Flooring

Reply to: I am very happy with Provenza Finally Mine.

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Reply to: Gotoran, I still think you know way too much about these products to not be involved in the industry... Comparing SPC and WPC is like comparing apples and oranges. They are two totally different products. Some out there are trying to make SPC in the way WPC is made (ABA construction). They are just opening themselves up to the same delamination issues with WPC. The decorative film is PVC and not vinyl. Lots think you cannot bond the film to the core without vinyl.... lots would be incorrect. In SUPERcore the film along with the wear layer is heat bonded to the core right at the end of the extrusion line at over 350°. This is an adhesive free process. Because the film and the core are of similar construction they fuse into a single unit. WPC and SPC are both waterproof. The delam happens because the vinyl topper expands and contracts at a far greater rate than the WPC core. All it takes is it getting too hot or a chair constantly rolling across it and the adhesive can fail. Adhesive failure accounts for 100% of delamination in WPC flooring - not the WPC core or the Vinyl topper themselves. It's the way the product is made. That Flooring Inc article was better than the last one posted up in here. I've read little from anyone who sell SPC or WPC that knows what the heck they are talking about. You really don't know the product details unless you are neck deep in making the stuff. I'm 100% invested in bringing SPC produced in the best way to market. Alan

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Reply to: Thank you! The tile is Walker Zanger Calacatta Porcelain.

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Reply to: Sure! I t all may depend on the amount of light you have....however yours is beautiful! Also, after living with it for 6 months I can honestly say I LOVE it. We could not do hardwoods because that would mean replacing subfloors...plus I didn't want hardwoods in kitchen. That left engineered, vinyl, and tile. Tile=more grout-I nixed that one. We couldn't be happier:)

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Reply to: We bought the Vesdura XL ridge collection in Blarney which is actually Nexxacore Rainier.

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Reply to: Here are the bedrooms in Fortress.

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Reply to: Ceramic/porcelain flooring in Ontario is not a selling feature. In fact, even in moderate-climate Vancouver tile is something that people rip out once they purchase. If you want to go with tile, then you will need to look at in-floor radiant heating. For an entire home install it could add tens of THOUSANDS of dollars to your renovation (not to mention another 1/2" of floor height). Tile "sounds" great but has TREMENDOUS drawbacks in cold climates. If it were me, I would go with tile in the kitchen/baths/entrance ways and then switch over to a floor that is warmer and will offer plenty of service. LVP is a great floor with tremendous durability. If you stick with the high-end products from Europe (Swiss or German or from a name like Toryls or Wicanders) you will be fine. Finding VOC content is TOUGH. When I worked in the flooring industry, it normally took me 30 minutes of searching a company's website to find the Material Safety Data Sheets and the Technical Specifications (MSDS) on the products (you would have to know how to do a 'hidden' search). This 30 minutes was for each and every floor I was interested in looking at. I estimate I spent more than half a year (working year = 2000 hrs) searching the web for MSDS and Tec Sheets over my 6+ years in flooring. The easiest thing to do is contact the manufacturer and ask for the two data sheets. You will need have chosen a colour from a specific line in their collection. You will need to reference it by name and will need to explain your square footage so that they see that you are a serious customer/purchaser. In N. America, manufacturers must have these data sheets available to the public. They do NOT have to list them on a website. Most require that you ask. Which means you need to know what you are asking about and for. Which means you have to go to flooring stores (not big-box stores) and have seen/handled samples. Whew. Factory finished solid hardwood is SOOOO much easier/safer that just about anything "man made" on the market today - other than porcelain tile.

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Reply to: For those who don't know where VOCs (Volatile Organic Compound) come from, I'll explain (about flooring at least). Most VOCs come from solvents. Many solvents are found in ADHESIVES (the glue that holds stuff together). Solvents are also found in floor finishes. So...anything that has GLUE in it or a finish ON it, will have some sort of VOC content. Now there are SCARY VOCs and then there are benign VOCs (not scary at all). Not all VOCs are equal. Let me explain. Example: I used to sell cork flooring with a VOC content of VOC 50 micrograms made in Switzerland (extremely low). I also sold some with VOC 80 micrograms (out of China no less) = very low VOC. Another product had VOC 160 micrograms (made in Portugal...go figure) that also ranked as "very low". The odd thing is the Chinese VOC content had VINEGAR as the MAJOR component of the VOC content (roughly 30%). Yes. Vinegar (acetic acid to be precise). If you have eaten fries with vinegar, or Sauerkraut, or fish and chips with vinegar or salad dressing with a vinagrette then you have been exposed to MORE VOCs than the mid-range cork floor I used to sell. So it is *POSSIBLE that an engineered floor (if you choose the WRONG ONE) will have as much as TRIPLE the VOC content then vinyl (if you choose the RIGHT ONE). And vice verse. The whole thing HANGS on the concept of "right one" and "wrong one". As for a basement in Minnesota = cork floating floor. The warmest floor (save carpet) that you will ever own. A click together floating floor is a luxury grade floor. I would take cork over any of the above flooring choices - but I am INTENSELY aware of cork and LOVE the characteristics of cork (I don't mind fading, dimpling, scratches, etc). And I am FULLY capable of taking care of cork (I sold it so I'm pretty familiar with it). A wood floor for those who are afraid of VOCs = solid hardwood finished with water based polyurethane with VOC content of 150mg/L (European Standards). Once dried it won't have ANY issues with VOCs. Everything else is a gamble with VOC content. Figure out what you are afraid of and then purchase the thing that has the LEAST of it.

