Before you bought a house you had no idea how complicated this flooring thing was, am I right? Heath concerns, environmental concerns, installation, price, and above all style- these are all swirling around, vying for your attention.
Do you want tile? Concrete? Wood? So many choices. We’re here to help. This review specifically talks about your options for hardwood and the Mullican company, which is a relatively new, up-and-coming brand based in the American Appalachian Mountains.
Here, we’ll help you consider the key benefits of hardwood, and how those relate to what Mullican has to offer. We’ll go over their main products and choices, and then give you a summary of what people are saying about their flooring.
Finally, we’ll give our verdict on what the biggest pros and cons are for Mulligan flooring, so you can go out shopping and buy with confidence!
Why Choose Hardwood Flooring?
Hardwood flooring, in general, offers some advantages over laminate or concrete. These advantages can be summed up in three categories: health, style and eco-friendliness.
Health Benefits
Flexible flooring that has some give to it is better for your knees, back and all your joints. The repeated impact of the weight of your body on a hard floor such as ceramic tile or concrete wears on your over time.
Hardwood floors can also help those who suffer from seasonal or environmental allergies or asthma. If you have allergies or asthma, one of the key things to consider in floor covering is how much your flooring is going to attract and hold dust particles and allergens (tip: invest in a good hardwood floor vacuum).
Hardwood floors are better choices as they have been shown to actually improve indoor air quality. The Environmental Protection Agency has studied the matter and found that hardwood attracts and holds less contaminants like dust, mold and animal dander.
Eco-friendly
Choosing hardwood floors can also be more eco-friendly, and better for the environment.
Wood floors use less energy and water to produce than laminate or concrete, and the trees from which they are harvested provide significant environmental benefit in cleaning air and generating oxygen. The production of hardwood for floors can mean that many more acres of trees.
Style
Finally, buyers and residents love hardwood floors for the style they provide.
Hardwood adds a touch of class and a timeless appeal to the space it occupies. Because of this, installing hardwood flooring adds not only beauty but value to your home, making it a great investment.
Mullican Hardwood Floors: The Difference
So now that we’ve looked at the list of advantages of hardwood floors in general, let’s take a look at the Mullican line in particular.
Mullican offers three kinds of hardwood flooring- prefinished solid hardwood flooring, prefinished engineered hardwood flooring and unfinished hardwood flooring. The prefinished flooring comes in hickory, maple, oak, red oak and white oak, all available in smooth, hand-sculpted or wire-brushed textures.
Engineered
In their engineered hardwood line, Mullican has 11 different species and color choices, including such fun exotics as amendiom, birch, Brazilian Cherry and Tigerwood.
The engineered line also offers two additional texture choices: rustic and whitewash. Overall, there are lots of color and style choices, which is an advantage for consumers trying to visualize the perfect look for their home.
Unfinished
The unfinished hardwood line offers the same species choices as that of the finished line, but customers have the option to pick from seven different grades and qualities, offering more price points to choose from. For go-getting DIY-ers, this is a great value.
Advantages
Mullican products have two big advantages in terms of options. Firstly, in each of the three categories, customers can choose to choose from a range of “Made-In-the USA” products, which is especially valuable to those who want to support American businesses and workers. In fact, Mullican recently pulled production from overseas to manufacture their engineered products in Tennessee.
In addition, Mullican offers a wide range of width and size options, and includes the ability to choose “random board lengths.” This can be especially attractive for customers who want a truly unique and rustic effect. The variability of length creates really nice texture on the floor of a room.
Warranty
In terms of warranty, for their finished and engineered products, Mullican also offers a variety of choices, from a 15 year choice in their aluminum oxide finish, up to a lifetime warranty, if the product is installed with their “Aqua Shield” System.
Mullican touts its environmentally friendly and sustainable production process, called the “Responsible Procurement Program” that ensures that consumers can see that the wood for the products has been harvested from non-controversial hardwood sources and where timber growth exceeds loss. This is a nice feature, as it helps us feel good about the future of the forests and the planet.
Review Round-Up
Mullican’s site makes an effort to present themselves as an environmentally responsible company that seeks to support American labor and offers a wide range of some great styles and options. But what do the reviews say?
Firstly, the jury is still out on Mullican’s unique square edge milling format on the end joints. Some people like it, some don’t. The disadvantage to this format is that you can get some board edges that are higher than others.
This is the major complaint about Mullican from reviewers- both installers and home owners. The material is good, but many point to consistency in milling of size and ends as an issue. More than one reviewer pointed to up to a full 1/8 variance on width and length in boxes of flooring that were supposedly all the same size/length.
On the other hand, on price, Mullican is sometimes called a “buyer’s choice,” because they are a middle-of-the-road, quality producer. The consensus is that this is a good product- not the fanciest, but a moderately-priced choice that offers value for the money.
Both installers and consumers are generally pleased with the colors and finishes available through Mullican as well. The diversity of the options available from the company mean that homeowners searching for something in particular have an easier time finding just what they were looking for.
