I just heard that advice ("Don't buy from 'Lumber Liquidators'!") over breakfast this morning ... some deal where the wood-flooring they sold wasn't covered because the glue (which they sold) wasn't covered by the flooring's warranty. Long-story-short: you'd get a better deal from any other chain that sells wood-lumber. I think ... or is it worth getting legal-help to verify your lumber-warranty's validity?
Although I do not have personal experience with lumber liquidators I have had personal experience with Menards which sounds like a similar chain. I think that chains are great because you can often get large and varied quantities at your convenience. However, for 'liquidators' the term usually implies that they are trying to sell off their assets. I would question why a company would have bulk items to sell off. Often times as with the case of chains such as dollar stores, this is because they have mismarked items, or slightly damaged items. It is for this reason that I would not fully trust the quality of the items I purchased at such chains as Lumber Liquidators. But I am not the type of person that has to have the highest quality for everything that I build for my home. So if I was just building a dog house out back, I would say that if the price was right, I would probably go for buying it there over another store.
I saw something on 60 Minutes about laminate flooring not being healthy. It has some kind of toxins in it. I did not buy mine from Lumber Liquidators, but I have had this flooring installed for years, and it doesnt seem to be giving me any health problems so I don't know that it is horrible. Maybe check online prior to purchase at Lumber Liquidators.
HGTV and DIY Network sites contain a lot of advertisements for Lumber Liquidators. LL also often has sweepstakes associated with the home giveaways on those sites. I'm not sure if they're affiliated other than that. Lumber Liquidators does have some really good prices, and also seems to have a good variety of products. They are involved (or have been, I'm not sure if it's been settled yet) in a lawsuit about the laminate flooding, as @Ke Gordon mentioned, but I'm not sure if they simply sold the products or actually manufactured them. Class action lawsuits are pretty common these days, so I don't know how toxic the products actually are. I personally have health and respiratory issues, so would be cautious about using such a product, but it may be fine for those without pre-existing conditions.
