Lumber Liquidators?

[Adsos Letter]

We're getting ready to put down engineered hardwood; I'll be doing it myself, but I'm looking for the best place to get the material. We have a Lumber Liquidators outlet in Berkeley. Has anyone used them before?

[Melissa G]

1. A friend of mine just did a high end redo of her house and was pleased

with the product and price she got from them. Looked good to me at first glance.

[Adsos Letter]

3. Thanks! If she liked the product and price then the final result would be up to to the installer.

In our case, me.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. They're a dependable discounter, but not always the cheapest, even for like quality.

I've bought material from them for two renovations. In one case, we bought some laminate which was as good as anyone else's. We paid 50¢ per square foot for it. We also bought some top end maple and paid a fair price, but no bargain. I bought similar maple for another project in the same property and paid less at a local, one-store shop.

[Adsos Letter]

4. What kind of one-store shop? Do you mean a flooring store, or something like Lowes, Home Depot, etc?

I'm looking for a top-quality, click-lock, engineered hardwood, with a thick enough surface to make refinishing a possibility; probably Brazilian Cherry, but Acacia or Bamboo are also on the short list.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. I'm talking about a locally owned materials store

It was a building supply business owned by one guy and was his only store. He sold doors, windows, kitchen and bath cabinets, fencing, wood and laminate flooring (no vinyl or carpet), some plumbing fixtures, but nothing special, and various moldings, but not an extensive line.

A lot of it was close out or otherwise distressed merchandise and some of it was in very limited quantities, but it was mostly good stuff. Some was great, top shelf stuff.

I look, but never bought, from a place that had similar merchandise, but only sold at weekly auctions, cash and carry. Many local builders go there and buy truckloads of stuff. He also has an extensive appliance scratch and dent room that is cash, not auctions.

These kinds of places are everywhere, but not well known except to the trades. I can't think of a yellow pages category except building materials, but neither of these places are listed there.

[Adsos Letter]

8. Thanks, I appreciate the help. I worked as a painter for 30+ years, so I know plenty of builders.

I think I'll ask one of them, as you suggest.

[Melissa G]

11. brazilian cherry is what my friend did

very pretty!

[Scuba]

5. Pick carefully. Check each piece for warpage, cracks, water damage, etc. Do this wherever you buy.

[Adsos Letter]

9. I appreciate your advice, thanks!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

7. I had good luck with some 4.5? 5? inch hand-scraped 3/4 inch thick Teak from LL.

The thing I liked about them was most material was in-stock or at their warehouse/in-transit.

There were quite a few "shorts"..... probably more than advertised. WE were able to bury a bunch under the island and make it look good.

We were probably left over with what amounted to a box of shorts (24inch).

Overall. we were happy wthe experience. Except that they called us while we were installing it to tell us the stuff was on sale for an additional 50 cents off (they had us on their follow up sheet and didn't realize we purchased as it was under a differnt name on the invoice). They wouldn't make an adjustment - I suppose I could have made a stink and MAYBE got some satisfaction. But I had other things to worry about.

I priced out similar higher end floors at Home Depot but the stuff is all special order and they wanted an arm and a leg for shipping - like 5-700 bucks.

[Adsos Letter]

10. Thanks for posting that pic!

Looks like you got a nice floor out of it. The % of shorts doesn't sound terrible, and I may be able to come up with a creative use for them.

I appreciate the heads-up about the cost difference due to shipping, something I hadn't factored in the cost!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

13. I think we are going to use the leftover shorts as a back-splash in my friend's cabin in Wisc.

[LL Chairman]

12. Lumber Liquidators does have the best prices!

As Founder/ Chairman of LL I guarantee we have the best prices on quality hardwood flooring. Also to person who said they didn't get the sale price please email me your info and I will make sure you get sale price as our policy states. Thank you. Tom Sullivan. ts lumberliquidators dot com

[Kolesar]

14. Welcome to the Democratic Underground, Mr. Sullivan

[Melissa G]

15. Well, THAT is excellent customer service in my book!

Welcome to DU!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

16. Whaddya think? Should I follow through? Is it legit?

[Melissa G]

17. A lot of Business owners have google alerts on their companies

and staff to monitor. I am a small business owner, but don't have the time or staff to follow up at this level. If a staff person does find something, I always try to make it right or better if I can.

It is likely to be legit and it's easy for you to follow up with an email. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Sounds worth it to me.

[Adsos Letter]

18. Like Melissa G said, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Good luck, Hassin Bin Sober! Let us know how it works out for ya'.

[Adsos Letter]

19. Thanks, Mr. Sullivan, and welcome to DU! Your post certainly makes me want to do business with you.

As a retiree from a service-oriented business I know how much customers appreciate good customer service. The good will that comes from it is invaluable.

[Digit]

20. I guess I will be doing business with LL in the future also

Nice to see such good customer service!

[madokie]

21. I like their products and price

Last edited Fri Jan 20, 2012, 08:36 AM - Edit history (1)

I've bought several different kinds of flooring from them over the years and so far I've always felt like I got a good deal. I do my own installs so that gives me some idea as to the quality of the product. You can buy cheap or you can buy high end flooring from them and you can get on their mailing list and pick up some good bargains. Thats what we do, most times I've gotten the flooring I wanted for about half of what it normally sells for by watching their ads and flyer's they send. The last flooring I put down here in our house was bamboo and we simply love it and they had it on sale for 1/2 of what it normally sells for, in fact all the flooring I've put down in here has been sale items from them. I'm watching for them to have cork flooring on sale right now so I can replace the flooring in our kitchen.

ETA: removed just not their politics. If Mr Sullivan is going to join in and post here then maybe, more than likely, I've been wrong about the politics.
my apologies and a big welcome to DU to Mr Tom Sullivan, LLChariman

Peace

[Mnemosyne]

22. I just ripped out carpets and put down laminate from LL, awesome floors at decent price! n/t

[ohheckyeah]

23. We bought our hardwood

floors from LL. There was no problem with any of the wood and it looks great.

[kiva]

24. Do you have a Floor Decor and More in your area?

Some of their material was a better price than LL when I was looking last month. http://www.flooranddecoroutlets.com/