Your experience has been identical with ours. We thought it was something we had done - but the more we live with it, the more we suspect that it's a fault with Mannington's Hickory product. As a consumer this is reprehensible. It's interesting to note how Mannington brags in their sales literature how well their product stands up to normal use, how great their warranty is, their Ultra finish etc, etc, etc. As a regular consumer our reputable builder purchases their product from one of their authorized dealers on good faith Mannington will stand behind their warranty. Mannington has been completely unreasonable and their authorized dealer refuses to get involved... Mannington has done everything in their powers to not take responsibility. They have said it's something our builder or us must have done - blaming our builder saying he must have allowed the flooring to be stored in sub zero temperatures and extreme heat. (He installed it directly after purchasing from the supplier), blaming us saying the floor has experienced extreme humidity and weather changes, or that we've been washing it with water... Here in BC our temperatures are far from extreme (mild winters/mild summers, lots of rain... our home humidity stays in normal household range, we never wash the floors with water... We use the right hardwood cleaners... The Mannington response is that it certainly can not be something wrong with their product... A consumer puts their trust in a manufacturer and expects them to stand behind their product. Mannington has done everything to shirk responsibility. This 2000 square feet of flooring of ours withstands absolutely no moisture - our flooring runs through our greatroom into the kitchen. Normal household use - slight water drops from working in the kitchen require drying immediately otherwise the Mannington hickory surface cracks within 5 to 10 minutes... If our kids spill their juice, if not caught in 5 minutes... the floor cracks, a kitchen towel is left on the floor, the flooring blisters... It's a nightmare. And now to repair (i mean replace) the flooring (with another brand) is going to cost tens of thousands of dollars. We've owned homes with wood floor before, and have never had a problem like this. People have told us that hickory flooring is more sensitive to humidity but this is crazy. Our suspicion is that the flooring had this face checking defect prior to install - the hairline cracks in the finish are extremely hard to see but they allow any water or moisture to penetrate the flooring and cause this. Mannington says - not their problem. Well it's ours and yours and the same problem I've read elsewhere on this website. We are not going to let this go with Mannington yet because in my opinion they have a faulty product and need to step up and cover it. We're not unreasonable homeowners, we've done everything right with this floor, we take pride in our home, and know how floors need to be maintained... But I'm with you, Mannington is hurting their reputation with this - as a result, we love bringing our friends over and showing them our Mannington floors and letting them know how Mannington treats their customers. :-)

Choosing the right flooring type isn't enough for your living condition. You will have to consider the types of cut: flat sawn, rift and quarter sawn, quarter sawn or live sawn. Quarter sawn and rift & quarter sawn will be best choices, because expansion and contraction is along the thickness of the wood. You will need climate control all year round. 70 degrees at 40 % relative humidity is where you want to be throughout the year. The use of a humidifier/dehumidifier will be needed year round. Although, engineered flooring is more stable than solid. Using the wrong wood specie in your living condition can run the risk of de-laminating with engineered wood. If, the top veneer is more or less stable than it's core and backing. You will experience de-laminating in extreme humidity swings. Take in account of what the engineered flooring is constructed of: mdf or plywood. The width of the flooring will account for how much expansion and contracting also. 2 1/4" strips are the most stable. As you go wider, expect to see more wider seasonal gaps. Proper acclimating is critical, should be performed with a moisture meter. For 2 1/4" strip flooring , sub-floor and flooring moisture should be within 4%. For all other widths 2% moisture differentiation is allowed or should not be exceeded. Don't forget proper expansion gaps, which is the thickness of your flooring, example: 3/4" thick = 3/4" gap. Sub-floor type and condition will affect the performance of wood floors. All this needs to be considered for the proper and successful performance of your wood floors.

SJ McCarthy, our contract is stated we are responsible for the materials and we pay for the labor. Unfortunately we never met nor discuss with the owner but only discussed in details ( in the proposal) with the project manager who is the solely the carpenter.) We just found out there were a lot of the DETAILS from the proposal were not explained (per the PM,but who knows) in detail to the owner or almost like "bait and switch" - for example like item #2- he spent more time because the owner did not get him another helper to help him- I told him this should not be the customer's expenses-Anyway we are willing to pay for it. The owner was offering to renew and establish a new contract from the original contact ( we felt that he cherry picking the items from the proposal, we marked them up then again he decided not to included) for the unfinished works . Once he agreed in our 2nd meeting (another example: he agreed tiling our study room to be included from the original contact in our 1st meeting then when he write the REVISED CONTRACT- he wants to charge us ), but again we are facing the same old stories-he tried to change the wording. We were burned so many times and now we diligently review line by line knowing the owner's personality. He kept saying he lived by the contract-then I told him then he should honor the low estimated to install our engineering hardwood floor including removing the carpet-in the end he says he would honor but he did not including the cost in the new REVISED contract which we add into it - we are so tired with his games. So now we put a contingency - once we agree with the new contract, no more additional expenses from the previous work was done- and we do agree that we need to be notified first and need both signatures for additional expenses from the new contract. and no more point finger of "not included" since we have discussed in detailed and are in the contract. The new addition has a hardwood floor installed - with Dri-core. Once hardwood floor was installed- they are some areas squeak- we were told by PM -put a marked up then he would fasten without explaining to us-these would be additional ridiculous charges (PM told the owner, too-we told PM that they should explain it to us- ) Regarding the installing the engineering hardwood floor is for our existing rooms(concrete slabs that has plywood already)- we are told just to put a vapour barrier. Is it possible to let me know what brands for the glues have to be moisture resistant ($2/sf) or moisture PROOF ($3/sf).? The manufacture instruction suggests to use Franklin Tongue and Groove adhesive (cross linking polyaliphactic emulsion glue) www.titebond.com -any suggestions? This Applachian engineering hardwood floor - FLOATING only needs GLUE between the wood (tongue and groove per the manufacture manual ) then would be FLOAT - this is not to be GLUE DOWN on our concrete floor (could be glue down if necessary but not in our case). Here is the website- on PAGE 9 http://www.appalachianflooring.com/uploads/general/documents/engineered-installation-guide.pdf We trust the PM and we pay for it- we just want to move on and complete the project-It has been almost 10 months. We have to do what we have to do to protect ourselves now- The owner refuses to install our towel bar in our new shower without charging us, and we told him we will take care them by ourselves. I will update this post and hoping for a better solution. Thank you

Kim,,,it's very solid. just make sure the glue is spread to completely cover the plank. I have a few spots (like under the kitchen sink) where they missed the corner and it squeaks. They've held up great. I don't have dogs, but I have cats and have heard their nails burning rubber across the floor they go off on their tangents. I've spilled water, cleaned up their barf, spilled food, whatever, it all cleans up very well. as for dents, only if you drop something very heavy. but any wood floor will dent. I vacuum w/a Dyson, and then I use Bona wood floor cleaner on a mop. in the kitchen, i'll often take the scrubby brush and watered down Dawn to clean up spills or oil stains. no problem. no, I don't baby them. I don't wear shoes in my house though. I love my floors. just make sure on install they clean up all the glue residue. my guys were messy and lazy. had to call them back w/special glue remover and rag and go over the entire floor.