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elpg

Hurst Hardwoods

elpg
9 years ago

Good afternoon all,

I am in the process of sourcing wood floors for my new home (brazilian walnut most likely) and for now can only find it through Hurst Hardwoods, an online retailer.

The reviews all appear to be positive, however, the price seems almost too good to be true from some other prices I have recieved

According to him, it is a clear grade.

Now, I dont want to give the exact price, because it may vary from sq ftge, but I can say it is significantly cheaper than some wood tile I was about to buy a few weeks ago at around $5.50.

Can anyone chime in with either:

  1. What would you expect to / have already paid for Brazilian Walnut flooring? (engineered 5" width)

  2. Have you had any firsthand experience with Hurst Hardwoods?

The salesman I am dealing with has been more than helpful and seems to be a real nice guy, I just want to make sure that I can rest easy purchasing a large quantity of wood online.

Thank you!

LG

This post was edited by elpg on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 16:59

Comments (8)

  • gregmills_gw
    9 years ago

    I don't have any experience with this mill, but if you decide to buy online, you need to figure out what happens if you under order enough wood. batches can vary, and especially with Ipe you can potentially get a large variation in color tone.

    so for one make sure you order enough wood! and then figure out what happens if you have a lot of left overs, can you return it? will it cost a "re-stocking" fee?

    what happens if you get a shotty batch? are they going to be available to make things right? or are you going to be playing phone tag for weeks?

    Im very hesitant to buy flooring from an online retailer, just because I like being able to go to my distributor and say "fix this". opposed to sending emails, or making call after call.

    hopefully you wont have these issues but better to be prepared.

  • jfcwood
    9 years ago

    I've heard of Hurst but know of no personal experiences, either good or bad.
    I sell a brand called Triangulo which has a 5" wide natural color prefinished Brazilian Walnut. I've had good experiences with their products but haven't sold any of the Brazilian Walnut. For a cash and carry customer I would probably price it somewhere $5.50 and $6.00. If the Hurst product is nice, it sounds fairly priced.
    Contrary to what you may have read, prefinished flooring doesn't follow any industry standard for grading, although there is a move in that direction.
    I might not be clear on what you're getting though. Is it this?:
    http://hursthardwoods.com/products.php?cat=1236
    It says $3.79 per square foot.
    Or is it this?:
    http://www.hursthardwoods.com/proddetail.php?prod=ENGBW514
    Hurst appears to be a retailer that has gotten into the e commerce business. Find out what brand of floor you're buying. It might be a good idea to purchase a carton of what you're buying instead of relying on small samples.

  • beaniebakes
    9 years ago

    I purchased 425 sq ft of prefinished, engineered walnut flooring from Hurst about 3 years ago. The transaction went flawlessly, delivery was on time, and the product was in perfect condition. I was on a very tight budget, and the product I bought was a less expensive version of what's currently on their web site -- a thinner veneer (2mm) and shorter lengths -- but it looks beautiful. I think it was leftover stock because it was well priced, sold out quickly, and hasn't been available since. The price was only $2.99/sq ft. Buying online was risky, but it worked out well for me.

  • elpg
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    hi Beaniebakes

    Did you happen to order the Brazilian Walnut?

    The finish seems to flake or peel when scratched, not sure if this is normal....

    Thank you! and glad to hear it has held up well

  • beaniebakes
    9 years ago

    Hi elpg... No, I have domestic walnut. No problem with the finish. What kind of finish is on the Brazilian?

  • elpg
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Attached is a sample of the wood. What concerns me is the edge on the left. You can see where the finish is coming off-and apparently this is only because it was cut there.

    The chip on the top left was me flaking it off to see how it held up....

    A deep scratch in the middle leaves a mark that looks just like the (what looks like a ) white line on the edge... that concerns me. Whether the finish should look like that from impact?

    Thanks for the reply! and Happy new year!

  • Alan_at_WeShipFloors
    9 years ago

    Elpg, Was there a name on the box? What was the square foot per box on the flooring? Just curious as to where they bought it.

    We sell it for $3.79 and up - depending on the configuration.

    Ipe is really bad for doing exactly what you are showing in your photograph. It does't make any difference who you buy it from.

    What you are seeing with the chip on the cut is the back side of your saw blade on its way up. It's not cutting - but grabbing the side as it rotates around.

    You can do 4 things to help prevent this.

    1- Install a new blade - one with 80 teeth rather than 40 will cut cleaner. (FYI - Ipe wears them out quick)

    2- Use a saw with a 12" blade rather than a 10". Many of the sliding compound miter saws just have the wood too far out from under the blade. A standard miter seem to work better.

    3- Jack up the plank. Put another piece of wood underneath so the blade goes deeper into the flooring.

    4 ALWAYS release the trigger and let the saw blade stop prior to raising the saw out of the cut.

    As for the white line, can you provide a picture of it?

    Alan