How often will you need to reapply the oil? Will you hire someone to do that or will you do it yourself?

Honestly I don't think it will be that big of a deal BUT we will see if I regret getting these! I will post after a couple months of usage.

Seashell, there's no store near me that carries good samples of Hallmark. One company I was dealing with used to sell it but then put the sample board back in their warehouse because it wasn't selling (I'm on the east coast so maybe it hasn't gained popularity as much here). The authorized hallmark dealer that came to my house had a regular sample board. Only one floor was large on the back and the other 5 colors were the 3x6 inch approx. sample cuts. Boo! I hate that they're so small. The only way for me to see a large sample of alta vista would be to purchase a box.

jbknowlt, post some pics after they're installed as well. :-)

jbknowlt, what helped you decide to go with Boen? Is it a brand carried in your local stores? have you heard good things about it?

Did any of you end up installing Alta Vista Laguna?

timsan, My Alta Vista install is scheduled for November 5th, but we chose the color Del Mar. The sample of Laguna I had, had a pinkish or peachy tone to it that didn't go with the style of our house.

A lot of clients will ask for a whole box of flooring to look through the pieces. It helps to get a good idea of what to expect from the entire floor.

Daduran- How are you liking your floors? Do you have pictures of it installed?

timsan - I absolutely love the floors. They've only been installed for about 2 weeks but they are beautiful. I love the matte look of them. They do have a higher variation in color (V4) so some people may not care for them but to me that gives them so much character and so far they've been easy to care for. So much better than tile.

Here's a picture of them being installed. I'll see about taking a better one later today if you're interested. Don't mind the chair. That's where my hubby was sitting in the evenings :)

gretasgarden, we had our Alta Vista floors installed about 6 months ago. Right after installation, I did some stain testing on a sample board and found that they stained more easily than I'd expected, especially with plain old water and greasy things. I did some research on how to remove the stains and had another post here on Houzz, but honestly haven't gotten around to investigating further since then.

In practice... early on, we did notice some light-colored spots around the kitchen sink from water. We stopped this from happening by adding a rug in front of the sink. I've found that I've gotten a bit less nutty about things spilling on the floor, most things seem to clean up pretty well if you wipe them up right away. One of our cats threw up a couple of times on it, and that cleaned up also. I find that the color (Malibu) has quite a bit of character also, and almost any spot that does happen kind of blends in, to where you really don't notice if it's a real stain or if it's the wood. I haven't noticed any scratches (we have 2 cats), it seems to be pretty durable in that regard. I also haven't noticed any sockprints, I'm not sure if those will appear later, or if it's our lighting, or what. We clean it with Hallmark's cleaner, and have applied their renu oil, both of which are pretty easy to use.

Overall... if I had to do it again... the jury is still out. I do really love how it looks and the color, it's a very natural, neutral tone that's not too light or dark. I am less nutty about things spilling, but I'm not sure I want to know what would happen if we had a big sticky messy spill. But generally I don't have any major bad things to say about it, it's holding up well so far.

We are still loving our floors. Getting ready to apply the NuOil Renu product. I would definitely purchase these floors again.

@jbknowit How are your floors holding up? like everyone on this post, i am driving myself NUTS with this decision because it is such a big ticket item and we are wanting to put this in 4,000 sqft!!! i want the european white oak, wide plank finish that is not pinkish or yellow is, that does not stain, low/no maintenance. I am even willing to go higher in budget to achieve this and yet i still cannot find THE right choice. any help would be appreciated as i need to order these asap!

lgmaurer3 , what colors are you considering? We could help you find it, or make it for you :-)

right now i have a sample of the hallmark alta vista line in balboa. I like that light finish, that does not read pink or yellow. does this help? I live in Carmel, Indiana. does anyone here carry your line?