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Reply to: So, I have decided to go with the lvp after seeing bigger samples of the product. With two kids and cats (and not wanting to worry about a floor) I think its the best choice for us. After almost two years of looking at flooring, I cant believe its almost order time!

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Reply to: I chose Monarch Plank Windsor Foxley. 7” European white oak. They have knots though (kitchen pics). I was originally thinking select grade floors but they were way over budget for me...almost 2/3 more: Legno Bastone Guissepina Select. 9/16” x 8 1/2 w x 2’-8’ random lengths (pic with the tile on edge).

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Reply to: @Britta, I know you probably prefer to hear from other home owners who have installed Teka engineered hardwood floors in their houses before. As a seller of Teka floors in the past 12 years in Minnesota, we have been very impressed by the quality, design and value that an engineered brand can provide. Hope you have received the samples you ordered from our site. Please don't hesitate to contact one of us at any time. We will be happy to help you to answer all the questions you may have about this brand.

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Reply to: DuChateau, Hallmark, Palladio, Castilian, and Johnson are all made in China. And they are all good!

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Reply to: here is driftwood being installed at my place. Looks good, next time I would go with Urban Grey for a lighter look.

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Reply to: Desertgal123, We also have royal oak flooring (black tea) and are having an issue with our finish as well. Curious what your issue was and how it worked itself out. Thanks Kelsey

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Reply to: If you're referring to WOCA Wood Cleaner (http://www.wocadirect.com/wood-cleaner/), it should be used before the initial oiling and can be used before subsequent re-oilings. The name is a bit misleading but thankfully there are ready resources these days to find out what a product is for and how to use it. Even then it can be a bit confusing, like when using the Rubio site to determine how to treat your worn floor. Then my Rubio rep. nonchalantly told me ignore all the website instruction, mix the Soap 100:1 in a spray bottle, mist and mop, re-oil the floor every year or two with the same oil as used to finish originally. I'm loathe to admit that my one year old Rubio White oiled floor has only been vacuumed, never mopped. Twice I bought and mixed the Soap and ended up giving them to a customer. I'm an oil convert, as long as people don't mind taking on a little extra maintenance. While spray painting a paneled wall, blasts of air loosened my floor masking. By the time I finished, paint had dried. I carefully scraped, cleaned with some lacquer thinner, sanded with 120 grit paper and re-oiled. It looks flawless. With a poly finish this mistake could have been a disaster. Bona does have a product called Natural Oil Floor Cleaner. I bought one to test but haven't had a chance yet. I'll use it on a showroom floor or my own home rather than a customer's floor. It looks like the one on their website: https://www.bona.com/en-US/Bona-Professional/Products/Floor-Care/Cleaners1/Bona-Pro-Series-Natural-Oil-Floor-Cleaner/ I agree with your take on products. These manufacturers can't all be formulating their own finishes and cleaners. It's probably best to buy the one you suspect is the same as OEM and try it on a sample or a remote section of the floor.

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Reply to: No, I've never dealt with Build Direct. We both order direct from the manufacturer. Bear in mind that samples get a lot of brute wear and tear. I've allowed customers to check out our samples only to have them returned to us covered in construction dust, spilled soda or coffee all over them (no one bothered to clean them up, which can affect the finish), people throwing other objects on them (causing dents and scratches) etc. Personally, I like the oil finishes better than aluminum oxide but there is more maintenance. Don't get me wrong, aluminum oxide finishes are great. They help reduce the amount of scratches penetrating into the wood. They are also UV fade resistant, which is great here in Texas since we have sun most of the time. The reason why I like the oil finish better is the fact that I have to re-oil them once a year..yes more maintenance. I like the idea of doing this so that they will look as if they were just laid again. When re-oiling it will hide all scratches. Also the fact that you get a better wood grain feel versus the smoothness of the aluminum oxide. I like rustic. But that's me, you may not want this added maintenance. Please note, with any prefinished wood floor - Do not use a cleaner that has a wax or a polish in it. You will create a haze on the floor that is virtually impossible to remove. Either you have to have consistent traffic to 'wear' off the haze or have the boards replaced.

