square end cuts.

No matter if the subfloor is flatter then a pancake, there is overwood. Bad, massive, toe stubbers.

The installation problems, are failure to cheat the gaps, tight on one side and gapped badly on the other.
It will compound itself enormously, if you don't cheat the wider boards, with the thinner boards

Floorguy (perry).
First, if you are an inspector than you know that installing wood with the inability to install without gapping is installation related. Should the installer continue to install defective wood, the installer is responsible.
Secondly, this complaint is "huge gaps" and is usually related to something other than the milling.
Thirdly: You did not inspect this floor and cannot be conclusive.
My statements were not conclusive, only suggestive.
If Bella Wood was as bad as you say, I would be seeing lots of it.. and I'm not. I'm seeing one or two other manufacturers, with defects, regularly........ Hired by the consumer after the manufacturer sends out their inspector.
Remember, if the installation continues... it is installation related,,, This consumer installed the floor himself and how many inspections have you performed where the consumer did not install properly?
As far as milling complaints; I see very few. One comes to mind and it was material from Argentina..... Off 1/8" lengthwise in 5'... Way off.

Interesting post... Even more interesting is that, as I am typing this, it is 4:08 PM, Pacific Time. Perry's post shows a time of 10:54 PM, and Rays shows a time of Sunday, the 3d at 1:18 AM. Must of caught the edge of a black hole.

I have been seeing a lot of Shaw hardwood, along with some other branded stuff that I don't recognise, and it is all from China. Not exactly premium stuff, a lot like you described Perry.
Do they make anything of quality, or is all their product made like that? It is pretty hard to pick through box and find pieces without some kind of visual flaw, then to sort through those and find the ones that are mismilled. I have yet to have a customer stop the install, and they always talk about they like the looks of it.

I screwed up the clock and don't know where to find the thingy to fix it. This message board is murder to navigate on the administrative side. Wish it were easier. I still can't find anyone willing to fix things, including the monthly specials banner.

Ken, you created a monster!


Ray, until you install it, you will never know!!

I have inspected many DIY jobs, and fix most everyone of them.

Yes, I have seen many a DIY job, done by the book too. But it wasn't failing. I was there to continue more flooring, because they didn't realise how big of a job it was. It just sounded easy, and the home improvment shows made it look easy. The realised it is work and bailed.


What you going to do, when they bought it but can't take it back? Ever see LL return policy?

Maam, come look at this...

I can install it, but it is going to look like crap! What do you want me to do?
That's when you must make lemonade.

In FLorida, Bella is big and so is Lumber Liquidators. We have several clients supplying L.L... have seen low quality (price sensative products), but no milling problems as yet. A week does not go by without looking at two complaints or more. Mostly do it yourself installs...
Please remember that low quality does not mean defective. Low quality means thin top layer, low graded wood surface, and thin (3/8" thick.. and less if you can believe it)...
If anybody reads this post. The best advice I can give to any consumer is to hire a pro with good references. Installing wood floors is not nearly as easy as the adds make it look.......... Most problems with DIY is floor prep/sub-floor flatness. To properly prepare a subfloor takes know-how and skill... Floor preparating is the most critical yet least respected part of the installation.

Ya got me a bit worried Ray. I did a big DIY job over the past couple of months. Started with ripping up 1000 sq feet of particleboard underlayment, and then laying 3/4 CDX plywood with PL400 and screws into the joists. Floor is flat as a pancake, and the house is quieter and more solid-feeling. Not one squeak in the entire place.

PS: I bought the PAM P13KUE autoload screw gun to make the job go faster. If any of you installers have to frequently do large underlayment jobs, this thing is incredible. Drives a screw every 2 seconds from a 50-round belt.

So what are you worried about? I hope you're planning on nailing a 3/4" solid over that fine underlayment job. With a solid base like that, it would be a shame to glue down some cheap, thin stuff.

Gary,

I'm just paranoid, that's all. Yes, the floor we put in was Mullican 3/4 inch 2 & 1/4 white oak natural. While this is my first and probably last hardwood flooring job, I was quite pleased with the product. Milling was good, glass-like finish, and very few warped or bowed boards.

Sounds like you did a great job. Why not post some photos!