Question: A great informative site. I sure wish I had seen it before my install. I laid Bruce’s cabin (tavern) grade. I knew about all the minor imperfections it could have, in fact I even like them. Makes it look a bit more real. What I do not like though is the edging where the planks come together. The lock and fold is not nearly engineered as the 1st quality. Overall, it is nothing like the 1st quality Bruce flooring I have used in the past. Is there any thing I can do to make the seams more level? As they are right now, not all of them, you can catch a toe on it if not careful.
Thanks so much for you valued input,
Jim – Garland, Texas
Answer: Jim,
There are some things that can be prevented during the time of the installation to help level the ends or edges but it would be very difficult for me to give a correct answer without actually looking at the floor. One way I personally like is rolling the wood with at least a 75 lb roller when setting it in the adhesive. This helps give a smooth surface and it will also give a better adhesive transfer or bond. You will always have what we refer to in wood the business overwood and in the cabin grade quality it will be a little worst. Still it should be something that you could live with. One way to test your overwood problem is to take a credit card and set it on the lower side of the wood and match it up to the higher side. If the height difference is less than the credit card then it should be within the industry standard. One problem with overwood is that in some of the darker colors you can actually see the wood where it is not stained. In this case you can get a stain marker pen that matches the existing stain and color the edges.
You can purchase the markers at a local Home Depot or Lowe’s. Be sure to take a piece of your wood to match the proper stain color.
Thank you for your question,
Mike Jones
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