Ali Crookston, Hi Ali, curious what problems you've had with your flooring, and where you're located, and if you've done anything to resolve? Thanks!

Hi! Does anyone have a photo of utopia they’ve installed?

HU-424030088 did you end up using Lark? We're looking at that now but not finding many pics online. Would love to see it if you used it. Thanks!

Man I thought for sure I would end up getting paradigm conquest estate floors after finding out my #1 choice (Provenza Road Trip) is backordered a few months. Thinking now I should just wait :/

Is everyone having issues? Maybe just a bad batch? My local flooring store told me they have had no issues/complaints after I brought up this thread.

Well after reading this I am so unsure about purchasing Citadel from Paradigm for my home. Has anyone gotten any response from the company regarding these issues?

@carmail ended up just going for Provenza- Road Trip. didn't want to risk it with Paradigm. It's backordered but at least i'll have peace of mind, even if there was just a bad batch of Paradigm

Thank you @Sophia Larkin we decided to go with the Paradigm Performer Plus collection, not the Conquest collection. The positive Paradigm reviews far outweighed any negative ones, so hopefully we can add the positive!

@carmail I am close to order Paradigm Performer Plus and would love to hear how its going for you. I am also wondering if you used an additional underlayment.

Yes, use a waterproofing underlayment. We used thick plastic. the installer agreed it was a good idea over concrete. although it comes with its own underlayment, it is thin, and, so, quite hard. if you had hardwood floors with a soft underlayment before before, then this will feel quite hard. It is not as cold as tile, but colder than wood. we have had ours for a year - no problems. but make sure your floor is completely level, or it might have problems.

I’m wondering if the installers used the the “tapping block” that paradigm’s installation guide says is specifically created for installing their planks? It may be a marketing ploy, but I wonder if maybe everyone who is having issues with theirs were ones where the installers didn’t use Paradigm’s tapping block?

Tapping blocks can be used for all vinyl plank installations. our installer didn‘t use one, but really whacked them in we have has one problem with a block that split in a well traveled area, so we are hoping it can be repaired

Hi! This thread has been helpful since we are considering Paradigm Conquest in Chateau or Tower does anyone have more pics of Chateau installed?

Also, I know they have changed the locking mechanism for install recently- I am curious how everyone’s floors are holding up and if anyone has installed in the last few months?

I just had 1300 sq ft of Paradigm Conquest Windsor installed using a professional installer. We are on a concrete slab and used an underlayment recommended by the online company that sold the flooring. The flooring is beautiful and we are very happy with it. The installer used a rubber mallet to engage the locking mechanism. At the end of the 3rd day there was one place that popped at a butt joint. When i pointed it out to the installer, he used the mallet on it - hitting it pretty hard - after this, it no longer popped. Here is the flooring and the mallet that they used.

We have paradigm Tower. Beautiful flooring at first….but is popping up everywhere! Very disappointed considering we had about 3000 feet installed.

For those of you who got Paradigm on your stairs, are your stair nose pieces completely flush with the treads?

@Teresa Davis would love to see photos of your floor! are they still holding up ok?

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@Mugen Power ours is almost flush, just a very slim lip that's barely noticeable. We're happy with how flat it is.

I’m currently installing Paradigm conquest in my basement. Wanted to try it out there before deciding on flooring in the rest of the house. It’s absolutely beautiful and high quality, but the install is tough. No room for error or it won’t lock properly.

Thanks for that, @carmail. I noticed that at the very top stop, it seems to be a better match in height between the landing and the nose, but on the rest of the steps, the nose piece is slightly higher than the stair treads. Is that the same for yours?

@Mugen Power I just looked again and also felt the difference. It is the same on the top step/landing as the rest of the stairs.

Thank you for checking, @carmail

Anyone Install Paradigm Conquest Palace? Would love to see pics, is it as dark in person as the photo on back of sample appears?

Looking to install Paradigm Conquest in a new home, but supplier doesn’t have the sample colors I’m interested in. It appears that Paradigm’s website colors differ from actual color - also depends on the lighting. Am looking to contact Paradigm to find other suppliers in my area but am unable to find a contact # or email for them. Does anyone have this info? Thank you so much!