Our Conclusion: Good Options, But Beware the Milling
Overall, it seems that Mullican offers a good product with lots of attractive options in style, color, length and origin. Buyers have the chance to feel good about the sustainability and the labor sources of the flooring.
However, there seems to be a consistent problem with Mullican’s milling and quality control. While some of this can be attributed to their unique milling system for ends, the inconsistency of width and length, even in boxes that contain supposedly identical pieces, is a real problem.
If the attractiveness of the brand’s advantages appeals to you, we recommend that, upon purchase, you (or your installer) open every box immediately to compare sizes so that you can immediately either return or exchange your product before you get too far into the project.
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We have Mulligan maple flooring 3″ wide boards 3/4″ thick. The floor is good for low traffic areas and no dogs. We have a 25 lb dog that has left scratches all over the main living areas. My husband thinks the floors are crap as every little thing causes a dent. I am looking to buy 2 to 3 boxes to replace the “bad areas.” I cannot say I am disappointed but wished I had the knowledge of the hardness. We are considering having it recoat in lieu of stripping if we can replace the boards with noticeable dings. Every website says the coating is hard to refinish and has advised replacement instead of refinishing. It cost a lot to have the whole house done so replacement does not make sense. For anyone looking for hardwood floors, please educate yourself on hardiness. May even replace the boards with a harder wood in the same color tone.
We are considering Mullican handsculpted 4″ hickory. Has anyone had experience
with this floor in particular? The reviews are very concerning. This could be a very
expensive mistake.
Thanks!
This company makes super low quality flooring. cracking and splintering everywhere in our house.
Hello, Can i ask which floor you used, and was your problem ever resolved?
Thanks
Trying to decide between Mullican Ridgecrest 5”x1/2” in natural oak or maple and Mannington Jamestown natural oak. Finish on Mannington has higher gloss. Would appreciate any experience with any one of the three
Mullican Flooring. VERY LOW Quality! I installed about 3,000 square feet of Mullican Wood Flooring – Wexford collection. I had at least 40% waste in floor boards that were not usable due to bad staining, unnaturally cracked boards, splintered edges, and overall bad packaging. The overall experience from Mullican customer and technical support was horrible as they did not share concern about the quality nor were they willing to help me replace the damaged material. I tried going through the dealer/vendor but the only solution provided was to force me to purchase additional product to avoid ripping out the installation already 50% done. I recommend you avoid this floor. It looks fantastic in the sample but the shipped product is low quality in the manufacturing process with many delays. I currently have about 500 square feet of this product, packaged and sitting in my garage with no way to return to Mullican or get reimbursed. If interested I have many pictures of the bad material .
Can I ask which floor you used? We were considering the hand-
sculpted hickory. Pictures would be very helpful.
Thanks!
I put Mullican Hickory distressed in a home and we lived there 7 years after installing. Yes there were a few top splinters that we found after installation. Fortunately we had also located a stain to match when we added wooden floor vents. I simply lightly sanded the splinter, then swabbed with the stain. You could add a satin urethane on top… I didnt. After the stain dried I couldn’t find the area. I’m hoping to put the same flooring in a new build. I’m wondering if the quality in the last 10-15 years has disintegrated. Does anyone out there have knowledge of that history?
Our Lowes sells a Mullican solid floor under the name Greenleaf. We are interested in the Provencial Hickory floor. Any opinions about this floor in particular?
I am currently looking at the same floor. I initially loved it. But now I’m having fears of snags on socks and splinters as well as excessive waste.
Looking at the Mullican Mount Castle line. Can anyone comment on that line. Specifically we’re looking at Harvest Wheat.
Thank You
Installing Mullican hardwood floors has been the WORSE decision we have ever made. Numerous boards had to be immediately replaced by the installer. In the case of two boards, there was an extreme color variation (a totally blond shade instead of oak). Approximately 10 boards had splinters on the surface or cracks. We used our extra supply. We didn’t get new boards from the dealer. Now, eight months later, there is a large area that has been scratched by a computer desk chair. I’m not talking light scratches; it looks like someone took a butcher knife to it. We have tried three different types of wheels MADE FOR hardwood floors and the area is getting worse. To be honest, we have never had hardwood floors and didn’t know what to expect. So after installation we carefully read all the instructions and was under the impression we were following all of them. So disappointed in the quality of the product and we spent good money for it. At the time of our installation, the local flooring company told us that they were putting Mullican flooring in a subdivision of new homes and there were approximately nine homes that were having issues with their product. Lucky us . . . they told us ours was the worse. From a distance, the two rooms (family room and living room) look nice. But up close it is a big disappointment. I’m about to go back to carpeting. I would not recommend buying from Mullican.
I am working with a builder to completely refurbish a house we are buying. The floor he found to best match the existing engineered hardwood is Mullican Hillshire oak 3/8 inch. After reading reviews, I am getting nervous. It will be in kitchen, family room, hall, and master. Is this a big mistake?!
