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ParrotheadRob

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2020
Messages
6
Location
Philadelphia Pennsylvania
Hi. I'm new to the forum, actually just discovered it. My wife and I just bought a new house and plan on replacing all the flooring on the main level, roughly 1600 sq ft. We have visited almost every flooring distributor in the area and cannot seem to find exactly what we are looking for. This past weekend, we stumbled into a Floor and Decor just to see what they had. My wife fell in love with a handscraped solid 3/4" hardwood. It's Birch with a Janka rating of 1260. I'll include a link below. The price seems too good to be true and i'm very concerned we are going to get a poor quality flooring. The flooring feels very solid and great to the touch. Branded as a company called lifescapes. I cannot find any online reviews or any other information online. I find that very disturbing. The online support has responded to my many inquires and i found it is manufactured in russia. Is that common with birch? Anyone have any experience with floors from this vendor, i know there will be people who hate these types of stores, i get it. Just want to make sure i do all my due diligence before we make such a large purchase.

Sorry to ramble on, the link is below. If i am allowed to post them.

https://www.flooranddecor.com/solid...scraped-solid-hardwood-100083930.html#start=1
 
I don't know anything about Lifescapes except that it has been around for several years. Maybe one of the other installers will be familiar with it.
 
I couldn't find much info on it either. It's either made for Floor and Decor or renamed as their product.
Engineered products are more stable than solid wood, but if future refinishing ever needs to be done, be sure to look for a product with a thick top layer. Carpet One has a handscraped hickory product that's about 5 inches wide. The center is a composite material and the wear layer is extremely thin..... That said, our local Carpet One store has had that floor in the entry and main showroom for over 10 years and it still looks good. This is commercial usage with a lot of foot traffic. Even tho the hickory top layer is thin, hickory is extremely durable.
I don't have any comments good or bad about Floor and Decor since I have never seen one.
Flooring is expensive, so be careful about going towards the cheaply priced materials. I'm just advising to don't rush your decision.
That flooring may be very nice stuff.... that said, what is the finish coat made of? Is it as long lasting as a different product that costs another $1 per sq ft, and is 3 times ad durable?
 
Thanks for all the responses so far. Appreciated.

I'm just very skeptical when a deal seems too good to be true, there has to be a catch.

It has the standard aluminum oxide coating and 9 coats of UV protection. More of a matte finish than a semi gloss or high gloss.


Any opinions on Birch flooring? We currently have standard oak gun stock in our house. We are very tired of the grain and coloring and need a change in our new place. We liked that birch has a softer grain pattern, but we aren't married to that species. The hickory is nice too. Also, still up in the air regarding engineered. Every house i have ever lived in, has always had standard 3/4" hardwood. Any opinions on engineered vs. solid ? The engineered feels great and looks great and appears to be the trend going forward. However, the cost seems to be right on par with solid wood.
 
The main reason I mentioned engineered. It expands and contracts about 10 percent as much as solid and doesn't have the ability to cup or crown like solid does. The wider the board, the more it will show. Bepending yoon herethe climate where you live, that can sometimes be a concern.
 
I'm no wood expert and my experience is pre finished floating products. Real wood is a rare installation for me. Through these flooring forums, I have learned a lot. Which species is better than another isn't my specialty. Some woods are more tolerant of high and low humidity levels that others. This might or might not help. If I find more I'll post it.
https://www.theflooringlady.com/benefits-choosing-birch-flooring-home/
Here's some q&as about wood flooring. Pay special attention to installation cost. Do not go cheap on this. A true professional will check moisture content and insist on acclimating the wood. A hack will deliver on Saturday and begin on Monday and never bother testing the wood and the underlayment for moisture content. That is especially important with any solid 3/4inch flooring.
https://floorcritics.com/hardwood/
Seems amazing to me that lumber liquidators and lows and home Depot ate at the top of a list on this link, yet Carpet One is not even mentioned. :rolleyes:
https://www.ccaglobalpartners.com/divisions/carpet-one
 
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So, I got this from their customer support team. I never heard of Korean Birch. Should i be concerned?

"This has nine coats of polyurethane with aluminum oxide added and would have roughly a semi-gloss level sheen. It is Korean Birch(Betula costata)"
 
So, what is the difference between flooring that is manufactured specifically for a for a store like lumber liquidators vs a flooring chain like flooring america? Each place seems to have their own brands. However my flooring america location bashes floor and decor and lumber liquidators. However, flooring america is also a chain, with local owners. Is there a difference in the flooring? I can't get straight answer from anyone in these stores as they all have different opinions. Or are you better going with a major label brand flooring? Thanks for the continued replies. Very helpful.
 
LL is well known for selling junk. Wood flooring from LL has a lot of short pieces making it harder and more time consuming to install. They do not stand behind their warranty either. Most pros won't install their stuff.
 
I don't know about other stores, but Carpet One will have mills make a specific product to their specs so that only Carpet One retailers have access to that particular product...... You can't compare their product to material in other stores, because they can't get it. Not the same as just buying flooring and putting a store label on the box.
 

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