Go to a locally owned flooring store and talk with an expert about locally milled products.

Sophie, thanks for the input. Was looking more for a brand recommendation. Our local place does not have 5"x3/4" hardwood flooring so that is not an option nor are there any locally milled establishments close by.

What youare asking about is so common that I cannot understand why you are having trouble finding it locally. You do not do ''brands'' when doing unfinished. Your retailer sources from the mill. Where are you located? Have you found your installer yet? They are the ones who know the places to buy. Find an installer. Then find a wholesaler that sells to the installer. You'll then find your floor.

Sophie's right on this one. Due to transportation costs, flooring can be regional. It wouldn't make sense to recommend a supplier in Florida if you're located in Washington.

Perhaps if you post your location, someone make some recommendations.

This is a 2nd home. We did a tour of the local boutique shops where the 2nd home will be built. It is in an area that is somewhat of a captive market regarding commodity pricing and labor. The hardwood prices here are 30-40% above national averages & installation labor is about as inflated. There is not much we can do about the labor but I view hardwood flooring as a commodity item and have done the math on shipping, Given the amount of flooring (2800 Sq ft) it is far more economical to source this elsewhere and ship it in or go with an internet wholesaler. Our GC is in agreement on this. And we are not locked into unfinished - maybe I was not clear on that. We are just looking for some common brand comparison between those companies that make 3/4" x 5" maple in a high grade wood - finished. For example is Mirage better than Bruce or Somerset in this size and why and is it worth the extra cost? Are these all made in the same factory and just re-branded as OEM? Does LL have anything that matches up with either on quality and cost? Does it just make sense to go unfinished and abandon the idea of a brand finished product for what we are seeking? Etc...

Closed grain pattern? Maple is considered as an open grain. I'm kind of lost on your description. Describe "high grade wood." Clear grade? Also called first grade.

Quality/milling wise Mirage is leaps and bounds ahead of the mass producer Bruce. Somerset sits between the two in my opinion, but at a higher rung. All are in house manufacturers. LL? No response.

There are a number of off the beaten trail unfinished mills scattered here and there that can offer something you'd be more pleased with, unless price is an issue. But if you're looking at Mirage it sounds like the above option is something you should look at.

Labor wise for installation and finishing, it could put a dent in things if you're in states like Washington or Minnesota, not to mention parts of California.

Square sides and ends are almost an impossibility with prefinished, unless you wants short lengths that Lauzon offers in some of their lines.

Maple is Not considered an open grain wood! it is a Closed Grain

Danged, you're right. I've been saying the opposite for years. I've always called it that because it has very little graining. I wonder how many people I've confused. I mean this page has probably been seen a hundred thousand times over the years.

http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/finishes/stain.htm

Ken i do like your website. lots of neat info and very helpful for the inexperienced. just minus that maple snafu :)

Greg:

Thanks!

12 years and nobody mentioned the error, but it does explain the problems with Maple and site finished work. Now, I wonder where else my blunder is mentioned.

Owners of the former GW site appreciated input from 'Pros' in the business. What they didn't appreciate was a business's bald-faced attempt to use the site to peddle its wares and services. That violated the terms of use of the site and was considered SPAM. I am not familiar with the houzz terms of use, but I can only assume that it is similar.

Flooring professionals work with distributors to source material from select mills. I have acquired unfinished material from distributors and also have sourced directly from mills on occasion.

Ken, thanks for the additional information. Appreciate the comparison of Bruce vs Mirage. If I could ask how that is qualified (quality control, finish durability, structural integrity, support & warranty, etc...?) In other words when comparing like for like 3/4" maple in a first grade product what should we really be looking at between two different brands? I am reading reviews and they are generally all over the place, so not much faith in those. With engineered or laminate it seems easier to compare two brands. But with 3/4" I am having problems differentiating the nuances.

live_wire_oak, appreciate the advice. We are committed to using a good local installer. Our GC has one lined up that comes highly recommended. We cannot influence the install costs but as mentioned above we are trying to save on the materials.

If you have a good local installer speak to the GC and him about the flooring. He may not want to install Maple from just anybody as he is the one that will be called if there are issues.........

It's penny wise and pound foolish to try to get around your local wholesale suppliers. Your Professional Flooring Installer has to the trade resources that are less expensive than retail shops. The installer is who should be answering all of your questions and guiding your material selection.

The whole supply chain and local contacts won't help you with internet sourced product. No one will. Internet sourced wood has zero warranty support at the local level. If you have a problem, the installer will point to the product, and the manufacturere will tell you that it's an install problem without ever viewing the issue, if they answer you at all. They will tell you to engage a certified inspector, at your own cost, as the first step, not the last. The company rep is here for the local businesses that buy through her. If she didn't get your sale, it's not her problem to deal with.

With all due respect @Sophie... we do a substantial amount of sales with contacts who have found us via the internet... some even thru Houzz.

Now... granted, we're not in the category of the "discount sites" where you fill in a quantity & pay by credit card... then sit back & hope for the best. There is a substantial amount of R&D we invest when working with our "out of the area" clientele... and I'm happy to report that we have a pretty good track record in customer satisfaction... (I'm hesitant to expand on that, because I don't want to jinx a good thing).

