Right place to buy hardwood flooring

tooboos

New User
tooboos
Hi NCWW friens. I am going to make DIY hardwood flooring for my house and need any recomendation about right place to buy materials. Is it H-D and Lowes right places?

I will prefere to find local NC business to support it, maybe. Do you have any adwises?

For current moment I don't make desigion about solid or engenered flooring as well, so will be happy to see recomendation in both ways.
 

Dee2

Board of Directors, Vice President
Gene
Staff member
Corporate Member
"...make DIY hardwood flooring..." doest that mean you want to cut the tongue and grooves yourself? Are you wanting advice on where to buy cutters, boards, tooling/jigs, wood, plywood, or what?
 

smallboat

smallboat
Corporate Member
I had refinished hardwood floors installed in my house 20 yrs ago. The flooring contractor purchased the material from a mill in VA.
I’m sure you can find a wood flooring supplier near you. In my area there is The Wood Source. They deal with both homeowners and commercial contractors. Don’t know if they’d deliver to your area but there’s probably a similar outfit near you.
 

Drew

Drew Goodson
User
I want to go simple way
Just buy prefinished planks and install it by myself
I helped my Dad put down Bruce prefinished oak 3/4 in. hardwood flooring purchased from HD. Used same brand (different color) flooring in my in laws house. They bought from Lowe’s. Price was very reasonable each time (~$3/sq ft.) but probably has increased due to inflation. Used a rented pneumatic nailer/stapler.
Both projects came out nicely and, for its cost, I think the Bruce prefinished oak flooring is a pretty good product. Buy at least ten percent extra b/c you’ll need to discard warped or damaged boards.
 

Phil S

Phil Soper
Staff member
Corporate Member
Refinished is easier. but solid reclaimed wood looks SO MUCH better. Talk to Billy at Raleigh Reclaimed.
I have 1000 sqft installed at my house if you want to see it
 

Henry W

Henry
Corporate Member
... I will prefere to find local NC business to support it, maybe. Do you have any adwises?
I do not 'know of' local NC based businesses supplying pre-finished hardwood flooring (but that doesn't mean there aren't any).
Technically I think Lowe's is an NC-based business, just not a small business. The products they sell could be sourced anywhere.

Drew's answer provides experience for what I presumed to be the case - name brand flooring could be successfully purchased 'anywhere' and installed and used with success. Retailer location, policies, delivery options, and prices may determine where you purchase.
 

Dee2

Board of Directors, Vice President
Gene
Staff member
Corporate Member
A lot of places to buy hardwood flooring. A lot of differences in quality. My observation is you can't really see the effect of quality until you put some down. I've installed Bella (solid) and Uptown (wood plywood with a sandable wear layer). Big difference in price and quality, IMHO.
 
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jlwest

Jeff
Corporate Member
I used Shaw Hickory flooring and it came out great. Also can be refinished if necessary. Also, Scott Smith makes flooring.
 

smallboat

smallboat
Corporate Member
For the record - the floors I put down are solid 3/4” T&G oak random widths. The main difference in the appearance of the prefinished product vs finish in place is a small detent at the seam between each plank produced by the tiny radius on the edges of each plank butt up against each other. I suppose that radious is there as it holds the finish better and probably more durable in handling/distribution.

If I ever refinish these floors it will disappear in the sanding process as it’s under 1/16”. Then these floors will be just like any other solid oak floor. But after 20 years they still look pretty good, exception being a scar where a piece of very heavy furniture was dragged a bit before the mover (me) wised up.
 

JGregJ

New User
Greg
For the record - the floors I put down are solid 3/4” T&G oak random widths. The main difference in the appearance of the prefinished product vs finish in place is a small detent at the seam between each plank produced by the tiny radius on the edges of each plank butt up against each other. I suppose that radious is there as it holds the finish better and probably more durable in handling/distribution.

