Hey folks,
I found OAK $2.89 BRUCE PREFINISHED TAVERN GRADE 2 1/4" COLOR: SADDLE at
Lumber Liquidators.

How bad Grade 2 is to install? I know it is a color inconsistent.

I am planning on getting little extra so I can replace bad planks.

Any other suggestions? Any other surprises that I should expect/be aware off?
I did read some posts about LL – will be going there myself to pickup the stuff.

Thanks,
-m.

With anything in life you get what you pay for. With LL you really get what you pay for and it is not alot. THey are not a warehouse that you can browse they are a store front that has samples - you get what they give you. Food for thought.

I know that I get what I pay. I am curious if somebody knows how bad it is.
-m.

It is short and crooked.
If you find a board longer than 24 inches,just throw it. It will come back.

I had a client that really wanted some LL bamboo @ 3.25 ft2. I talked them out of that and for a little more they went with a product that I was familiar with and knew was good quality. I could not talk them out of the LL Bamboo border so I used that to Picture frame a room. I culled almost 1/3 of the 24" boards as unuseable and installed the border. (upon throwing them some did return to me) The border has lines (lenghtwise) on both side and diamonds inset. None of which matched up or measured the same. THis stuff was $5 per ft Square.

Botttom line was the milling and pattern was bad and it will make for a sloppy install - in my experience. It all determines how you want it to look. I am sure people have had good experiences with it, just not me.

I recall laying a #2 grade prefinished oak floor made by Robbins (before they were bought by Armstrong). It cost $2.15 a ft. at the time. I didn't get it from LL. It was boxed up and labeled by Robbins. The only thing that made it weird was the EXTREME variation in color, grain, etc. Major black streaks, worm holes, knots, and so on. I didn't notice if there were alot of shorts; there probably was. It made for a servicable floor. I didn't care for it's appearence.

If your gluing this down, your going to need strap clamps and a lot of 1½" blue tape! Kens "wedges" work good when you get your spread covered.

OVERWOOD!!!! Real toe stubbers!

Bruce is the only floor, that in their installation instructions, It says you must use their colored wood filler. They must know something!


I have only installed one Bruce floor that I didn't have to fight it.


I hear you on the bamboo sold at LL Boards milled wider the others, = gaps or you spend all day spliting the difference so the gap isn't as huge.

Blue tape?? I've seen it in some pictures and wondered what it is and what it is for?? When you stop laughing at me, please enlighten me..

thx!!

blue tape will hold the boards together until thee adhesive dries.

Thanks for your input guys. I’ll be nailing it and let you know how it was.

-m.

Hi folks,
Yesterday I drove couple hours (all the way from CT, to MA (Boston, Braintree) to figure out that I don’t want that tavern grade 2 natural oak. The example that they had there in display was more “descriptive” then the one that I saw in CT (Hartford) store.
It had a very unrepresentative look: lots of black strips. It looked like rotten to me, even thought they sad it’s not.

The budget doesn’t allow going with higher grade so I am back to the idea of putting down bamboo floor.

-m.

Be careful on your Bamboo purchase. There are over a hundred companies selling this stuff. Some goes down really nice and some is horrible. My favorite Bamboo as of now is Teregren and Bamstar. Good luck and enjoy it.

Ain't that the truth!

Things change so fast right now, it may be coming out of the mill as junk, in 6 months.