Connie Kempf; my similar issues with store, salesman, inspectors, and even manufacturer and the regional representative!!! They don't understand the engineering aspects of vinyl flooring! In my case the problem involved temperature in a HVAC control room with sunlight on the flooring. They had NO clue even though I engineered a successful solution even though they said it could not be done with vinyl!! They don't understand the specific application and the engineering aspects of vinyl flooring! You can see my nightmare earlier in this post dealing with the various industry personnel. The inspectors have a conflict of interest and are not trained well enough either. As I mentioned you can find my rant on the vinyl flooring industry earlier in this thread. Please note, before buying one should read ALL marketing materials and WARRANTY info which is where ALL their dirty secrets are contradicted and are hidden in the fine print!!! Be forewarned you probably knew more then anyone of them combined. I believe most manufacturers do not recommend rolling loads (esp wheel chairs) and the problems are only compounded if individual is over weight and sub-floor has defects. It's my opinion, the salesman should have stopped the sale when he heard you would be running a wheel chair (esp a heavy power chair) across the floor. From my experience none of the staff to which I was exposed had any knowledge of proper application and installation of vinyl. Even in my case the first thing they blamed for flooring failure was on the sub-floor and floor joists. Reality, the sub-floor was within the flooring manufacturer published spec. Obviously since I'm not there I can't comment on your specific floor. Also note, I'm a self proclaimed vinyl installer beginner, with no prior flooring experience! (my only prior training is in electronic and computer science engineering with 45+ years experience solving engineering issues as Staff Engineer, I can now claim I have retrained myself on vinyl). SJ McCarthy is a regular poster here and may chime in with some helpful suggestions for your situation ?

Tapestry (link shown above by Johnson Flooring Co. Inc) is THE 'Scandinavian' look floor available through Shaw. It is STUNNING. And yes, Scandinavian flooring has knots in it. You can get the same COLOUR without the knots if you look at: https://shawfloors.com/flooring/hardwood/details/lexington-avenue-oak-215sa/astor Your inspiration photo is a little unfair as it is Woca Oil finish with a white wash look. It is possible to work with Maple to get the same look using https://shawfloors.com/flooring/hardwood/details/fairbanks-maple-5-sa459/gold-dust Remember Scandinavian isn't about PALE (as in white washed) it is about NATURAL GOLD tones...like the Maple.

@sundropsandsage I love my floors. The Sequoia Hickory is dark but has some light tones in it too. Looks great against our paint color and the white cabinets We chose the Shaw epic engineered wood which was not very expensive. We have only had it installed for short while . We have a few problems but this is due to installation. We did call Our dealer as soon as we noticed a few spots we thought were problems . We had a floor inspector out shortly after. There are a few boards that are definitely a problem with manufacturing but we had 2 boxes left over - installers could have easily installed a different board. Waiting to see what Shaw’s response is once they receive inspectors report. I don’t know how well this floor will hold up - I think maybe we should have gone with a better quality floor but hoping we don’t have any problems. Whatever you choose - I am sure you know this - but make sure you have a qualified installer.

Ok...here's what you can do: reach out to the original Contractor and tell him you need to bring in a flooring professional to deal with the issues left behind by his subcontractors. In building law (please consult your own state/provincial laws before doing anything...ahem...caveats are all over the place) the rule of thumb is the ORIGINAL installer (General Contractor) is allowed ONE attempt to fix an issue. After that, the homeowner is then allowed to bring in another professional to fix the issue...at the ORIGINAL installer's (GC) expense. But how does that work? That's the $64K question. How do you get the original GC to PAY for your flooring professional? That's where the communication with the GC comes in. That's up to you to negotiate how this works. Anyway, the board that is popping up is a concern for me because a well installed floating hardwood SHOULD BE super happy. Regardless of a 'fix', it should stay happy and stable. But the same 'spot' is having issues even after a few board replacements. That tells me there is SOMETHING ELSE going on. A wood flooring professional (www.nwfa.org to find your local certified flooring installer/inspector) will have the right knowledge to LOOK for the REAL reason why this same area keeps getting upset. It could be the subfloor is still wet. It could be the door is still leaking. It could be so many things...which a high-end professional will know to look for such things. The splinters in the wood are concerning as well. The one that STARTED OUT as a splinter can be repaired (wood glue) or replaced. I would start with the repair. As for the plank that has the veneer missing, I personally would leave it be because it is doing its job. But if you have left over product AND you are SUPER CONFIDENT in the professional flooring installer's abilities, then go ahead and replace it now. But here's my other concern that has NOTHING to do with installation: new splinters emerging. These floors are several months old and NEW splinters are emerging. The product you have chosen is a thin engineered hardwood. It is 9.5mm thick. That's considered 'thin' for a laminate floor let alone a hardwood floor. That means the veneer (the pretty top wood that has the stain on it) is going to be SUPER thin...and super thin veneer can have issues with stability (depending on the core it is sitting on). That's why most wood professionals like to see AT LEAST 3mm of wear layer on the top of the plank...because of stability. I would start looking at the indoor living conditions (humidity levels, AC control, heating system in the winter months, etc) when looking at NEW splinters. Splinters often indicate a dry climate or a climate that keeps shifting parameters (inconsistent humidity control, etc). Or if the entire board is splitting (the splitting goes PAST the wear layer) then the subfloor becomes a question once again. How 'flat' and level was the subfloor at the time the floor was installed? Was it 'wonky' and needed fixing? Or was it beautiful at the time the old floor was removed?