I spoke with a Tony Miraldi from Somerset flooring. Basically their warranty does not cover scratches, dings and dents. If you spill anything on the floor, you are to wipe it up with their special spray cleaner. I don't know if they no longer sell this flooring, or changed the name. Wouldn't surprise me.. Here's another link I found. It's all a nightmare.

Joni, can you copy & post the link? It looks like you posted a photo so I cannot access the article. Thx.

I called Sommerset. This is what they emailed to me. It's difficult to read so I will send better pics. It was a pdf & I can't copy and paste as an attachment.

Lily,

Thank you so much for putting forth the extra effort to call and post this. :)

Mom2sulu, no problem. Like I said above I want the truth so I can make an educated decision. Good luck!

Regardless of where their product is made, it's not quality flooring in my opinion. I so regret having it installed.

Joni, I do sympathize with you. Can yours not be refinished? That is what has drawn me to the Somerset. They can be refinished after wear. (I do understand that they are new though and you wish they were ten + years old before having to do this.) I would also hate to do that, but it is my backup plan in case they do show wear quickly instead of just having to rip them out.

I was told it's not advisable to do so :(

That must be something that was specific to the line you chose, I guess. I just looked at the one we are thinking about and it specifically states that it can be refinished. Is it a thin board? That is the only thing I can think of that would prevent it from being refinished.

Thank you everyone for the updates on this product.

This is what I have.

I bought and had hardwood professional installed over a year ago. I also researched the company and to my surprise when the shipment came in I noticed "made in China" everywhere! I was upset but got over it because I thought the hardwood was nice looking. Now a year later I can say I'm OK with my decision but I don't know if I would buy the same brand. I had carpet previously that was over 10 years old so the hardwoods look beautiful compared to what we had...

I have some big scratches too, but with my aluminum oxide finish, the scratches aren't getting in the actual wood, just in the finish - but they are noticeable and make me so mad everything time I see a new scratch. I have two little rat terrier dogs ... and they haul A$$ through the house every time a commercial comes on with a door bell ringing..

Just when I thought I was done buying the wood and paying the contractor, I freaked about dents and scratches so I paid over $1000 for two 8 x 10 rugs, lots of runners, and smaller rugs - my husband was like - " who buys all this new flooring and then covers it up? " LOL - that would be ME. Of course I cant cover all the wood so that's where the scratches come in.

All hardwoods will dent. I have a softer wood (birch) so I knew I was going have dents and dings if things fell. I wanted hickory which is harder but it couldn't afford it. But hickory will dent too. Women who where stilettos - oh those will kills your floors. LOL.. There is so much that can harm hardwoods. I even have it in my kitchen so I'm always on high alert.

Joni Smith - I noticed your pics showing where the hardwood has chipped some. I had one similar mark and I bought one of those furniture markers and touched up the area. Maybe that will help you?? I have some gaps too since mine are almost 5" wide.

Here's a pic of my big scratch that the sun highlights everyday at the perfect time... I joke now that the dogs nails gives a whole new meaning to "handscraped" and it isn't in a good way! LOL

I'm not a high heel wearer, sneakers and flip flops are my thing. I couldn't imagine what this floor would look like if we had children. We have it in the kitchen and dining room, so I don't want to cover it up, defeats the purpose of having a floor. I wish I could invite all you to my house. Is give each of you a furniture marker and you could color away. This is NOT my first experience with hardwood flooring. I've also been in many houses which have hardwood flooring. My daughter's floors have been in her house over 10 years, look better than these. Dropped a pliers on the floor today, didn't dent it, took out a nice chunk this time. People come to my house and say, oh my goodness, what's wrong with your floors. Guess it's a sign of the times...shoddy products. Would NEVER NEVER buy or recommend Somerset Flooring to anyone.

oh man, sorry to hear that. I didn't realize your hardwoods were that bad. I didn't buy that brand but it's good you are sharing your experience- maybe it will help someone in the future.

