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Bruce Lock & Fold engineered hardwood?

115K views 102 replies 47 participants last post by  bita 
#1 ·
:thumbsup: Has anyone used this yet? We are considering it for the master bedroom. It seems to be easy to install like laminate, but has the high quality of real wood. I'm just looking for opinions and suggestions on this. Lowes is having a 20% off sale on special order flooring. Thanks!
 
#85 ·
I have an offer on a house and hate the floors. If all goes well, I will be doing something about that. This is a very helpful discussion, thanks, everyone. A few questions I had are:

Is this product made of all wood, or is there MDF as part of it?

Are the T-moldings wood, plastic, MDF? Can you get wood moldings? (I put laminate in my kitchen and hate the T-moldings I had to use. They just look fake and cheap to me.)

Could this be installed over lineoleum/vinyl sheet flooring or does that have to be taken up first, or perhaps underlayment put over it?

How did you level the floors if they aren't level?
 
#87 ·
I bought "Value Grade" from Hurst Hardwoods online. $1.89/ft. There are imperfections but like I said before I like the knots, makes the place look homey. If you want top grade you can find it cheaper than $4.25 online but you cant take back the extra quite so easy. I rec buy the bulk from an online distributor but under order than buy the rest from Lowes. Make sure you check all the boxes for consistency, would hate to have a color change when you switched over. Good luck.
 
#88 ·
Remove or cut base moulding

I am installing the floor now. I need to check with you guys if you removed or cut the base moulding before installing the floor so that the base moulding covers some part of the end of floor to give it more strength? Please let me know asap so that I can start on this project.

Madison thanks for your response. I will buy the wood from Lowes then. I am installing only 500 Sq Ft.

Thanks All
 
#90 ·
seeking suggestions

I'm installing a floating engineered wood floor over a slab and using cabin grade (hickory veneer and floor muffler underlayment). I really want to use the knotty pieces. But most of the knots are empty, like the center fell out, and the second layer of the board is visible. Is it possible to fill these holes? Any product, home-made mixture, suggestions? I saw some tinted wood putty products, but it seems like filling with that would require some type of top coat to seal and keep the putty from falling apart when it's walked on. Also, I've noticed that the boards with surface flaws seem to not be finished. The locking part doesn't have that small line of something waxy or gummy that the other boards have. Those boards are kinda squeaky when walked on (did a section of a small room with them). It's not loud or obnoxious. But I'd like to fix it. Anyone have suggestions for how I might "finish" these boards? I don't mind putting some elbow grease into it but I don't have a clue about what that bead of stuff is and what I could use that would serve whatever its function is? Ideas, anyone? In theory, my husband is helping me but he's traveling so much that it's pretty much all me. All the solutions that come to my mind are based on products I'm familiar with--things like clear nail polish, ivory soap, canning wax, sally hansen roll-on wax hair remover, etc. Anything y'all have to offer couldn't possibly be any worse or crazier than what I'm thinking or trying! Also, my flooring doesn't have a warranty so me messing with it doesn't negate any manufacturer promise or anything like that. (Posted these questions in another thread but didn't get any responses so trying here.)
 
#92 ·
my review of lock and fold cabin grade flooring

My son, daughter and myself just put down 750 sq ft of lock and fold Timberland Butterscotch cabin grade flooring. This was for my sons first house, he wanted hardwood but with a very tight budget this was the only option he could afford and cheaper than carpet. Total cost of flooring underlay, mouldings, thresholds and delivery < $900 from Hurst Hardwood in Florida.
Ordered online, received call the next day to confirm and schedule delivery, and it arrived a couple of days later exactly on time. The flooring was laid in the hallway, dining room and large 15 x 22 ft family room. We purchased 10% extra to allow for waste but the majority of the boards were of good quality and we ended up with 6 boxes left over. We used thresholds between each room to allow for expansion space in the floor rather than carrying it continuously throughout. There were no issues with color variation, but mixed up three boxes at a time which also gave us more boards to select from. As each box as it was opened and we sorted the wood by length pulling out the damaged pieces into a pile, most of which was knots or holes in the finish. We were able to use a lot of these boards to start or end a row cuting off the damaged area. We vacuumed the slab, then used Silent Blue underlayment, carefully taping the seams flat. We put spacers every 1-2 ft behind the first row as it shifted quite a bit when tapped and it helped to have someone stand on the previous row to weight it down for more resistance. Once you learn the knack of tapping the boards togther it is fairly simple. (block, rubber mallet and S shaped metal flooring tool are essential to get it tight) The bowing that some people have referred to seemed to occur when the board was not knocked tight enough into the row behind It could be resolved 90% of the time by giving it an extra thump with someone standing one row back . The finished floor looks good. There is a slight give over some areas where the sub floor must not be totally level and some slight crackling in these areas which hopefully will resolve with age. The floor is floating so it does have a slightly softer and hollower feel than that of nailed "solid" , wood, not unlike laminate. For the money it looks great, feels warm under foot and has more sheen and variation than many laminates.
If you are looking for the "feel" of solid hardwood this is probably mot the floor for you but as an attractive alternative to carpet or laminate it is good value for money.
 
#103 ·
Is your Bruce floor quiet now?

