"bremen68" wrote in message
ups.com...
Anybody ever buy anything from Lumber Liquidators (LL)? I'm thinking
about putting a butcher block countertop in the kitchen and LL has one
for sale that's $184 for an 8' x 25" x 1.5" maple top.

I'm going to have to travel a fair distance to fetch the thing and
wondered if anyone has either purchased one of these tops or has any
experience with their quality.

Hate to make that kind of trip for a piece of junk.

Thanks for any info.


Bremen - I've got the exact response you may be looking for. I bought the
same butcher block countertop you are looking at - 8' long. Here's what I
can say: The counter is inexpensive, but it is made up of many short pieces
glued together. Some are nearly white, others are very grainy and figured.
The counter comes unfinished. When you add something like poly to it, the
different colors and pieces stand out much more, like a patchwork quilt. I
also found that one piece in the center/back of the piece broke loose...I'm
talking more of a chip or sliver maybe 1/4" long lifted up and broke off.

On the other hand, I also purchased $4000 worth of hard maple counter tops
for the rest of my store from a company in Ohio. Each counter is made from
veneers that are the full length of the counter. I've even got a 14'
counter made from 14' long veneers. Most places won't go over 12' long.
Also, the wood is well matched colorwise so it looks consistent. I actually
like a little bit of color variation, so I told them not to worry about that
so much when they were manufacturing the counters.

Bottom line is the nicer counters were about triple the cost of the LL ones,
but they look it, too. For my application, knowing what I know now, I'd buy
the LL counter again because the $400 savings was more important to me than
having a perfect counter in that particular spot. However, the LL counter
would not be acceptable quality for the rest of the counters at any cost. I
wouldn't use them if it were for my home kitchen counter.

Hope this helps. I do have some pics of the counters, but don't have them
set up for posting as of yet.

regards,
dwhite