It really is, hit or miss.

The 3/4 solid has less claims, then the thin, 3/8 solid.

floorguy, I've noticed that you are a pretty strong opponent of LL. Can I ask why?

I did go with the 3/4 grade which makes me feel a tad relieved (others have said exactly what you wrote)

just do a search on here for ll posts and you will read quite a litenay of issues that have arisen. LL doensn't make anything, they jujst market a product with their name and warranty. Based on their customer service record I wouldn't expect much help if any problems occur.

Be onsite during the installation. Inspect the flooring and if you see a problem with the wood or the installation, stop the installer and contact Lumber Liquidators with your questions. (Please, keep in mind, the installer is not the manufacture rep or the rep for Lumber Liquidators. So, donÂt get him caught between you and Lumber Liquidators.) The Key to success is "stop a problem" before it is installed. Hopefully, everything will be alright and you will have beautiful floors for a lifetime.

Ya, if it is installed, they won't take it back.

I don't know much about the product you've ordered or LL, but I would urge you to put pressure on the LL to take it back. I've had two defective floors in 7 years. The first was a manufacturer's defect, the second was an installation error. It's a colossal pain to have to replace a floor AND it always ends up costing the consumer. On my first go, when the manufacturer was at fault, I still ended up paying installation costs, because they would only pay for new product. If the flooring seems to look good, you could install and cross your fingers, OR you could Craigslist the Bellawood, even if you take a loss on it, you might be ahead. I'm so sorry for you, because I know what it's like to find out you've purchased something that wasn't as good as it should have been.

We installed Bellawood Brazilian Cherry from LL (in Redford MI) almost four years ago. We haven't had any defects or issues. Our only customer service issue was LL not having enough flooring when they said they would.

I have never heard anything bad about Bellawood flooring.

Update... the wood came in and it looks good so far... I'll let you know what happens after install next week.

onenjen, can't wait to see your Bellawood Maple floors. I am sure they will be beautiful.

How wide is the Maple?

2 1/4

They put it in this week and so far so good. Not a lot of waste, boards look good, installer says he hasn't seen any issues that don't regularly occur with other brands. So far I'm happy....

***knock on wood****

We have had over 700sqft of the Bellawood Maple Natural 3/4" x 4" installed and I can confirm that there are all kinds of irregularities with this flooring.
About 70-80% of the planks are milled wrong, pieces are thinner than others, narrower on one end (which leaves gaps) and had minor cracks. So I have a lot of gaps, ups and downs and due to the irregular thickness and location of the tongue and groove some planks are squeeking as they are not fully touching the floor.
Again, we bought "NATURAL" grade, which is next to "SELECT" and is only supposed to have more color variance not milling defects!
LL says I should not have installed the floors, but called them, brought all the wood back, waited for new flooring to arrive at the store, gotten that, and resheduled my installation for a later time - Sorry, but this was a new construction and I couldn't wait around for the floors I had hoped for. And with almost 80% of the 700sqft being bad, I figured my chances for everything to be good quality next time to be very slim. The wood grain is pretty, but that's about it. For now we have to work with wood filer to hide all the gaps between the planks.

When trying to post a review about their floors on their website, they never posted it and when contacting them, they said that they could choose what reviews to post. I didn't know such a misleading practice is even allowed!!!!!

Again taifun1, thanks for posting your experiences so others can make an educated decision when reading both positive and negative experiences. After I had a very bad experience with Stanley Furniture last year, I posted my experiences on the decorating forum and the furniture forum and I wish the others who replied with their recent bad experiences would have shared before I made my own mistake. It seems that the last few years with the China Problems, the quality went way down.

Anyone else have a good or bed experience either with Bellawood or Lumber Liquidators or both?

Bellawood is only from LL so no one else would ever sell that brand. As far as thinner board ends that is sometimes caused by kiln drying and the ends dry faster causing some shrinkage. Its not really a milling issue.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/flooring/msg1216111011387.html

here is our bellawood santos mahogany select 3 inch by 3/4 solid. Install went great. I had some shorts that I just used in the closets but overall I was very pleased with the product.

Othertime, Thanks for sharing the pictures again with us. I LOVE the Santos Mahogany so much and I love the finish on it. I wish I could have this product in a solid wood but I have to have engineered wood. You and your husband did a very professional job with the install and the floor is just gorgeous!

Lynn, Thank you for the compliments again, I pass the word onto my wife ;) Have you picked what flooring you wanted to go with?

Sam

My experience is the stair nose pieces dont match the flooring and are warped. The thickness varies widely so to say the finish is smooth is false. I have about 20% wastage the installer couldnt use and is in boxes in the carport. Lots of gaps, lots of unusable pieces. Engineered wood is way smoother and easier to install because it is uniform which this belawood is anything but.

We had Bellawood 3/4" x 3 1/2" Santos Mahogany installed on our first floor (including the kitchen) 4 years ago. The installer liked working with it and it's held up very well despite large rambunctious dogs. Unfortunately, it is no longer available so we're considering Brazilian Teak (Cumaru) to complete the upstairs; it's not an exact match but contains many of the reddish tones. Any thoughts? Also, seems to be quite a bit of LL bashing in the forum; have they gone downhill recently?

I HAVE been looking at reviews, and was surprised by the negative reviews. My floor was my installer's first experience with Bellawood (which I love, see above) and has since told me he's installed other Bellawood solid wood floors and likes the product. So, my first hand experience and that of my contractor friend's have been positive. So, do I listen to reviewers who I don't know, or to a person I know who has had many positive experiences with the product. If you don't like Bellawood, can you recommend another prefinished solid hardwood that I can assess? There doesn't seem to be much else out there - someone recommended Anderson, but they are not in my New England area.

Hey kryptow!

We offer a completely self-service online hardwood shopping experience providing you the right type of hardwood for your climate/subfloor/lifestyle (you mention dogs - we factor all of that into your shopping results). All of our floors are prefinished and handmade in the US or Canada so we guarantee their manufacturing processes are above notch. Our samples and flooring are delivered direct to your door. Let me know if you have any questions at all! Cheers, - Revel Woods

https://revelwoods.com/

I could EASILY invest a day on this conversation... but I won't! haha

@onenjen did you end up going with the Bellawood from LL? How was install and are you happy with how the floors have held up? We are looking at using their pre-finished solid wood floor and while I know LL has it's fair share of issues, I'm more curious about this product in particular. Thanks!

@J. Clark did you end up getting those floors? I'm looking at them now per my contractor

No, we did not. We ended up going with a select unfinished white oak engineered that were then finished on site. Absolutely love them and am very happy with my decision. If you are in Houston area, check out Trinity Hardwoods.