[Half-fast eddie]

Lumber liquidators is a good source, but only if the store has it in stock. They basically do not tell the truth about lead times and availability.

My experience is that flooring from US and Canada is generally very consistent. Home Depot would not be my first choice of a supplier.

 

[JIMMIEM]

The Canadian manufactured products are excellent. Are you going to use tongue and groove flooring? Besides width, thickness and tongue and groove milling is important. Where are you located? I've used a local supplier who carries top shelf brands. Do you have local suppliers that you can check? Usually they carry better stuff than HD. The problem I have with small retailers is that whatever they carry is of course the 'best'.
Check some Flooring Forums. They'll have reviews/comments about the better stuff.

 

[Marq1]

Doesnt really matter where it's purchased but cheap brands of hardwood get you what you pay for. Inconsistent board widths are a total PITA and make a lot of work trying to compensate!

 

[lpranger467]

Ive priced out some local places (northern Michigan), jeez about twice what big box place is but better quality I guess.

 

[JIMMIEM]

Ive priced out some local places (northern Michigan), jeez about twice what big box place is but better quality I guess.

Check out On-Line suppliers.

 

[crappiedude]

Not hickory but I've put down some inexpensive oak flooring from HD. There was some inconsistency to the width on a small portion of the wood. It wasn't that big of a deal.
As we worked along we'd set any narrow planks off to the side. Once I had a few boards sitting there I'd either use all the narrow board to just do a whole row on the floor if they were all similar size or I'd take them to a table saw and rip them down to the same width and then put them all in the same row. Now with that said, most of the variation we encountered was maybe a 1/16" +/-, We really didn't have that many narrow boards. Any of the lesser looking boards we ran across we tried to use in closets or in areas where they would be under furniture. When the rooms were finished they looked great and you could tell what rows we fixed from any of the other rows.
Occasionally we'd run across some pieces with missing tongues. We' d set those and use them for edge pieces.
You have to get a little creative but we had very little waste and we love the flooring.

 

[Jar944_2]

Just saying Hickory from HD is like saying oil from Walmart. What brand/manufacturer? It makes a difference.