Lumber Liquidators — Local services in Mukilteo

Wow, how can I explain what a horrible experience I have had with Chris, Aro, and Andrew at Lumber Liquidators, as well as the installers they contract out to- Andre and Paul. First, Chris promised me that the flooring would take 7-10 days to arrive at the Mukilteo store and once it arrived I could get the installation scheduled. He failed to mention that it took 2 more weeks after that just to get the transition pieces. That was only a small part of the dishonesty and misinformation. Here's my story: Andre the Installer Lumber Liquidators contracts with comes out to do an estimate (which I paid for in advance), take measurements, and writes up a 3 page list of all of the products I am going to need. The total is over $6,000. This is for a 650 sq ft condo with vinyl plank at $1.99 per sq ft. Andre assures me that I may not need to pay for self-leveling, but he won't know until he rips the carpet up. So, he estimates the max amount of materials and labor needed for the self-leveling based on the square footage and his vast experience and says I will be refunded at the end if self-leveling is not needed. I confirmed this with Andrew, Chris, and Aro both in person and over the phone. So, I take off work, to go in and sign the final paperwork and pay over $6k for everything, thinking that most likely, I will be getting a refund. (They require you to PAY IN FULL before any of the work is done fyi. This will become an important part of my story later. I was told that this is not standard, from other flooring installers after the fact.) My neighbor just had her floors done and she did not need self-leveling. Another neighbor did his floors and only needed 5 bags. I had already paid for 10, so still, I think I'm getting a refund at the end of all of this. After waiting a month for the installation appointment, they showed up today and ripped out all of my carpet. They said I would need self-leveling after all. Fine, I was prepared for this, and I already paid for it anyways. Then I get a call from Andrew tonight asking for a payment of over $2,000 for more self-leveling material and labor costs? What??? I already thought I was being ripped off ($400 charge for moving a few pieces of furniture for example). Now I get a phone call saying that the installation cannot be done without paying 1/3 more than what I thought was my FINAL bill that I already paid. I told Andrew I do not have $2,000 more for this project, as I had already paid, and not once was warned that there could possibly be more charges after already paying and finalizing everything. Chris assured me that the Installers don't get paid until I sign off on the job to my satisfaction. Unfortunately that doesn't matter since I have already paid in full, the product has been delivered, and I am sleeping on concrete. It is unbelievable to me that Lumber Liquidators not once warns customers verbally or in writing that the bill that they are paying before installation can even be scheduled may not be final at all. When Andrew called me today to ask for the (over) $2000 payment for unanticipated labor and materials, I asked him if this had ever happened to him before. He said no, not in the year he had worked there. I asked him if he warned customers that they might need to put aside 1/3 or more of the final invoice for surprises. He said he warned his customers about this. On the contrary, when I paid, they assured me they OVERestimated product and labor, so that if anything, customers end up getting a refund. So now, I am sitting here on a concrete floor with $3k worth of material sitting in my living room that I have already paid to install in full. But since I don't have another $2k, their "hands are tied" and I now have to return everything and they're going to charge me for labor and delivery. Installers who underestimate by over $2k are just plain incompetent or, possibly, ripping you off. And a company that continues to contract with these types of unscrupulous contractors is not a company to do business with. I will no longer buy product from Lumber...

We ordered 1,500 sqft of bamboo flooring this year to remodel our house. The service was excellent, and the price was good too. The only issue was the quality in which the the wood was delivered. About 1% of the boards had some form of damage (scratches, chips, a large chunk gouged from the middle). However, this was not a big deal as the damage usually located to single points. Those boards were cut and trimmed to fill smaller spaces. I do want to comment on something many of you may have seen in the news: the formaldehyde (I'm specifically talking about Morning Star brand bamboo flooring). Now, formaldehyde is a common ingredient in the adhesives used to make the bamboo floor. Yes the manufacturer is supposed to allow the product to off-gas before packaging, but it seems they are still having issues with that process. Don't be discouraged though, just follow these guidelines and you should have no issues:

1. unpackage the wood in a room that you can keep heated, closed off from the rest of the house, and are able to ventilate from time to time.
2. when unpackaging if there is excess formaldehyde, you will notice your airways beginning to dry out, take a break. Stop what you're doing, air out the room, and hydrate.
3. close off the room and allow the wood to sit at room temperature (70f).
4. every few days, over the course of 2 weeks (or until the smell goes away) air out the room.
5. after about 2 to 3 weeks the smell should be gone and you're...

08/2023: I am updating this review from 1 star to 3 stars. I eventually was able to make some headway. My local store continues to be as helpful as possible and pleasant to deal with, but unfortunately they are impotent when it comes to correcting a poorly installed floor. That falls on LL corporate, and they were terrible to deal with. Very slow responses, and next to impossible to speak with the case rep, anyone in a leadership role, or anyone at all save for the receptionist. After an $11k job suffered a bad install, they offered me $500 because my biggest problems became obvious after the termination of the 1 year install warranty. About 4 months after. (BTW- the Lifetime Warranty on the product is a trap that I fell into, they can wriggle out of that one pretty easily).

The reason they get 3 stars instead of 1 is again, the local store was great to deal with, and I ended up with a good outcome (no thanks to LL Corporate). Fortunately the original installer LL used has a great reputation for a reason, and after I lost all hope that LL cared about doing the right thing, I contacted the original installer directly and they were adamant about making things right. And they totally came through, and fixed the original mistakes free of charge. I wish I had just reached out to them in the first place instead of trying to deal with...