I purchased 13 boxes of pre-finished 3/4inch X 3 1/4" oak Bruce hardwood and when we went to install, a number of the longer boards (boxes have 3-4 different lengths) were bowed, some have only a partial tongue, and still others are narrower than 3 1/4" at one end. After opening 3 boxes, we stopped and called our retailer. We have asked the retailer (Home Depot) to take them back and they are sending a new shipment from a different lot. Question is, how common is this for a company such as Bruce, and should we expect to simply live with this quality when the new shipment comes in? The rep at Home Depot said they occasionally have these QC issues. A salesman said that you have to expect this with full hardwood as compared with engineered! SHould we expect to have to sort through to find boards with the best fit? For now, they are being responsive but I am afraid of what I find in the next shipment.

Bruce flooring is known for having these quality control issues, even before Armstrong bought Bruce. Probably the best milled solid these days from North America is Mirage and Lauzon, both Canadian. I used Pennington Hardwood once and found it pretty good. Columbia is American made and of fair quality, especially for the price. Most wood floors will have a few boards that are bowed a little and some with minor milling issues. The installer is expected to cull those out.

Thanks for the info. I guess I will try the new lot before demanding my $$ back.

Let me guess . Bruce Dundee ?
Allow 15 % for culling .

This is the Bruce Laurel plank. The price was $4.25/sq. ft. so going with a higher end manufacturer is out of the question for us. Would you expect engineered flooring from them to have the same issues?

I installed the Bruce Turlington plank in a friends kitchen about a year ago .
nail down . No problems so far . the milling seemed to be ok .
I intalled the Armstrong in a house a month ago . What a piece of crap .
More money . Guess it is beacuse it came from China .

10 years ago this company used a truckload of Bruce flooring per week. Now we dont even carry it.
It is unfortunate that their quality has dropped so significantly and a lot of new mills with more modern technology have entered the market.

I have an Armstrong solid floor that was beatifully milled--every board fit the next like a glove. Put it in a few years ago and I'm very happy.

I think Armstrong stands behind their products: you should get the product that you need--especially with the right widths. But if a board is bowed, aren't you nailing it down? How is that a problem? And the last time I did a maple floor (from Canada), it had a lot of missing tongues--still went together fine.

In an economy like this, are you going to go with a big brand or some small company that may disappear? The government may stand behind GM and Chrysler's warranties, but they won't stand behind Mirage and Lauzon's! No company is perfect 100% of the time--the question is, will they work with you to get it right?

I'm thinking about doing hardwood in my bedroom this summer, and I guarantee it'll be Armstrong.

Well I guess I will find out. The replacement lot of boards was going to take 6 weeks (and my house is torn up!) to deliver so they agreed to give me a more expensive plank for the same price. By the way bowing to the side on 3 1/4" plank cannot be remedied by nailing! The differing widths leave spaces between boards. Lack of a tongue for T&G will result in creaking and movement. I would like to have the faith you have in Bruce. We will see!

Sorry to say this but the product in question is a bad choice. I've been in the hardwood industry for 26 years & this hardwood manufacturer always have said that they will fix problems & don't deliver. After a point you would just stop using the product. Its nothing but a headache for tghe consumer also for the contractor.Say goodbye to this product you will sleep at night.

You said they are replacing the product with a more expensive one, but you didn't identify what you are getting.
Price isn't the only criteria to a good floor.
One product we carry is about 75% of the cost of the equivalent MIRAGE product, but is of better quality.
I believe the general consensus is that the current offerings from BRUCE (Armstrong) is not of the same quality as in the past. This problem is compounded by the proliferation of newer mills using much more sophisticated equipment in the manufacturing process.

The replacement is called Fulton plank (CB1520). It is supposedly the same oak as the Laurel but is milled differently. Do you have any insight on that specific product?