Q: Mr. Simonson -
I recently read an article on your Web site concerning a company called Floors Today (http://www.ifloor.com/steve/2007/03/floors_today_gone_tomorrow.html). We recently purchased 12mm laminate flooring from Floor & Décor that our installer had a real hard time putting in, which he is claiming is because of poor milling. My new floor is now buckling and is uneven in many places. I noticed the Floors Today logo on the box and after doing some research was told by the store that Armstrong is now selling the flooring I purchased. In any case, we are in the process of trying to get our money back for the flooring and for the removal of the flooring so we can have another floor properly installed.
I was wondering if you have heard of any similar problems with the install of flooring purchased from Floors Today and if you could pass along any contact information for installers that had similar problems.
Sincerely,
Jim K
Jim was forwarded my way by Steve to make sure we could get the think tank together to give the best advice. Now I have had a good string of emails back and forth with Jim getting some information. Here is the ground work information we have:
Jim has this installed over a plywood subfloor using Sound Solution Vapor Bloc (foam) underlayment which is the best underlayment sold by Floor & Décor.
The common problems for a floor raising up seem to be null here. Normally this problem is a moisture issue, but the wood subfloor and underlayment type makes this extremely unlikely.
After speaking with Jim, he gave me a bit more info from his installer:
Yeah, I don’t think that it is a moisture issue either. Plus, it was just installed earlier this month. The store has already sent out an inspector who will turn out a report in a couple of weeks (he is looking at install procedures, tolerance, moisture, etc.), so any information you can pass along to me would be great. I happen to think that it was poor product quality and that my installer is correct (incorrect milling). Instead of it clicking together easily like it was supposed to, most of the pieces had to be forced/hit into place with a hitting block.
Jim sent along a few pictures to show us exactly what was going on. As you can see below, the floor raises up in various areas.
A: By looking at the pictures poor milling is a possibility here. I talked briefly with Steve via email as he wanted to make sure you were being taken care of and he mentioned something that is good to note here:
“My guess is that Floor and Décor sold them seconds that they bought at auction from floors today. That was also discussed on the blog to be careful of these kinds of “opportunity” buys.”
I tried to find a similar Armstrong product, but had no luck, so my guess is that Steve’s hunch is right. This being said, I would contact a licensed inspector and have him come out, hopefully on a day your installer will be available, in order to get a definitive answer on your situation. Without looking at the floor directly myself, I can’t give you a defined “here’s the problem…” statement, but the poor milling idea is strong, especially when viewing your photos.
Make sure you keep on the store’s tail about this, to ensure they don’t let you slip through the cracks. No matter how good a company is, this can happen from time to time (we’re all human in the end). Also, make sure if they want any inspectors to come out that these are third party so that there is no worry of bias.
End Result: Sometimes cases truly do require an inspector to ensure, especially when manufacturer defect (such as poor milling) comes into question. No matter how likely it may seem to be one problem, without seeing the site first hand its impossible to give a definitive answer, which is why Jim is ensuring the inspection done is in good detail (and hopefully ends in his favor and is similar to our hunch).