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Reply to: The Garrison Collection is an Asian import, while the Anderson Virginia Vintage is still manufactured in the states. True the finish(wear) layer is thicker, but when it comes to hand scraped distressed products I find the wear layer not as important as it is with smooth faced products. Distressed products in my opinion are made with the intention they will be permanent. Trying to refinish is not practical if you want the same look, unless you can find someone willing to do the entire project by hand. Garrison is over priced in my opinion because the same identical product is also handled by Naturally Aged Hardwood flooring. They both buy from the same manufacturer but have different price points. Actually Naturally Aged has a much wider product line as well and handles custom hand scraping and or staining but you have to go through an authorized dealer. The benefit with Garrison or Naturally Aged opposed to the Anderson product is the overall lengths. The Virginia Vintage maximum length is 42 inches whereas Naturally Aged goes up to 60 inches and most are longer length. Both NA and Garrison have a smooth contoured type appearance(probably not good in your case) with the exception of the newer NA heavy distressed. It is practically identical to Virginia Vintage..also same lengths and not 60 inch. Imports are gaining ground and I was not a believer 4-5 years ago on overall quality. But they have come quite a way to realize US consumers will not accept junk and make some pretty good stuff thesedays. Here is a link that might be useful: more about hand scraped hardwood floors

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Reply to: Our Sweet Talker just got installed this week I love it too!!

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Reply to: bardzil, it's Chalentino, Oak Coral

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Reply to: Keshacagle, the pic on the right has two wood samples. Both are from Forest Accents line. The far right one is called Euro Oak Lucerne. It's one of my favorites through the process of choosing but we haven't made our final choice yet. I found a blog with my dream kitchen a couple of months ago and decided to do my floors and some kitchen renovation at the same time. The pic with the darker wood is either DuChateau or LW. I'll check and post.

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Reply to: Look at Craft Floors. They are stunning.

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Reply to: hatram1, We also have Du Chateau vernal oak white oiled. We LOVE how it looks, but after just 2.5 years we have white spots from people walking with wet socks, or white scratches that just won't go away. Have you tried anything to get them out? The parquet cleaner doesn't do anything, and the notion of using the maintenance oil to remove spots is not accurate, at least not for us. We have tried everything they said to do, and it does not remove stains. I still love the look of the floors but feel like they are not going to look good in a few years.

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Reply to: Just came upon this thread, so thought I would add in my recent experience with Du Chateau oiled wood floors. In 2012 we had ours installed in every room of our house except for the bathrooms. We were a little worried about the "raw, unprotected" look of the wood (white oak) before making the leap, but we have absolutely loved them. They are far more durable than they look! We're careful to wipe up spills in the kitchen and dining room asap, but we aren't obsessive about it. We don't have little kids, but we do have a big, rambunctious labrador retriever puppy. :-) Our floors weathered her potty training just fine (we actually WERE obsessive about cleaning up puddles during that phase) and they are not scratched up at all from her bouncing all over the house. The only caution I would give about our particular kind of wood is that a few of the planks have edges that are a bit splintery. That's part of the distressed beauty of it, but it's worth noting to anyone not wanting that rough of a texture.

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Reply to: We've been in our house since February and have the D&M oil-cured oak....it's beautiful and has been no problem to care for. We use the D&M spray cleaner - easy. There have been a a couple of things dropped that caused tiny marks, but they've not even warranted the use of the recommended furniture finish repair stick. But - poly finish would have had a permanent scratch. Love my floors.

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Reply to: Consider Hallmark's Alta Vista and Ventura lines with caution. Those two lines use their NuOil technology and two people with those floors have told us that the finish scuffs off very easily. For one person within a month of installation the stain color was scuffing due to movement from the chairs under the kitchen island, for another the same and within a year several other wear issues arose and they were greatly disappointed. We fell in love with the Alta Vista Coronado floors but decided the durability was too much in question. We're now looking for a similar-looking substitute. @thehype, what have you decided? Please let us know, and can anyone else tell of their experience with these floors???

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