I have about 1400 sq ft of Paradigm Conquest Fortress laid over a concrete slab. The floor looked fine when I purchased the home 20 months ago, but over the past year the planks are starting to pop up everywhere. Really disappointing! Can they be repaired? Any advice is much appreciated!

it looks like they are buckling possibly from lack of expansion room, there is supposed to be a 1/8 gap (or something like that) where the floor meets the wall (under base boards) for the floor to ”float”. side note- these floors are not the best. They are really finicky IMO

Has anyone experienced problems with Paradigm's flooring "creaking" when walking on it? We had Paradigm Longboard installed almost two years ago and reinstalled with a new batch within several months of the first install and still no change. The creaking continued. I finally pushed to have a representative from Paradigm come out and take a look at it and he claims there is no problem. Neither the installer nor the company want to accept responsibility. They treat us like we're being picky. I can accept a place or two where the floor may creak, but an entire 700 square foot unit? I don't think so. The floor didn't creak before we had Paradigm installed so I know it isn't the subflooring.

We had 1,800 sf of Paradigm Waterproof EWC 20MIL (Guava) installed in March. We have experienced a problem that I’m curious if anyone else has had, because we have been told by everyone up the food chain that they have never seen this before—including the installer, contractor, flooring sales person, flooring rep, flooring distributor inspector, and an independent inspector hired by Elite Flooring (that makes Paradigm). We have had a dark gray, tacky, adhesive-type substance coming up between the seams in several areas on our flooring. I can get it to move around with a damp microfiber cloth, but it doesn’t really come up. I could get it off better using my fingernail, and a contractor helper was going to take GooGone to it! I’m not saying it wouldn’t work, but I KNOW that would void any possible warranty if they did that. The flooring was installed the end of March, after having been stored in our 66º house. We discovered the problem in June after we returned to the house, which was still had ram board over part of the flooring in the main pathways the contractors were using. The problem was occurring under the area protected by the ram board as well. Each inspection reported that it was a failure of the product, yet each time we got kicked up another level before anyone would tell us what would be done about it. When Elite’s own distributer’s inspector determined it was a product failure, they initially told us that we would be refunded our money so that we could choose a product outside of their lines, but then they came back requiring an independent inspector of their choice, which took another 3 weeks. It has taken over 3 months, and while we now have been approved for a refund for materials, who will pay for labor to remove and install the new flooring is still being disputed. IF YOU HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM, please report it. They need to know. We believe the problem was that the pad applied was narrower than the adhesive, which resulted in overspray that continues to work up between the seams. Yet everyone that looked at it that should have recognized it, didn’t. We just happened to see a piece (Off of the sample board) that did not have this extra gray stuff, that we assumed was part of the waterproofing material, with the pad covering the entire bottom of the board.

Note: This flooring is a floating installation, not glued down. The glue/goo is coming from the product itself.

We're considering Paradigm Conquest in Tower and looking to see more photos and hear feedback. Is anyone able to open the facebook group for adding new members? Any other info on install or quality issues?

The only thing about this Paradigm Conquest waterproof collection is that they only have 4-pattern repeats. This means you will see duplicate planks next to each other when installing on the floors. We ended up choosing the Medieval Floors Super SPC Collection 10mm thickness 30mil wear layer waterproof for our main house and their Marseille Collection 8mm for our rentals with their 8-pattern and 16-pattern repeats with nicer pricing at some of our local shops. The more patterns repeat, the better, as you don't see duplicate planks next to each other. Hope this helps!

Floors installed less than a year…

Floors installed lesss than a year…

Mutiple places boards look like they are delaminating on end.

I have had Paradigm Conquest installed for two years. Horrible product. Its cupping and buckling in spots. Nobody wants to take ownership. Installer didnt put mousture barrier between concrete and floor because instructions didnt say to do it (they do now-interesting). Flooring retailer told me they were waterproof and to just lay tham down (they are waterproof from top down, not ground up). Manufacturer doesnt care (probably have too many claims). I am at a loss as i paid for these floors once already!!!

@nicki flanagan, did you file a claim?? i have Tower also…

Thank you for all of this information. It seems like this flooring brand has a lot of issues. We were just about to order it for our entire house. We will not be ordering now.

Do you guys recommend any other flooring brand? We liked the Conquest Citadel color.