If I ever refinish these floors it will disappear in the sanding process as it’s under 1/16”. Then these floors will be just like any other solid oak floor. But after 20 years they still look pretty good, exception being a scar where a piece of very heavy furniture was dragged a bit before the mover (me) wised up.
I’ve been told the pre-finished floors have the chamfered edges to hide the small variations in height. Contrast that with the finish in place flooring where after the boards are nailed in, they are sanded so all the boards and the joints between them are uniform.
 

Dee2

Board of Directors, Vice President
Gene
Staff member
Corporate Member
My experience is that the cheaper pre-finished maple and Brazilian Koa flooring from the yellow store had more than small variations in height. My current pre-finished Ash plywood flooring, with chamfered corners, is very flat, very consistent heights. It also costs much more than the yellow store stuff.

On the other hand, my previous installed, then sanded/finished, white oak flooring was very prone to finish separating at the flooring seams and then across the face. I didn't install, sand, or finish that. It was contracted. I've also had red oak that was finished after install that was good for 15-17 years with no issues.

My observation is that good flooring really is about the material, installation, and maintenance. YMMV!
 

smallboat

smallboat
Corporate Member
The prefinished floors I have are solid oak, not engineered or plywood. They are very consistent in height. I had heart pine floors in a previous house (built ca 1900) that I sanded and finished myself. They were very durable and I loved the look. Sadly I couldn’t find enough 100 year old heart pine to do the current house.
 

tooboos

New User
tooboos
Hi Team, some update from my project.
I found place in Clemmons that sell me solid unfinished hickory flooring for $2 per sft
Price is good, but it is cabin grade. I actually understand what it means after installation. It is my first flooring project, maybe it will be last.
So with most of defects like scratches and knots holes I was able to fight with epoxy and wood filler. But main issue right now it is different thickness of material.
My initial approach was sending - I bought used American Sanders OBS-18 machine and start sanding. It was surprise for me but it was really slow process, and actually embedder dust extractor doesn't really work.
After sanding I still unable to achieve good flat surface - it is waived now. Not so critical, but it is not so good.

So now I thinking about way to make it flat. Will drum or belt sanders provide me better opportunity to make flat surface? I am also thinking of using plane hand or power. So will be happy with any recommendation.
 

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jlwest

Jeff
Corporate Member
Hire a flooring refinisher to sand the floor then finish as you want. It will be a very nice dramatic floor.
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I have white oak in most of my first floor that was here when I bought the house. I paid to have most of it refinished, I did a small bedroom and hallway myself. I think I paid around $2.50/ft2 for the refinishing. It might have been less but I remember it was pretty significant versus the prefinished hickory I put in my upstairs. I got it from Southeastern Salvage. They were cheaper than any other place we could find but you have to be careful to get enough when you buy from them. There is a good chance they cannot get more. They buy the last of lots and unless another Southeastern Salvage has some, you don't get it. They cannot go back to the manufacturer.

But more to the point, you can rent a drum sander at Home Depot. That is what I did for the area I did. That sander will remove wood quickly which is both good and bad. It is good if you use it properly. It can be very bad if you do not. The drum sanders that the guys that refinished my first floor had were MUCH larger. I think the HD one was 8 inches wide and the professionals had 24 inch wide sanders. Very heavy, very powerful. If you want to try and fix your floor, I recommend renting a drum sander from HD (or elsewhere). But be very careful. You cannot ever let it sit still. It can literally go through the floor. Ruin your floor. But used correctly it will give you a nice flat floor and not take all day to do it. The professionals start out going diagonal to the grain to get old finish off and fix any divots. Then they switch to going along the grain but that is when there is not a lot of sanding to do.

You can also rent a big random orbit sander made for floors. I have not used one but I suspect it doesn't remove wood nearly as quickly. But that would also make it harder to make the situation worse.
 

MTod

Michael
Corporate Member
I have sourced both maple and red oak from the hardwood store and have been happy with the quality and results.
 

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