We do work there all the time. Here is my email address joel@oakandbroad.com email me so I can send you some options. Also take a look at our portfolio and reviews here on Houzz.

jbknowit - do you have any issues with the floor if water or oil drops on it? These floors are beautiful but so many of the reviews noted that they spot and stain easily even from small amounts of water in the kitchen. Also, i've been advised by many people not to go with an oil finish as it isn't as durable... so i'm scared of the Hallmark Alta Vista finish. With three boys and likely a dog in our future, I need durable floors! I'm close to buying Pravada Artistique in Eiffel because of durability but I think the Hallmark Alta Vista is prettier. If i could be convinced the Alta Vista would hold up, i think I might change my mind.

First of all these are not Hallmark Alta Vista. They are Boen floors with an oil finish. The rep told me they put oil finish floors in airports in Europe! Not sure if that's really true or not but I fell for it! I decided against the Hallmark because the samples I got from 2 different companies were so different. One was super yellow and one was good. I was too worried I would end up with the yellower floors. No issues with water with the Boen as it just beads up. I haven't spilled oil but I have no stains from anything at all. I wipe up water or any other liquid as soon as I see it. I do have a small rug in front of the sink just in case.

@bardzil I have a sample of the Hallmark Alta Vista in Balboa. Yesterday I did a stain test of my own. I poured ketchup, soy sauce, water and put a piece of avocado on it and let it sit for 12 hours. all wiped up beautifully. Then, I poured some red wine on it (over two planks so it would see what happened in between planks) and let that sit for about 10 minutes. That too wiped up beautifully. I feel much better about Hallmark after this (non-scientific) "test". I am going to review the warranty details to make sure i am covered just in case something unusual happens.

@jbknowit Thank you for your feedback! Your floors are gorgeous!!! What is the price per sqft for your boen floors?

Paid $8.25. Other dealers charged a lot more than the one I found. You really have to shop around!

Where did you get the boen floors? I am in northern CA too.

I got them at Floor Coverings of Marin in San Rafael. He was the cheapest. Other places were charging $2 more a sq ft.

jbknowIt, the pics of your floors are exactly what we're looking for. I just went to the Hallmark showroom today and was leaning toward the Alta Vista Laguna or Cambria but after reading these reviews about staining, water spots I'm very concerned. We have around 5000 sqft so this is a huge decision. I want something that is low maintenance and matte-ish but also with a 4mm or 3mm thickness and without the yellowing or pink you described disliking too. I've brought sample boards back to the house and it's like our house creates either a yellow or gray tone to everything. I have been on Boen's site and have found the Chaletino Oak Coral. There isn't a lot of other technical information. Do you happen to know if it's 3-4mm and do you have any other photos?

snmanning - Boen's site is really hard to navigate that's for sure! They are 4mm. What Boen shows on their site is exactly what mine look like in the Oak Coral. Interesting my floors look great in all light. I admire them every day. I never have a gray or or yellow tone BUT I do have all white walls (Benjamin Moore Simply White). What color are your walls as maybe that is what is throwing off your color????? These 2 pictures are taken at 6:30pm with weird light so you can see. They are darker in the picture than in real life. The first one is taken in a darker corner.

Hi @jbknowit, your floors are stunning! Thanks for sharing. Just curious (and based on your photos farther up), did you run them under your kitchen cabinets, or install after cabinets were in? And what type of installation method did you use? Thanks again!

Yes they are under the cabinets and island. These are installed as floating floors because we have radiant heat under them and were too worried about nailing or gluing. You would never know it. Solid as can be. You can install any way you want to.

Thank you! (and yikes, of course I meant cabinets...too much kitchen stuff and the brain was fried). I had heard that if floating the floor, it should go up to but not under the cabinets, so good to know it IS an option for the floating floor to go under them. I appreciate your response!

@jbknowlt Your floors are GORGEOUS! I too am looking for the same as others here (@lgmaurer3). I was considering Legno Bastone Lafamiglia line but just went to another wood flooring store who told me stay away - samples have tendency to be different color than what you get in your order (he even stopped carrying the line). I've been back and forth as well on oil finish vs aluminum oxide vs xyz. I too have Simply white walls, with similar doors that have black hardware. And ... I LOVE how these floors looks in your home. Time for me to go out and get a Boen sample. Thanks for all your info. I hope you're still loving your floors!