We ended up switching from an LVP to Mohawk RevWood Plus, which is a laminate that has a “WetProtect” lifetime surface and subfloor waterproof warranty, maximum scratch protection, and a lifetime “All Pet” warranty against pet stains. We are SO happy we decided to switch from LVP to this laminate, for a couple of reasons. We are still getting the water protection benefit of the LVP, while also getting the durability of a higher quality laminate, and for less money. Another huge plus, in our opinion, is that the “grain” in the surface of the laminate is visual without being abrasive. The Paradigm flooring was actually rough enough that I could not run a dust mop across the boards easily, only in the directions the boards were laid—which isn’t always the most convenient way of doing things. The laminate is enough smoother than this is not an issue, and is also MUCH more comfortable on bare feet, and gentler on socks and the knees of our little grandies crawling across it.

Just my $0.02.

I should have said, switching from the Paradigm LVP that we had issues with, as shown in previous photos.

I installed Paradigm Performance Plus Falcon and have issues with a majority of the floor creaking and in some areas the T&G seperating. I should have known when installing how easy it was for the floor to come apart and chip. Getting ready to pull it up and do tile.

Yep, that sounds about right

We had approx. 1000 sqft. of Paradigm Conquest in Tower installed two months ago. We immediately noticed cracking and popping noises when walking on it. What's weird is that this is throughout the entire space, not just one area. So hard to believe this is due only to flatness issues.

We see the board joints moving vertically with respect to the adjacent board / joint. This is on a brand new floor. Feels like the locking mechanism isn't very secure, allowing the boards to move and make noise.

Had paradigm conquest installed two months ago. Creeks amdnpops when walking. Scratches very easily. Crap product. wish we had gone with Gaia. We put red series in Casita. Much better product

@santabarbaramike, Are you located in Santa Barbara, CA? I am as well, and having the exact same problems with a recent Paradigm Conquest install. Popping and cracking. Would love to learn more about who did your install(s). Did the same installer install Gaia without issue? Thanks!

Does anyone have Paradigm contact information? I can't locate it on their website and warranty information.

Its by design. An attorney would probably be easier.

Quick update from my side. We had approx. 1000sqft of Paradigm Conquest installed approx. 5 months ago. We had horrible popping and crackling noise issues from day one. My wife described it as like walking on rice crispy treats.

We just had the entire floor removed. Upon removal we inspected many of the Paradigm planks and found the locking mechanisms to be fully intact, but seemingly loose. The locked boards could move vertically with respect to adjacent board, at the joint. We hypothesized that the crackling noise was due to the combination of movement at the locking mechanism and the very hard SPC material at the locking mechanisms. The movement and most likely small slip / release when the friction in the locking mechanism is overcome, we believe, led to the two very hard surfaces of the locking mechanism snapping into contact with respect to each other, leading to the clicking or crackling sound. It appears that the SPC material has no physical damping characteristics due to its extreme hardness, so is very noisy with any movement. Some planks were worse than others, all presumably from the same lot. This led us to wonder if there's possibly a quality control issue. This was on a concrete sub floor that our installer believed to be within specifications.

We reinstalled the entire floor with a different SPC brand that is now much, much quieter. We noticed that the locking mechanism on the new brand appeared to be more secure with no observable movement.

This has been such a painful process with so much time and energy wasted. If I were to do this again, I would either not use a SPC material, or be very sure that the product has a tight locking mechanism with no movement and very good quality control.

Someone asked how to contact Paradigm. From what I've observed, it's my opinion that Paradigm is somewhat a virtual company with no real operational presence. Tri-West LTD. in Santa Fe Springs, CA appears to be the importer and distributor, and handles everything related to this product. They're probably your best bet for any Paradigm issues or support.

Thank you

I had Pardigm luxury vinyl installed throughout my home in 2018, apparently when the manufacturer was not recommending a moisture barrier. Yesterday I had to have a small section of it replaced because there was moisture in the concrete (it was actually wet), which caused a hard, salty substance to seep up through the boards (efflorescence?) and eventually cause the edges to degrade. The installer who did the repair added a moisture barrier to the area, but recommends I have all the flooring reinstalled, because I may continue to have this problem. He said he'll help me with a claim, but it will require the original installer to confirm that the moisture barrier was not recommended at the time of installation. I may pursue a claim (I have nothing to lose), but if that fails, I'm going to ride it out and deal with it one board at a time.

Elite Flooring was ultimately who the warranty was determined by. However, the claim process resulted in inspection reports by the installer, the contractor, the dealer, the distributed, and after they all determined it was a manufacturing issue, Elite Flooring still required an independent flooring inspector send a report of findings to them, and after that a decision was made in our favor.

It was no small job, took a ton of research on my part, tenacity, patience and not taking No for an answer.