I'm the opposite - I was all for covering up the floor with quality rug pads and decent rugs (found them on sale at C&B) especially under my kitchen table... I'm fine with only seeing the hardwood outline the rooms. You and my husband are on the same page about not covering them up. I see both sides :)

Do you put felt pads on the bottom of the dining room chairs? If not, I could see why scratches and dents are occurring. I have a bar area in my kitchen with three stools that touch the hard wood. I put felt guards on them but they don't stay on the great. We rarely sit there though. I also put felt pads under almost everything that touches the hardwood (trash can, dog food bin, furniture, etc). I honestly went a little nuts after the floor got installed, especially when I saw the first big scratch that I assumed came from the dogs. I ordered those stupid dog shoes but that didn't last five minutes. Then I tried locking them up in the basement but that didn't last either.

As time went on I got use to the scratches. One day a mini screw driver fell, I'm talking super light, and bam - dent in the floor. I was pissed. But I try to remind myself the overall hardwood looks great and I try not to focus on the scratches and dents.

If we didn't have dogs I think we would be fine - but their nails kill the floor. We love the little turds though so I guess we'll have to deal with the floors getting scratched here and there.

I'm a big joker so I always tell my husband the hardwood (which I doubt will last over 15-20 years) will be the next home owner's problem...

Here is my rug under the table. You can see a slight outline on the left hand side - that is the thick rug pad underneath (it cost more than the rug itself).

More rugs.. and the two to blame for scratches!!!

Joni, what type of wood do you have? Oak, maple, etc.?

Mrshayne, dogs...sometimes I think they are worse than kids! I have 2 biggish dogs. I am getting natural oak for that reason. It matches their hair & I have read it will show less scratches. It's wood flooring. I know it's gonna scratch. I was going to go with tile at first but I really don't like tile, the grout, the hardness. I love the warmth of wood so that's what I am getting. If it looks bad after awhile & I am sure it will, I will have them refinished.

Lily, they are gunstock oak. Not only are felt pads under everything, I even made felt booties to go on top of the felt pads. One should not have to fear living in their own house.

AND, I'm 5'2", weigh 150. Not my ideal weight, but hardly enough to be denting the floor when I sit. Same for my husband.

Joni Smith - sorry to see those :( Are those markings basically everywhere or just high traffic? Either way, I'm not standing up for the hardwood, I'm just curious... I would be just as upset if I were you.

It's one thing to move into a house a find out the hardwood sucks, but to pick it out yourself and pay for it, gosh that has got to be hard. I have doubted my hardwood choice too.

Also, are yours engineered or solid? not that it should make a difference, but I am curious since you said it wasn't advised to refinish them. (I assumed you had eng. floors then). Of course, mine are solid and when I asked about refinishing mine the guy told me it would never be needed (yeah right!)... I think it's more like they don't recommend because the finish might not look good.. who knows...

Lily Spider - good choice on going lighter with the floors. It will definitely help. We had light orange oak in the foyer before replacing it and I NEVER noticed the dog hair with the lighter floor.

I'm 100% serious, that when I vacuum, sweep, clean, pick up, wipe, etc on the floors - they literally look decent for about 4 minutes. I have vacuumed and walked back thru the same area 5 minutes later and new dog hair is on the floor (and the dogs aren't even close or in that area) it's like the hair and dust is floating and always landing on the floors no matter what I do. I just learned to live it. But if I could do it over, I think I would go a little lighter. (I can't even imagine express color floors)...

I think you'll like the wood over tile. You're right - tile is so hard and cold to touch. Wood is much warmer and I think it looks great in most spaces.

Thx! I am super excited to see it all come together! Yes, if you are going to have dogs you must make peace with the hair :)

We just had the solid somerset character white oak installed this march :( wish I saw this site before!!! Within months most of the floor has cracked, chipped, splintered and the finish has even worn!!! Within 3 months!!!! I'm just disgusted with this company!!!!!!! Over 800 SQ FT... I will post one of the many!! We haven't any kids yet! It is only my husband and I!! No high traffic!! I posted a example just a few but this is happening to the entire floor...

