I found this thread because I just got off the phone with my wife who informed me that replacement slings for our set of six Telescope chairs will be $780.00! That is a very tough pill to swallow, and like many here we weighed this heavily against just getting a cheaper set from HD, Costco, or any number of stores. Our set is about 10 years old to date (purchased summer of 2010) and the aluminum frames, table, and umbrella have held up extremely well (we do store them inside for winter though). Ultimately, I decided to stick with these and pay the exorbitant price for a few reasons: - The rest of the set is extremely high quality. I feel good each year when I pull it out of storage - heavy duty powder coated aluminum construction that has lasted well and still looks 9/10 after a spring wipe-down. - It does bother me how much importation has changed - pushing us toward a throw-away-away-and-buy-another culture. I do feel like we enjoy additional quality on these American made items (not always the case). - Less and less stuff is American made any more. As an engineer and a maker, I miss the days when we made most of the best stuff here. This set still exemplifies that quality. It's a little thing, but something I rarely get to enjoy these days. - After 10 years, with very little degradation (other than the fabric slings), I know what to expect from this set, and feel confident that they will last another 10 years easily with new fabric. The convenience of going 10-12 years between having to think about this, or take a gamble on something potentially less durable is worth something to me. Surely, I'll be feeling the sting of this bill in about a month (so good thing I'm writing this now!), but I thought I'd share what tipped us to reinvesting in this very expensive set. Pic when new April 2010:

It's so exciting getting new wood floors! I know you'll love them. The absolutely most important thing you can do to keep your floors looking nice is to keep them clean and free of sand or grit. As for protecting them from furniture scrapes, definitely put some kind of protector pad on them. I have both the plastic kind and the felty kind right now. Both work fine as long as there isn't grit on the floor. One thing about the felty/carpet kind, grit or sand will stick to them, and will scratch your floor if the furniture is moved, especially if there is weight. As an example, if someone slides their chair or stool out without lifting their weight, and there is sand or grit in the pad, you'll get a nice scratch. Our new dining room chairs have the plastic pads, and we don't have one scratch. But I clean my floors on my hands and knees, and I clean the bottom of the chair and stools each time. One thing I don't like about the felty kind, especially if you have pets, the pet hair really sticks to them. Looks bad if you don't keep them cleaned. Another good idea is to have a very durable finish on your floors. We've used Glitsa in our last two homes, and it's superb. Oh, and taking off shoes worn outside will help too. Hard to do, I know, with little ones running in and out.

I have found the answer to this after going up the felt pad route which I found was not very good If the chairs are in constant use . I had a eureka moment and decided to cut up pads with a sharp knife from a thick real leather belt I stress the belt must be about 3mm to 4mm thick and real leather not faux leather. I then bought a mitre glue kit ( which is super glue with a spray on activator ) I then cleaned the bottom of the chair leg to remove any glue from where the felt pads had been then degreased with a spirit cleaner .when the chair leg was dry I applied the glue to the leather pad then sprayed the bottom of the chair leg with activator and placed the pad on firmly. One note of caution super glue can do real damage if you spill it on your furniture so make sure when using it you cover up anything and be very careful where you put the super glue down. My chairs have now been in service for a month now pads are fine and floor is fine.

Your worry is about leaks in the pipes that damage any wood floors. So, get a whole house leak detector and get the hardwood - engineered or otherwise. I just ordered this: https://www.phyn.com/product/ . The other one that is highly recommended is Flo by Moen. They detect leaks through pressure changes and typical water usage. Also under the dishwasher put a dishwasher drip pan and buy a dishwasher that has a water shut off if it detects a leak. The drip pan channels the water to the front of the DW so that you will see the water before damage is done. https://www.amazon.com/Eastman-EZF70486-70486-Dishwasher-Black/dp/B00WQRKDNY/ref=asc_df_B00WQRKDNY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167125770928&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2371089925326721163&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032027&hvtargid=pla-312054148738&psc=1 I just installed 1700 sq ft of engineered flooring and I don't want to do it again due to water leaks. So I am doing the above. If there was a pan for the refrigerator, I would put one there too. But, the leak detector should solve most of my worries. I live in East Bay and houses move and I was told that engineered wood can tolerate that better than hardwood. In the laundry I installed vinyl planks which I have to say, I really love as it is super easy to clean up, no worries about water damage. It is a gray plank and weirdly I have gotten compliments from neighbors thinking it was "real wood"...