I am wondering if anyone can comment on Mullican Astoria line in the color wicker. I too am so confused and our project is at a stand still due to not being able to find a flooring that has terrible reviews a mile long. It’s very frustrating to find something only to read how terrible it is.
I’m totally confused as to which brand of hardwood flooring to purchase. We are doing 1000 sq feet of flooring, and I don’t see one Manufacturer of wood without numerous complaints. Not a good start
Can you share what floor you finally chose and how it has performed for you? I share your confusion..
Thanks!
I am grateful for these reviews, I was going to buy Mullican Oak gunstock but not after reading so many reviews of wood cracking by different people.
My wife and I had Mullican Oak Point/ Oak Gunstock 3 inch hardwood flooring put in the kitchen, dinning room, living room and hall way two years ago and are going to have our 3 bedrooms done. The floors are beautiful. We would recommend Mullican flooring to anyone.
I finished a room (212 sq ft) with the hand scraped hickory and it looks great. No boxes had any bad pieces and I’m getting ready to finish the rest of the house with it. The style I used has beveled edges so that may help with any unevenness, but I don’t see the “milling” issues mentioned in some of the posts.
I am right in the midst of installing the Mullican White Oak Wexford 1/2″ wire brushed 7″ wide planks. My wife and I are so upset at the quality of the wood. We are doing 1275 sqft and our flooring rep ordered 42 boxes. The installer started installing the floor and we noticed right away gouges, cracks, and uneven end alignment. We asked them to STOP and remove boards that were already glued down, and to cherry pick the boards that do not have cracks and holes (gouges) in the planks.
Our floor rep supplied 9-more boxes to replace what was torn out, so out of 51 boxes, we’re still 300 sqft short (~10-boxes). The milling quality is atrocious! I feel a lot of anxiety because the Mullican Rep came out and said all the wood is within industry specifications. That is horrible! Really? I’m afraid that if I allow the wood planks with the holes, gouges, and cracks, I will get my socks shredded in them over time. Bottom line, I’m very stressed and the floor is 2/3rds installed.
This is a continuing Blog. My store rep is a stand-up guy and is going to make it right. The flooring that is already installed is really beautiful but we had to go through each box and cherry-pick the nice pieces; the ones that aren’t gouged, pitted too badly, and not cracked. There’s a high percentage fallout and unfortunately, a lot of the longer pieces have the worst issues – I assume it’s harder to get the quality on these longer pieces – but with a little more effort, I bet they can because there’s some that meet our quality criteria. Too bad I couldn’t post a picture.
I’m hoping the quality of the wood doesn’t diminish as time goes on. Our flooring rep is going to order twice as much as needed and fix it on the backend with the manufacturer. It pays to go with someone reputable. I’ll keep you posted.
-Jim
Thanks for letting me know that hardwood floors can help with those who have asthma. My daughter has asthma, and she sometimes even has problems with breathing while she’s at home. I want her to be safe and healthy in our home, so maybe we could switch to more hardwood floors to reduce those asthma issues.
I had Mullican Flooring installed in my new home by Essex builders 3 years ago. I have had nothing but problems with the floor. Planks were splintering and cracking 2 days after we moved in. We were told this was durable flooring by the builder. Planks have continued to crack, and even after a letter that supposedly guaranteed the 25 year warranty, the rep has refused to continue to repair. The floor in my hallway looks like a patchwork quilt due to the number of inferior planks that have been replaced. He states cracking planks are from normal wear. (in a corner non-traffic area) I have tried calling the company directly, but I am caught in an endless phone tree. If your builder uses Mullican Flooring, get another builder. I have invested in a home that I planned to live in for the remainder of my life, and I have over 2000 square feet of cracking, disintegrating flooring. It should be illegal to sell this flooring. Last but not least, the 25 year warranty is a joke. Mullican doesn’t back its warranty.
Hi Donna,
I am going through the same thing with the cracking and patchwork wear on our new floor. Not even a year old. Don’t know what to do with this.
Barb in NY
Thank you for your post. I”m thinking about the Mullican flooring and will certainly verify your problems with the store I will be purchasing them from. They’ve indicated it’s one of the best brands.
We’re doing almost 4000sf and this was our choice. I looked at Provenza flooring and nothing but complaints. This is twice as much so I thought it would be better. Twice the thickness of the Provenza flooring. Has anyone tried the mount castle natural? 9.45” wide random plank? It has a lifetime warranty and 25 year on the finish. I thought the 5/8” thickness would solve some of the issues I’ve read here. Yikes this sounds like a nightmare!
I was told the same thing unless I wanted to spend $15/sf
Mullican T&G engineered hardwood.
Poor manufacturing quality control on the material appearance and some defects. It would be wise to order at least 50 percent more material. Select the best for the living room and use the rest for other rooms.
To compare with more premium manufacturers, add 50% or more to the price of Mullican.
For your information, Mullican sells their product at Home Depot under the name of Blue Ridge Hardwood – it is an inferior material fabrication and the price is about the same.