Omg Joni, I'm sooo sorry for you as well!! What a nightmare...We are in the process of having the issue resolved haven't a clue what they will do for us!

But I see this as a on going problem and I really hope the owner of the store will make right on this!

For one thing, I do not want a replacement floor from Somerset!! The quality/integrity just isn't there! It's ridiculous!!!!! I never seen anything like this and the owner has pulled this wood from his shelf! At least we can help others not purchase such S*%#. However, I can't imagine the owner being ok with selling it to us :(

Oh and back to what you were saying... Are they serious calling it a installation issue??? I mean what about the ware of the finish ect.... Ugh What a headache, I have read their warranties and I have never seen so many stipulations it's a joke ...

I hope everything works out please keep me posted and I'll do the same!

It looks like we are going to court. My flooring company, after 2 inspections, still refuses to take responsibility and make this right.

Somerset hardwood flooring is an inferior product. When it was first installed it looked beautiful. Then after about a year hairline fractutes started appearing. The floor also easily dents. We have had hardwood floors in our previous homes and have never had this problem. Don't buy this product. Pay a little more and get something with better quality.

thank you for your posts. I have a sample of Somerset Classic in my home and was going to order tomorrow. We have literally been searching for a month and I thought I found "the one". Do you think it is better made now? I really don't know what brand to use. Scratches seem to be everyone's complaint, but chips? I cannot find a manufacturer without problems. I get more confused every day.

In a previous post, I said I had the Character Oak. The only problem I am having with it after 10 months is my dogs have scratched it. They are both 60 lbs and one has very long thick nails that never seem to get shorter no matter how much I cut them. When they see a squirrel or a deer they basically "scoobie doo" on my floor. I am not sure any would floor wouldn't scratch under those circumstances. It's one of the reasons I went with a natural color character oak. Scratched wood doesn't bother me tho. It's a floor. Flooring gets abused. I had LVT before this that I disliked so much, and I am so happy with the the way the wood looks and feels underfoot.

A harder wood like Hickory may have scratched less but it isn't what I wanted.

We have Bruce Engineered Hickory in our basement and that floor is as tough as nails. The dogs can barely scratch it with their nails. I don't have a single complaint about that floor. Engineered is more expensive than traditional hardwood and can only be sanded 2-3 times at most. How many times are you going to sand and stain your floor? Engineered flooring might be something to consider if you haven't already. Over time, if you live with other people and animals stuff will start to wear and break etc. it is impossible to keep that from happening.

We installed Somerset Color Strip Collection Gunstock on White Oak in 2011. We have had zero issues with the flooring product. Yes, it shows dog hair, but that is not unique to Somerset. There are some dents where I have have managed to drop my laptop on its corner but no checking, chips, splitting anywhere. It is installed in the family room, kitchen, powder room, laundry closet and hallway to the garage. All are high traffic areas and get wet when it rains, snows and dirty frequently. Grandkids have played on it extensively. No issues. I'm pleased with the floor.

I purchased 2400 sq ft of hand scraped white oak (Country buttercup) back in 2011 and I am perfectly happy with it. I have dogs and cats without a problem. I would buy it all over again if I had too. I also use their (Somerset) cleaning products to maintain it.

onno106 - I see you may have purchased based on the sample. be sure the product delivered is the same as the sample. My experience is that Somerset samples far exceed what they deliver.

I just installed 850ft of Somerset solid strip 3 1/4" naturals white oak. No complaints at all. Great wood and the boxes were nearly halfway full with boards 4ft plus. Only about 15sq ft of wood that I had to cull during install.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the greasy finish of these floors. We got the prefinished gunstock oak. My sister-in-law thought it was laminate; it has a glossy plastic quality that just doesn't feel at all like hardwood. I have two kids and of course their little oily feet add to the smeary quality. So glad we only did two rooms. Will be replacing at some point with pretty reclaimed heartwood pine...

