| Searching for the best
and cheapest hardwood floors? Like age old
saying goes..."I wish I had a nickel every time
I was asked this question." Looking all over the
internet, and now in your home town flooring
store, cheap is everywhere.
But I Want Something
Good and Cheap!
Hmmmn, well let's see
here. One could always opt for online sellers
that sell their own name brands. Most
of these products today are imported from China
by the container load. All the dealer has to do
is put a name on it that sounds attractive. Some
names include Westhollow from IFloor.com,
Stepco from FastFloors.com. Blackriverfloors.com
has a line called DaVinci. The list goes on. You
asked for cheap, but unfortunately we cannot
help with the good department because we do not
know enough about these floors at the moment. An
invitation from any of these dealers to actually
see the products being installed could be
helpful.
Lumber Liquidators
is another option. After all they are the
leading retailer of hardwood flooring across the
USA. Cheap? Yes. Good? Hard to tell because the
company sells so much product, but the overall
consensus from members on our flooring talk
forum is not positive. Conversely, Bob Vila
endorses it, so there must be value.
It's very difficult to
gauge what good and cheap can be. For first time
homeowners that don't have a bundle to spend,
any old hardwood may do. Unfortunately the
question remains; what happens when problems
occur? Which dealer is better apt to handle
problems quickly?
When this site sold
hardwood floors we were tempted to go along with
the rest by offering our own name
brand, but later backed off for reasons already
mentioned. If you're really seeking cheap
another
option can be buying unfinished #3 red
oak hardwood. It doesn't have to look pretty
does it? With #3 you will get an enormous amount
of color variation and open knots. You can keep
it in it's rustic form by not finishing or you
can simply apply some urethane to it. Shown on
the right is a #2 red oak common grade
These hardwoods have more
character than common character grade flooring.
You wanted cheap and good didn't you? At least
with this idea you won't have to worry about
finish peeling off. There will not be a
warranty, but imagine getting your hands on
something that can cost as little at 99 cents a
square foot! Translate that into a 1,000 square
foot area and costs are only $ 1,000 compared to
the flooring store down the street that may want
$ 5,000 for one of their low end product lines. |