@jbknowlt Update: Just got a quote on your floors - $11/sq ft. OUCH. Of note, guy was also steering me away from oiled finish. I live in South FL. Not sure if that has anything to do with it but ... this guy has more than 20 different manufacturer's products in his showroom and says he stopped carrying the oil finish product lines. My heart wants to believe that your floor doesn't require all that much care. I'll be getting samples delivered to my home on Tuesday. The saga continues.

Wow that's crazy high. You definitely need to shop around. Try for a contractor's discount. Boen actually has a big warehouse in Florida! Sounds like this guy is giving you bs. The problem with the polyurethane finishes is the yellowing factor especially if sun hits them. It's been 13 months with these floors and they still are perfect. I have done nothing to them except vacuum them and an occasional wet swiffer in the kitchen. I should oil them but I haven't yet. They are the most care free floors I have ever had. Trust me, I feel your pain. I am so happy with the floors so that's all I can tell you.

@jbknowlt Wow - that is SO great to hear. I'm glad you are still loving them. Didn't know that Boen has a warehouse here, good to know. I think I'll contact them (Boen) directly and get a list of retailers. Wish I could get a contractor discount. I do know that I am not going to pay $11 sq/ft - that's for sure. Time to shop around. Would love to see more pix of your floors. If you direct message me, I can share my email address (don't want to continue to hijack this Alta Vista thread :-). Oh, one more question - just curious, where are you located?

You can just ask for the discount. I realized that you can negotiate prices. I got almost $3 off a foot, the “contractors discount“. Each floor company has a different price. It’s insane out there! I’m in Northern California. I probably can’t really take any other pics that would be useful as rugs and furniture covers up what I didn’t take before.

@jbknowlt The Boen site recommends gluing the edges of the tongue and groove planks for a floating installation. Do you know if your installer glued your planks together? I also wondered if you installed these in a bathroom or was that deemed too risky. (I am considering installing similar Boen planks throughout an entire one-bedroom condo.)

@jbknowlt did you get a sample from Boen? How do you feel about your floors today? Are you still happy?

@HU - I do not believe they glued the floors as they literally snap into place. Perhaps they did not glue because of the radiant heat? I really can't tell you 100%. We have had them now almost 2 years. No warping, buckling, squeaking, yellowing or anything adverse. We did not put them in the bathroom. I used porcelain tile instead. I did not trust the men in my house to not drip water everywhere! I wanted to and if it were just me I would have.

@ m winston - They look as fabulous as when they were first installed. I am still in love with them. I had gotten a 9' sample from the dealer so it gave me such a better idea of what they would look like. They are the exact same color unlike any other sample I had gotten from other floor companies.

@jbknowit - Thank you for answering my questions and for your generosity in sharing your experiences (and photos!) You've been truly helpful in my decision-making process.

HU - You are welcome. Trust me, I know how hard it is to choose floors...and then you second guess yourself! Good luck!

Thank you, I still need it!

Hi! I’ve found this incredibly helpful - what did you end up using

@jbknowlt Still happy with them?? I'm considering the same one :)

houzz://user/jbknowlt wow, how did you get them for $8.25? I’m getting quotes for $14.50 for Oak White Traditional Chaletino

I had hallmark alta vista pismo installed about a year and a half ago. My husband and I decided to do our whole downstairs in it. The first box didn’t even come close to looking right. We opened a second box and it was worse. After a lot of arguing, the distributer sent a box from a different mill. Again, it is not the right color. Hallmark has been awful to deal with and they just say its a natural product so they can’t guarantee anything, you get what you get basically.

I am not sure if they switched formulas in the last two years, but the color for pismo is very dull and gray now. See pictures. The warm ones are left over from our kitchen and they the gray toned ones are what they are claiming to be the newest color of Pismo. Hopefully this helps someone thinking about Pismo.

@jbknowlt what color are your boen floors? gorgeous

They are Chaletino Oak Coral Engineered White Oak.