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The big secret in the flooring industry? The chemicals used in manufacturing laminate are dangerous and they are the fastest growing component of our landfills. ’s difficult to quantify what chemicals, will leach from laminates once they hit the landfill. Not to mention the emissions from incineration. To put it simply, this stuff doesn’t decompose, because of all the chemicals and glues, the material never breaks down organically.
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Comparing Lumber Liquidators Clover Lea pine to Southern Yellow Longleaf floors is not apples to apples at any point except price. Clover Lea pine floors are not a grade, they are a brand. The pictures on their website show closeups of vertical grain in varied widths, no knots. Is that what they are selling? Caveat’ Emptor, a very old phrase which indicates buyer beware. Do more research than what that “person” , flooring is an investment for homeowners. Do your due diligence, spend as much time as you would picking a financial advisor or a mutual fund.
R.L. Colston unfinished 3/4 solid southern pine $3.29 per square foot, no grade just an up close shot of vertical grain with no knots. The thought of explaining how grossly misleading and why seems irrelevant, but we press on. $3.29 for what exactly? The information, limited but the obvious, however the reason might surprise you. Lumber Liquidators wants to sell you the floors with warranties which mean commissions, quotas and kickbacks. Confused? Did you ever buy a new car, it is that guy explaining gap insurance or undercoating, everywhere you look. Why buy that unfinished pine when you can buy LVT for $2.99, right?
Update September 14 2020 Lumber Prices
Clover Lea Prices
The best pine flooring prices guaranteed! SYP Direct will match or beat any (apples to apples) competitors price. How can we be so sure? We are the online pine flooring mill and your local source no matter your zip code. Key in this promise is the apples to apples terminology. To be clear, we are not being slick or trying to mislead you, not at all. Simply put, we have no competition that has our quality and our prices. Lumber liquidators by definition sells over stocks and defects. They are a public company with shareholders and directors all of which demand growth year over year. All of that squeezed from unfinished Southern Pine, versus a mill direct made to offer floor?
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The difference in Clover Lea and SYP Direct
What’s the difference between a shirt at Walmart versus a custom one, made to order. Everything is different, the quality, the density, the character, the hardness (for sure) and of course the lengths. Clover Lea is bi product of multiple (2 x 4’s) lumber mills, the scraps, shorts and defects. SYP Direct does not sell scraps. We mill your floor to order, shipping direct from the mill floor. Comparing our Southern Pine to Lumber Liquidators, like dog food and top shelf filet mignon.
Alabama Pine
Alabama is like adding Swiss to watch or Louisiana to gumbo. Unfortunately, the term heart pine is far too often to describe flooring that does not meet heart pine standards. Only about 5% of total pine production in the United States is Longleaf pine. Longleaf pine grows much slower and therefore is not conducive the fast-growing pine plantations that produce pine for building materials. For example, Florida and MS Gulf coast pine look similar, but have nowhere near the Janka rating of their northern cousin in Alabama.
Advertising by box stores
How can the layman compare pine floors? Length, type of knots, weight, age, species etc. would do the trick, but we live in the real world. Instead, today a Google search for best pine floors sends you Clover Lea or some other box store mass marketed product. Buyers many times have no clue the difference between the quality (see above) differences between “ours and theirs”, it is substantial to say the least.
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