> My experience is that Somerset samples far exceed what they deliver.

I was all set to buy Somerset Color Plank Red Oak until I found this thread.

If not Somerset, then what would people recommend?

I have had the country collection in my home for over 10 years! Love it!

I have Somerset Country Collection 5 inch Buttercup flooring, and love it. I have been looking for more of it because of doing a renovation, and it is not made anymore. Does anyone have any left over?

Look it up on the Sometset website. I'm going through the same thing. I believe it is under Handcrafted instead of the country collection. I also have buttercup. I googled a couple sites and they have it under handcrafted. Looks exactly the same!!

Yes, but it is engineered, so we would have to do 1/4 inch underlay, which we may do, to bring it to the same height.

I am surprised at the poor quality of Somerset hardwood floors. Five months ago we installed 1200 sqft of Somerset classic red oak in Mystic. Now I see cupping, splitting, buckling all over the floors. A licensed GC installed the floors. He followed all the rules. I personally checked it when it was installed. Looked beautiful after installation. Just in 3 months we started seeing all those problems. I have no damp basements, no problem with air conditioning. It's a 15 year old house which had beautiful hardwood already with no problems. We had to rip it out because we wanted to extend it to nearby rooms and couldn't match the existing floor. Here are some pics. Hard to see it here but 10% of the floors have similar cracks. The last thing I want to do is rip out all those floors again.

Expensive.

@Jennifer Fuller-school, my problem seems to be similar to yours. How did you resolve the problem?

I would suggest having a NWFA inspector come out right away.

Thank you Oak & Broad. I was thinking if it is worth it. I spoke to the retailer and Tony Miraldi of Somerset. Some info was passed but other than that It doesn't seem to go anywhere. I will find an inspector asap.

Here is your link to find one.

Cupping generally points to an acclimation issue that is the responsibility of the installer, not a manufacturing issue. The manufacturer can make installation recommendations but isn't responsible for things out it their control. What was the moisture level in the flooring upon delivery? Unless the new wood was out of the generally accepted range, that's not an issue. What was the moisture level in the subfloor prior to installation? What was the indoor relative humidity before, during and after installation? An inspector will likely ask for these numbers to determine a cause. What is it the indoor humidity level now?

Acclimation related cupping may resolve itself after a full year of seasonal changes. The tiny flaws in your close-up pictures could probably be touched up but the pervasive cracking/splitting would worry me.

The advice to find an independent inspector and pay for an inspection is good advice.

JF Co, I don't think my GC took any moisture readings. The wood was left inside the house to acclimate for 5 days before installation. The GC says he installs flooring all throughout the year and never had cupping issue before. I don't know what is the indoor humidity level. Should I buy a hygrometer? Which one do you recommend?

The NWFA inspectors I spoke to charges aweful lot of money, like in $$$$. Maybe I should save my money if I need to replace the flooring.

Would you spend $$$$$ money having an operation and rationalize that it's smart not spending $$$ money to receive a proper diagnosis first? If you don't understand why the floor has an issue you risk repeating the same mistake.

A hygrometer is an excellent thing to have in your home. I've bought several on Amazon with a memory feature and a separate remote unit that I use for logging humidity and temperature on job sites with questionable conditions or where a more sensitive floor will be installed. When I get time I'll look back at my buying history and see if I can find a link.

Thanks. Just ordered one on Amazon. I will start monitoring the RH.

Can I wait one season before inspection? I would like to see if the wood settles down some. The house had 2 1/2" wood floors before. Never noticed any problems other than regular wear and tear. I think it was prefinished white oak. Now I have 3 1/4" prefinished red oak.

The contractor insists he did nothing wrong though he didn't take the MC readings.