Conversely, I've witnessed the supply chain on the local levels "bob & weave" in the same ways you describe... responsibility becomes a hot potato whenever there's an issue... and ultimately the result is a "finger pointing" game regardless of who supplied what.

Bottom line is that it's important for the End User to exercise due diligence, and NOT expect high end performance/results... from low end products.

My sole point is that, yes... internet sales may be a bad choice... but internet SOURCES may be a viable consideration... therefore the customer need not throw the baby out with the bathwater... (IMHO)

The point of the original post was to get some head to head comparison for 3/4"x5" maple - first grade/clear grade. I didn't want to get into some philosophical debate on the merits of sourcing material as that decision has already been made. Just looking for comparison of the companies that make that specific grade and size.

@149113 I'm not sure what area you live in but here's some great local mills. WD is good. Aacer is ok. Cumberland is decent. Graf Bros. there's literally a ton of great mills. Ask the installer as he should be aware of where he purchases his materials.

We live on the east coast. The house will be built in the upper Rocky Mountain area. I will look into those names. Thx!

"I could ask how that is qualified (quality control, finish durability, structural integrity, support & warranty, etc...?)

Years and years of having my nose in the business and knowing a lot of installers, dealers and some manufacturers. It's more like all of them have over time, picked up an opinion or a preference based on good and bad.

If you're looking at reviews like Yelp and such I don't trust them one bit as I've heard so many stories of "protection" reviews. Kind of like extortion with some businesses.

IE: You'll have to upgrade to get that negative review taken down.

I'd love to see 60 Minutes jump on these online reviews.

Ultimate gave you some good names. A few others under the radar...Sheoga and Schaefer hardwood in Michigan

Ken, appreciate the feedback.

I take all Internet reviews with a grain of salt. Some negative reviews of a business are undeserved and can negatively impact a business. Most Internet reviews are from customers who, for whatever reason, feel it necessary to slam a business; rarely do satisfied customers post reviews. Business owners would be wise to respond to all to review postings, as a carefully-worded and caring response can go a long way in alleviating a potential customer's concerns about a business that has received a negative review.

Amen to that glennsfc.

149113: If you are buying unfinished, I would try to buy from a quality producer that is located as close to your jobsite as possible. It's a commodity product.

You'll find there isn't a heck of a lot of difference between mill A and mill B when it comes to unfinished product if A and B are both NOFMA mills. What you will find on Maple specifically is that the quality and clarity tends to improve in direct correlation to how far north in the USA or Canada the raw material was sourced. Northern maple just grades out better.

As far as the discussion above about buying online or local, I will gladly add my 10¢ worth. I have a little different perspective since we distribute to retail stores and sell online as well.

We give the exact same manufacturer warrant to products sold online that the retail stores do who sell the products in their store.

Like it or not, over 95% of claims are in fact install related. When you buy you flooring local/full service, your retailer hopefully has installers that wont make the mistakes that lead to issues down the road. But you're paying for this.

The vast majority of the time when there are problems, someone decided to cut corners. Whether it was no acclimation, a wet install environment, lack of nails, not enough expansion etc. someone did something wrong. You do not have to be a homeowner do-it-yourself person to make these mistakes. LOTS of retailers knowingly cut the corners as well. Believe me, I have the scars to prove it!

A manufacturer is responsible for providing you a quality product in both fit and finish that is dry to the appropriate standards when you open the box. They throw in the catch all 5% "waste in the box" factor that takes care of most issues. When you get down to the nuts and bolts of a long term flooring warranty, I have never seen one where a manufacturer would ultimately be responsible for anything. There are just too many exit routes for them in the verbiage.

Floors with manufacturing defects are usually very obvious when the boxes are opened. Problem floors should not be installed. Whether you bought your floor local or online, the manufacturer should immediately make this right.

Alan Ward

WeShipFloors.com

WeShipFloors, we do view this as a commodity just the same as lumber, tile, carpet, lighting, etc... As mentioned before the build area is a captive market and folks are pricing things way above national averages because they can. We found quality cabinet options that are 50% cheaper than what is available where we will build. The same exact Somerset hardwood model is $4 sq/ft cheaper in our local area vs the build area. This all adds up very quickly. Where we live installation labor for pre-finished is $2.50-2.75 sq/ft. The labor charges where we will build are closer to $4.00-5.00 sq/ft. Completely out of whack but it's driven by supply & demand. The materials sourcing creativity is the key to saving some cost on this project because the labor is baked in.

How do you get a true review on hardwood? I am interested in a solid maple and picked a prefinished 5" by a very large manufacturer in GA. Since I am close to Dalton there is no shortage of flooring companies. I found a decent price but can not find an opinion on the scotchguard finish. That hardly sounds lasting. I found reviews at flooring.net but they were negative about a lot of companies.

Is Mohawk a good hardwood flooring company? I had first picked a Mullican, so pretty but had received some bad reviews. Since it was mostly out of my price range I moved on.

Both are great companies. Mullican is based here in Johnson City TN. I know the folks who run it. Great people!