Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - laminate purchases online?

Has anyone bought wood laminate from an online warehouse?

How was your experience?

Thier prices are significantly lower and they carry big name companies and thier top lines. I can't see any downside as long as I can view an actual sample. I was hoping to purchase all of my planks from them and purchase any other needed parts locally.

I have heard good things about online shopping, good prices, good customer service and such

the downsides, shipping, hopefully they won't air freight it, they will get damaged.
oh yea, and your local economy loses a bit too.

florcraft left a few points behind. Where ya gonna get the tech support when you have a question, the right advice on tools to do the job, guidence and accessories, moldings etc. The seemingly lower cost of Internet purchases are supported by less service and fewer profitable, high shipping cost accessory items. Take the best online price to your local full service flooring dealer and ask if he can meet or beat the deal. They do, every day!

I've purchased flooring from DIYFloor.com and was very satisfied.

While I agree with most of the above comments. I didn't find my local retailers to be very helful at all. They were not at all knowledgeble about the product I was interested in (albeit it was a little unusuall) And I really felt they were less interested in ME as a customer once they learned that I wanted to install the floor myself. They must have a higher profit margin selling a more expensive "installed" package.

My other problem (whether dealing with a local dealer or an internet outfit) was getting samples that were large enough to see in my home and truly get a feel for. I ended up ordering a whole carton (18 s.f.) as a "sample" DIYFloor was willing to refund the shipping when I actually made the full order.

But when ordering online, shipping is the thing that you have to pay attention to. Sometimes moulding and accessories get a separate shipping charge from the flooring. Common carrier freight to your door is more expensive and can require YOU to be there to unload when it arrive. Consider picking it up yourself at the local freight depot.

I do feel bad about not supporting my local economy, especially when I see all those little neiborhood mom 'n' pop shops are being replaced by friggen Starbucks and Blockbuster, but in my case buying the product that I wanted from a local outfit would have been cost prohibitive.

well Dino, if these local stores wanna beat online, then they need to change.

it's too bad, cause it's soo easy

I didn't have very good luck either with getting the retailers to match the price. Two of them said "no" and I actually got free shipping since it was a large order.

well, it sounds like a good deal. It's too bad though, cause it's the mom n pop stores that will suffer.

these online guys don't get the best prices, but they have tiny overhead, and work on thin margins.


killing the mom n pop stores that rely on material orders.

not your fault, you just wanna save money, and I dont blame ya.
give em hell if they mess up though.

florcraft is correct, the Mom and Pop's buy from distributors just as the Internet sellers do. The cost basis is about the same. The Mom's and Pop's also offer assistance and a full line of accessories. In many market areas, top flight brands are available from local dealers at equal or better pricing to the Internet.

There is a hang up however. Not all brands are distributed in all markets or may have only limited distribution in a given market. When this happens a particular brand may have a more expensive cost basis in some places.

I regularly see local dealers meeting Internet prices and throwing in technical assistance and same day delivery of an extra box of flooring because of an error in measuring or cutting.

Good points AzFred, thank you for your extra input. This subject always strikes a certain nerve in me of course.

I will say it can be tough though to match internet prices. The reason I close so many orders even if I am a couple hundred more than an internet site is because people respect the education I give them when they come to my store (professionalism) and they know I am close by if they need me (face to face) and they want to help local economy and they have the extra loose change :)

Some internet sites do get a really good price, but it is their overhead that is soooo cheap, and the low low margins they sell by.
It could be a garage they rent out, we don't know.
now we are talking material only, so it's o.k. to low ball to get the sale if need be, but for FULL service, you NEVER want to low ball, cause then you will have no money to take care of your customers, let alone make it thru a 9/11 scenario.

If the online store makes enough to take real good care of a client if material gets damaged, or is shipped wrong, or whatever, then more power to em, but it's the ones that sell too low, and when something happens, it's the consumer that pays the price by bad service and long waits.

I am totally happy where I am, not the lowest bidder usually, But my clients recognize that you get what you pay for as far as service and install goes.

Don't overlook "equal". The spot market seconds don't usually wind up in the local flooring dealers! The stuff that ("I could buy for") is $.48 to 58 cents a square foot factory seconds stuff and sells for 1.29 to 2.49 at retail has no pedigree and ultimately no manufacturer standing behind the warrantee. To me "that dog won't hunt"!

Firedads,

I went with fastfloors.com and accepted delivery yesterday.

They were fast and my floor arrived in perfect condition, including the trim.

I tried to shop locally, but nobody would come close in price, which surprised me quite a bit, especially since I live in a mid-sized city with a lot of new construction.

Floorshop seemed like a good bet, but my shipping would have been nearly $450 and fastfloors shipped for $69.

bey,

what product specificaly did you buy?

QuickStep 800 Long Plank color U914

I really, really liked the look of the Perspective line, but the bevels made it a no-go between cat hair and the fact I'm installing in a kitchen.

It's going to be beautiful!:D

oh yea, very nice.
good locking system too.

what did ya pay per sq foot without shipping.

I purchased ~1100sqft from http://floorshop.com and was very impressed with both their prices, quick answers and top-notch packing.

I'd order from them again. (Although the laminate has been a major PITA because of the state of my un-flat subfloor :-)

Fastfloors had it at $2.25/ft, $69 shipping.

floorshop.com had it at $2.19, but shipping was going to run me about $420

I too received my order last week from FastFloors....everything was well packaged and nothing damaged.

Only downside was it was "curb" drop off so we had to haul all 118 boxes into the house (but hey, it was free shipping!)

Ended up getting Columbia Colonial Clic with the beveled edges.