A very insightful customer was discussing their flooring project with me the other day and I recommended cork underlayment for her flooring to help alleviate some of the “tap tap” effect that a floating floor can have.
She was so smart to come back and ask the question: Will this void my warranty? The quick answer is no it will not as long as it is equal to or better than the underlayment that meets the flooring manufacturers requirements.
I can’t tell you how often manufacturers will cloud this issue by STRONGLY suggesting that if you don’t use their underlayment (or other components) you will void your warranty. In some cases I have called their call centers and asked questions about this topic and I was blatantly told it WOULD void the warranty. Now the nice person answering the phone is just reading what they were told to say. However, I have the facts on my side so I know that nice call center worker is wrong and when I push it up the chain of command virtually all responsible flooring executives freely admit that substitution of equal or better products is a viable option. Often they will admit that they “upgraded” their own house using that same mentality! (Typically this involves me selling them a upgraded underlayment and educating them about the options.)
So what are the facts? Well as I eluded to in a prior Kahrs Blog Entry there are rules, in fact LAWS, about this general policy despite the knee jerk reaction to say, “THIS WILL VOID YOUR FLOORING WARRANTY!”
Here are some things to know:
1. There is a Federal Law called the Magnuson-Moss Act which precludes any manufacturer from dishonoring a warranty for any product based purely on using an alternative component. The key is that the alternative must be equal to or better than what was required to maintain the warranty coverage to begin with. Because this is a federal law this covers ANYONE and ANYTHING in the United States. There are no exceptions. To read more about it check out Wiki-Pedia.
2. In many cases State Laws give even MORE flexibility to consumers that are trying to put together the best situation.
3. I don’t fault manufacturers for wanting to sell their own underlayment. No problem at all – I WANT TO SELL UNDERLAYMENT TO – I JUST WANT TO DO WHATEVER IS THE BEST UNDERLAYMENT FOR THE CUSTOMER’S SITUATION. And heck, don’t scare people or tell them things that are contrary to Federal Law when they call you to talk about alternatives that may benefit them. That’s just plain silly.
So in closing, when I tell you that you should really work with an iFLOOR expert to engineer the best solution for your project both in terms of the flooring AND the components like underlayment, please know that we are armed with facts. When it is right to substitute we will recommend it and you will be fully covered by the warranty!