You made this post in 2009. I want to know if your floor has quieted down. I just installed the floor about 4 weeks ago and it makes noise. I find that when it is humid out it make more noise. Will this go away as the joints rub together over time and become soft? What are your thought



My son, daughter and myself just put down 750 sq ft of lock and fold Timberland Butterscotch cabin grade flooring. This was for my sons first house, he wanted hardwood but with a very tight budget this was the only option he could afford and cheaper than carpet. Total cost of flooring underlay, mouldings, thresholds and delivery < $900 from Hurst Hardwood in Florida.
Ordered online, received call the next day to confirm and schedule delivery, and it arrived a couple of days later exactly on time. The flooring was laid in the hallway, dining room and large 15 x 22 ft family room. We purchased 10% extra to allow for waste but the majority of the boards were of good quality and we ended up with 6 boxes left over. We used thresholds between each room to allow for expansion space in the floor rather than carrying it continuously throughout. There were no issues with color variation, but mixed up three boxes at a time which also gave us more boards to select from. As each box as it was opened and we sorted the wood by length pulling out the damaged pieces into a pile, most of which was knots or holes in the finish. We were able to use a lot of these boards to start or end a row cuting off the damaged area. We vacuumed the slab, then used Silent Blue underlayment, carefully taping the seams flat. We put spacers every 1-2 ft behind the first row as it shifted quite a bit when tapped and it helped to have someone stand on the previous row to weight it down for more resistance. Once you learn the knack of tapping the boards togther it is fairly simple. (block, rubber mallet and S shaped metal flooring tool are essential to get it tight) The bowing that some people have referred to seemed to occur when the board was not knocked tight enough into the row behind It could be resolved 90% of the time by giving it an extra thump with someone standing one row back . The finished floor looks good. There is a slight give over some areas where the sub floor must not be totally level and some slight crackling in these areas which hopefully will resolve with age. The floor is floating so it does have a slightly softer and hollower feel than that of nailed "solid" , wood, not unlike laminate. For the money it looks great, feels warm under foot and has more sheen and variation than many laminates.
If you are looking for the "feel" of solid hardwood this is probably mot the floor for you but as an attractive alternative to carpet or laminate it is good value for money.
 
#93 ·
just finished...

well, I as well put in about 700 sq. feet... I have previously done about 800 in laminate in one house, and 200 in another, so I was pretty well versed... all things being equal, and our slab being terrible($1100 in grinding and skim coat to fix it enough to float a floor on it) I am pleased. there are a few spots where it has some give, but as was said unless your subfloor is PERFECT, like a pooltable, the floor will ride up ( or feel that way) a bit in the areas that are higher or lower... I installed the brazillian cherry from lowes.

ALL your click together floating floors are going to have little pops and snaps in them... the floor is designed to move a bit, it has to.

glue tongue laminate does the same thing over time... it is just the price of the product in my opinion... if it POPS, like loud, you have a bad piece that will eventually fail.... as for cupping, I found some cupped pieces, they just went to the cut pile for ends and starts. some pieces just WOULDN'T go in in certain spots... remember, this is wood, not plastic like laminate, it is going to have more variability from piece to piece... but it also looks awesome...

the only thing I found hilarious is that the product comes in like 6 lengths, but there is no notation on the box as to what is in it... first like 5 boxes I opened had all longs.... so you really have to open a bunch of boxes to get that good mix....
 
#95 ·
Currently installing 3" Cabin Grade...Intalled 5" Cabin Grade

I am currently installing 3" Amarreto in master, which is on second floor. The house is 37 years old and the existing sub floor was not in very good shape. I installed 1/4" OSB to give it a nice smooth surface. So far, it is going down ok. I previously installed the 5" plank in my dining room - this was my first time installing this type of floor. This was installed over concrete. I used a 5ft steel level and went around the entire floor and, remarkably, it was pretty flat. But, it still pops and cracks when walking on it. I chose the Amaretto since I have 2 dogs and 3 cats, and this light color doesn't show the scratches very much. A darker color will definitely show the scratches. The 3" actually looks nicer. Only real problem I have had is the end to end joints not having a tight fit. The side to side joints are very tight, but no matter how hard I bang the ends, they just don't fit as tight as the sides (I banged so hard I broke the block!). I chose to remove all the molding and replace with new. Have trouble with the transitions (wood to tile, wood to carpet). Overall, pretty pleased with it. I'm not sure if you can post pictures, but I'll take a few and post once I'm done.
 
#96 ·
I like it

I just installed 200 sq. feet of this flooring in my dining room in about 5 hours with the help of a friend. It went in really easily and looks great. I found that you have to make sure you hear the click in the wood when you lock the tongue into the groove. A slight tap will tighten everything up. I laid it over an existing hardwood floor that had seen its better days with no problems what-so-ever. The one thing I will have to do is to make a transition from the new floor to the old one at the entry way between the living room and the dining room as they now sit at different heights. I don't believe a pre-made transition exists that is 8 ft. long so I'll have to make something myself. But I would definitely recommend this product to the DIY-er
 

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#100 · (Edited)
i just finished installing it. the first couple of rows were difficult, but it turned out there were a couple of warped boards. when i replaced those, it was fine. there were a lot more warped boards than i would've expected. you have to be careful because if it buckles even a little bit, it will affect all the rows after. i have the natural oak and it looks great. there's no popcorn sound, but every once in a while you can hear a little crack. in the 2 areas that my subfloor was less than perfectly level, you can feel it "float", but everywhere else it's fine. i would say yes, i'd buy a bruce product again.
 
#102 ·
Bruce Flooring

We have had it for 5 years! Its not horrible but if you have kids and dogs you will want to make sure and use area rugs. Scratches very easily. And I wouldn't use it for any area that could get wet. We had a bathtub overflow problem once that had reached the hallway. I cleaned it immediately and shop vac I thought I had got it all but it warped. It was a pain to put in. And I noticed after a couple of years and we were going to use the same product that they had changed from using long lengths to these short little pieces which I know that were all go backs from previous projects that they boxed up.:no:
 
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