Rating - 4 out of 5

Good flooring for average home, 4/5/2010
Ducky14 from Montreal
The Mistral is special order only (10-14 days delivery) and so you better calculate properly and returning any unused boxes means a 15% fee, but the product is made in Canada. Home Depot also sold (off the shelf) a very similar product (made in China though) for $1/sq ft less. I chose the Mistral to encourage Canadian business and hoped for better quality. Overall I am satisfied with the Mistral, although I was surprised by how many short pieces there were. It seemed like some boxes had mainly short pieces, others only long, and some a good mix. Laying down the flooring one box at a time, then made for some inconsistant patterns. Positive points are that there were not many wasted/defective pieces and the wood quality is great (not too many knots). Negative points are that the varnish was flaky along some edges or on the surface grain on quite a few and lots of small pieces. Also note that the Ash Umbria has a very heavy grain pattern, which I didn't find obvious in the pictures or in the store samples. Still beautiful when finished though.