R.L. Colston  3/4" x 3-1/4" Maple

Comments about R.L. Colston 3/4" x 3-1/4" Maple:

Have this flooring in Dining area, Living Room, & Family room. Once sanded and finished there is a lot of color variations as with any natural tree as it grows. It makes a very beautifull floor. There is a little more waste than higher grades but only a small amount.

Comments about R.L. Colston 3/4" x 3-1/4" Maple:

While there were a greater number of short pieces per bundle than I expected, the overall waste was only about 10% of what I had budgeted. Dimensionally this stuff was very consistent, making for an easy installation. Very few blemished surfaces and a remarkably low number of cracks in the tongue or groove. [...]

Comments about R.L. Colston 3/4" x 3-1/4" Maple:

We got started on the 3-1/4 inch rustic maple when we got a couple hundred square feet of leftovers cheap from a neighbor. Now, we've put over 1000 square feet of it in our house and love it. The rustic grade wood has nice color variations, knots, etc that give it a warm and interesting look. Installation is not difficult, we used a manual nailer and just took our time. Waste was minimal, less than 5%. For finishing, renting a drum or belt sander is the way to go, maple is pretty hard and doesn't gouge easily. The big square random orbit sanders that some places rent aren't aggressive enough. We used 60-80-100 grit and finished with satin polyurethane, 3-4 coats. Used a random orbit sander for the edges, again 60-80-100 grit. The finished product looks better, in our opinion, than prefinished because it doesn't have the bevel grooves between boards. More work to install, but the floor looks great and the total cost is very reasonable.