Bruce Park Avenue Laminate Flooring Review

Bruce Park Avenue Laminate Flooring Review

By Fortino Rosas / August 6, 2018 / 4 Comments

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    It’s right there in the name: Bruce Park Avenue laminate flooring.

    This isn’t hand-scraped, rough hewn flooring meant to finish out the look in some hunting lodge. This is a high-shine, smooth-finish flooring that’s meant to convey high-end, big-city style. It’s what you’d find inside a Park Avenue high rise.

    About Bruce Park Avenue Laminate Flooring

    Bruce Flooring is a popular choice among homebuilders. It’s a high-quality product that still has a reasonable price. The company is more than 100 years old and manufactures both hardwood floors and laminates. It’s an Armstrong brand and gets all the good and bad that comes with that well-known industry name.

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    Bruce Park Avenue Laminate Flooring Collection

    Some of the highlights, both good and bad of the collection are below.

    1. Five-inch-wide planks

    Bruce Flooring’s Park Avenue line comes in nice wide planks. That makes it ideal to use these laminates to cover large spaces, like a living area or the wider spaces in open floor plan homes. Narrow planks, those closer to 3 inches wide, can sometimes make these larger spaces look busy when you see seam after seam after seam.

    Ever see that parquet floor in the Boston Gardens? Yes, it’s cool. And, yes,it’s iconic. But you don’t want to look at it every day in your living room. At least you don’t if you aren’t a Celtics fan.

    2. 12mm-thick planks

    The Park Avenue collection comes in not just wide planks, but the planks are thick, too: 12 mm. If you’re looking for laminate flooring that more closely resembles a real hardwood floor you want this. A thicker plank is going to feel more comfortable under your feet.

    A thicker plank is also going to be more forgiving of variations in your home’s foundation since it’s not able to bend as easily as thinner 6mm boards. And if you are going to be installing the floor yourself, a 12 mm board is going to be easier to cut and work with than a thicker 16 mm board that is not only more difficult to cut but can require more specialized tools to install. So a 12 mm plank is a nice middle ground when you consider which flooring to buy.

    3. Beveled edges

    When it comes to laminate flooring the bevel on the edge is a critical feature that many people overlook. It’s what can sometimes make or break the look. Too much bevel on the edge and you get gaps that can look visually too wide. It becomes distracting. Too little bevel and you visually lose that there are individual planks on the floor at all.

    The Bruce Parke Avenue collection bevel sits in that just-right category, with online reviewers noting that it makes for a striking accent without making the floor difficult to clean and maintain.

    4. Sustainably produced

    There’s no way around it. Production of hardwoods and laminates can be tough on the environment. If working with a company that has initiated sustainability practices, Bruce should make you happy.

    As an Armstrong company, Bruce is part of the corporate sustainability program. It’s products are also LEED-rated, using a high percentage of renewable fiber sources and recycled materials. Bruce also maximizes board yield with efficient manufacturing production practices that utilize more of the tree than a typical manufacturer.

    5. Limited color selection

    If you’re looking for laminate flooring that mimics the look of real hardwoods, the Parke Avenue collection from Bruce Flooring has you covered. The color choices in this collection are a variety of browns. Unfortunately, if you’re looking for something that’s a little different–say an option that leans more toward a grey–then you’re out of luck.

    The Park Avenue line comes in Amber, Exotic Walnut, Fruitwood Select, Makore, Mocha Maple, and Pradoo.

    6. High-gloss finish

    While the high-gloss finish on these floors may look nice when it’s clean, keeping that way is difficult. It’s something I’ve experienced, and it appears I’m not alone. If you using this flooring in a high traffic area, have pets who drip water from their bowls, or you have kids who drip and drop everything from everywhere, these floors are going to show those spots.

    So, if you’re obsessive, or if you just aren’t interested in spending much of your time with a broom and mop in your hand cleaning ever-present smudges and smears, then it appears the high-gloss finish might not be for you. Unfortunately, in the Park Avenue line of laminates, a high gloss finish is your only option.

    Bruce Flooring does have semi-gloss and matte finishes in some of its other laminate flooring options in its other lines of flooring if you have your heart set on using Bruce.

    7. Pricing

    Prices range between $3 and $5 a box from online retailers. Each box contains roughly 13 square feet of product, so, if you’re covering a large space, the Park Avenue collection is a good mid-level option as far as laminate price is concerned.

    One thing to keep in mind that was suggested by some online reviewers, online pricing isn’t necessarily always the lowest. Your local flooring retailers have some flexibility when it comes to price that online stores don’t have, either lowering the price of the actual flooring or providing free add-ons that can add value to your purchase without adding cost.

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    What others are saying

    Online reviews of the Bruce Park Avenue collection are all good.

    Some customers said that the Park Avenue collection made the rooms in their houses feel “warm” and that they’d never seen a laminate floor that looked so realistic.

    Other reviewers said that the rich-looking shine of the Park Avenue floor transformed her home and made it look much larger than their previous floors.

    One thing to keep in mind: There are general reviews of Bruce Flooring that aren’t flattering. However, almost all of those we found were for Bruce’s hardwood products and involved boards damaged in the shipping or manufacturing process.

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    Conclusion

    Overall, Bruce Park Avenue Laminate Flooring is a solid, mid-level flooring choice if your style leans more toward cocktail parties and smoking jackets and away from the rustic. It’s wide and thick planks make for a study floor that is pleasing to the eye and feels good underfoot. Its high-gloss finish gives an air of sophistication but can require a lot of upkeep if you’re a neat freak.

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    About Fortino Rosas

    Chief Floor Critic, 32 years of experience in flooring installation and sales

    Fortino Rosas is an independent flooring contractor with 32 years of experience in residential and commercial flooring installation and sales. He joined the Floor Critics team to share his expertise with our readers. Fortino has acquired vast knowledge and skills in the areas of product selection, space planning, and installation. He has installed flooring in residential, government, and commercial office projects in the Midwest. Visit Website.

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    4 thoughts on “Bruce Park Avenue Laminate Flooring Review”

    1. Hi, I am looking to find 2-3 cases of the Bruce Park Avenue in the Fruitwood color for a repair. Would consider other colors that are similar, as I could pull from a closet if I had to and replace.

      Thank you for any assistance.

      Joe O

    2. Looking for Bruce Park Avenue flooring L3018 is the info on the box we had leftover from years ago. Need to find more since we would like to install the same flooring again.
      Any help as to where we can buy it would help, thanks .

    3. Can you help me locate the fruitwood select? I had it installed years ago in my kitchen and foyer and would like to now install in other rooms. Ty in advance

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