Well, regarding the installer, they put in 700 sq ft of hw flooring for us 14 years ago-- no problems. They also put in another 300 or so using materials they supplied--no problems. I supplied the (faulty) material that they installed--problems. Yes they **should** have checked the moisture content, but I guess the reality is that here n southern california and with suppliers they have used for the last 20 years this is not an issue. Reclaimed wood flooring, freshly-milled by boutique shops is perhaps something of a brave new world. I will of course check the new lot of wood's MC as well as that of the sub-floor before this next install, but I would rather stick with our GC's installer and give him a second chance with this material.

The photo with grandson is at our new home, with oak floors, oak cabinets, galley style, if it looks great, maybe I shouldn't be changing things?? I've only been there three times, we move by Nov 1. I don't care for the cabinet fronts , countertops, or paint. The other brazilian flooring photos are inspiration forum pictures, along with the galley style photo of a beautiful updated kitchen from our forum. Debroahnj, very nice home photos, do you like having wood in your kitchen? What color are your granite tops?? Back to my original question, Is it OKAY to START with flooring?? Should we buy the brazilian cherry flooring, and replace all installed oak and carpet, baseboards...what do I do with trim around brown windows ?? Next decision would be white or cherry trim...and then what shade of white paint...I know I'll be busy this winter!! Or do we redo kitchen first, and then flooring last??

It will be difficult to say what you will end up with. The video shows product that have been recently done. I don't know if anyone tried putting those samples in direct sunlight for 3 months to see if the bleached wood turns dark(er) again. As well, it will depend on your B. Cherry. Is it the flaming orange/red version or is it the pink/purple colour? I would guess the 'pinker' it looks today, the pinker it will look tomorrow. How do you feel about the water based finish verses the oil based finish? The water base is a step lighter than the oil based...which might be just enough to reduce the feeling of 'dark'.

I hear or notice the noise way less now, but still hear it from time to time when walking over an area for the first time. We have a couple of seams that have a small gap forming. As others have pointed out and i have come to learn, the problems that we have with the floors are caused by the unevern (not flat) subfloor. So, from that perspective, i cant blame flooret. However, most people that are buying these vinyl floors are doing so for the advertised ”value” and installing them in extisting homes. When you consider the time and expense to make old subfloors PERFECTLY flat, they are no longer a good value. That is my biggest complaint at this point; they drastically under communicate the amount of time and money required to achieve the desired outcome. To those of you who installed these Flooret floors, im sorry and hang in there. The noise and /or your attention to it will improve greatly over time.