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drtbk4ever · 02-13-2009, 09:20 PM

Hey everyone, looking for some input.

Our local Revy Store (Canadian big box store like Home Depot) has some hardwood on sale tomorrow.

5 1/2" wide plank Solid Jatoba hardwood for under $5 per square foot. My wife and I were planning on getting some Jatoba hardwood some time this summer for our project but were looking at 3 1/4". And if I buy tomorrow I can get another 15% off.

So I go and look at it and it is by a company called Plancher Novo Floor and the box says it is "Made in China".

I googled the name Plancher Novo Floor and got no information.

It looks like Solid Hardwood to me, but I am no expert but "Made in China" has me nervous. The store employee cut me a small piece off of a sample and said it was VERY HARD. That is what I would expect from Jatoba.

Anybody heard of this company before or any other words of wisdom?

concretemasonry · 02-13-2009, 10:03 PM

"Made in China" may be very misleading. It may be from elsewhere and cut, trimed and processed since they have the facilities that most of Asia and SE Asia have. China actually imports wood from the U.S. Canada and Russia since they have very little wood and do not use it for construction.

If you Google for the species (possibly Jatoba or similar), you may find the some clues to the properties of the wood itself. The processing could be done anywhere, but probably in China. Some of the equipment is U.S. and some from elsewhere.

All wood flooring sales companies buy the wood elsewhere. It can be cut, trimmed and processed anywhere anywhere, but I would imagine that the final processing/packaging would be noted as the country of manufacture. - China buys some U.S. components for computers and just assembles them prior to shipping to the U.S.

The company you buy from has the primarly responsibility that it performs as it is advertised. The name of the producer/manufacturer is not as important since the material must meet the standards set by the retailer.

Dick

HardwoodGuy · 02-15-2009, 02:32 PM

Chinese products and other Asian sources are popular across the board even with some of the major manufacturers like Bruce. They offer a solid line produced overseas, however the lengths are not as long as you would get from US and South/Central American sources.

That's one drawback from Asian sources and solid hardwoods. Quite a bit of the solids being imported aren't any longer than 48 or 51 inches. Longer lengths provide a better visual once installed.

drtbk4ever · 02-15-2009, 09:56 PM

Thanks for the input guys.

We passed on this hardwood deal primarily because it may be 6 months before we get to install it and we weren't sure about the 5 1/4" wide boards.

But next time I will not be frightened off by the "Made in China" sign.

Cheers.

Maintenance 6 · 02-16-2009, 02:39 PM

Some of those foreign concerns have factory ships that load logs from the U.S., sail them out far enough to be in international waters. Manufacture products from the wood and then float back into port to unload the finished goods. They never travel back to their home country. Saves them big dollars on fuel and materials handling. Lots of plywood is made that way. Flooring would be easy.

geraldS · 02-25-2009, 08:35 PM

We just installed Jatoba and it look awesome. I had looked at the Big Box store made in China Jatoba 5 inch wide and did not like the color. We went to factory flooring Carpet one and purchased 1000 sq feet for 6 dollars a square foot. In the boxes we recieved three or four seven foot pieces a couple of 5 foot pieces two footers and footers. There were lots and lots of long peices and I think that made our floor turn out equizite. The boards were dead on straight there were only two foot long pieces with dimensional issues which I did not notice till the next course was on.. For only a buck more I was not going to take a chance, there are so many variaibles including the finish.. I do not trust the chinese manufactures look at what they have done to the pet food, medicinal, and human food. There own babies were killed trying to cut corners by putting melamine in baby formula..

concretemasonry · 02-25-2009, 09:02 PM

Two of the Chinese executives that were mainly responsible were sentenced to death long before they would have started to drag out appeals if they were in the U.S. Others were sentenced to life imprisonment and some to long sentences. the ones that were put to death got the "light" sentence.

Life is important to Chinese when it comes to internal situations. When it comes to manufacturing and export, the person ordering and controlling specifications is the critical point. If they want a "loose" product, the importer or reseller is responsible, since meeting specifications is important and can be done , if required. - the Chinese can make both cheap/inferior products or they can make very high quality/expensive, depending what the customer wants. Much of the equipment used in manufacture is made in the U.S. or Europe.

Maintenance 6 · 02-26-2009, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by concretemasonry

Much of the equipment used in manufacture is made in the U.S. or Europe.

Much of it is from closed American plants that they've bought for pennies on the dollar and then upgraded to higher performance levels than the original U.S. plant operated it under. Heck of a way to get your butt kicked in the world market.

canuck88 · 03-12-2009, 11:28 AM

I know you decided to pass, but I thought I would post my thoughts in case others come across this thread.

All of the flooring installers that I know (5 of them) say to stay away from chinese floors; stick to north american made. It's a throw of the dice, so you have to ask yourself if it's worth the risk.

Jatoba is very hard, and thus can be more difficult to install (although not as bad as cumaru). Also, 5-in planks of any wood can be troublesome if your humidity isn't constant.

drtbk4ever · 03-12-2009, 11:47 AM

Thanks Canuck,
Your point on the hardness of the Jatoba is well taken.

We have toyed with the idea of installing it ourselves, but because of the hardness, etc.. We are going to go with a company that does nothing but flooring who have their own installers who guarantee their work. It's going to cost us a lot more for the install, but the piece of mind is worth it.

And I am sure we are going to stick to the 3 1/4 inch.