Hardwood: Lumber Liquidators, handyman, hardwood installer ?

[etana]

We want to have our townhouse's 500-600 sq ft main floor old carpet replaced with probably 3/4" x 3" maple natural. Plywood underneath. 27 year old house.

1. I am worried it will look like a fitness center or gym. Do people use maple in their homes? We need a very light color since our house is in the woods and very dark. We lean away from oak, since every rental we have ever lived in has been oak.

2. I went to Lumber Liquidators, found wood and had an estimate. But when I went to research customer reviews for LL work, the reviews were 90% bad. Now I know that in searching for appliances etc, there are always good and bad reviews, but LL had a huge negative review response.
a. Cupping within 6 month.
b. Wood width and depth didn't match so hard to fit together and lots of waste, due to poorer milling in Indonesia and Asia where they get their wood.
c. Even with the guarantee, after the wood was nailed down, customers had terrible customer satisfaction from the stores or insallers

Our handyman says he can find wood at a good price when on sale, and install the floor. He says he installs flooring in hotels and has the experience.

I am not going to Home Depot or Lowes, after having a poor experience with them installing TrafficMaster Allure (see my post today in vinyl flooring). Their salesmen and their installers don't know very much. in my opinion.

I don't want to pay top dollar for a professional installer unless there is a reason to do so. My dad was a carpenter and built our home in 1957. He put in hardwood flooring. It is not rocket science. But I don't want moisture problems in the next 6-months forward.

What should I look for in an installer?
How do I know a fair price?
What questions should I be asking?
What about Lumber Liquidators? and their installers?
Why a professional installer instead of a handyman who has installed floors?
The price is significantly different.

The maple I am looking at is in the $5/sq ft at LL range.
LL's installation price is about $2.99 sq ft

Thanks, Etana
Silver Spring, MD

 

[joecaption]

I've installed a ton of flooring I've bought from Lumber Liquatators and have never had a problum with it.
If it's left in the home a few days before installing at the same temp as the rooms going to be kept, there's a vaper barrier on the ground if there's a crawl space and there's kraft paper or tar paper laid down under the flooring there should be no trouble.
I've always installed my own floors so I have no idea how the other LL installers could have screwed up.

 

[lumberliquidators]

As a representative from Lumber Liquidators, we are more than happy to answer any questions you may have regarding our products. Our Customer Care team would be happy to assist you and answer any questions at 1-800-366-4204.