Lisa G and Vicki LaPinta - so here's an update on my noisy floors. My builder was out last week and he feels that the floors are what someone else said "bound up". Per the manufactures warrenty there needs to be a type of spacer placed whenever you have a run of 33 ft or more. If you look at my picutres that I posted earlier when going from the open living area to the narrower area of my entry hall pressure is built up between the boards, The so called solution is taking up the planks (from one side to the other) and placing the spacer - which will sit up about a 1/2 in or so above the remaing planks. Which of course will ruin the look of the flooring and in my opinion be a tripping/stub your toe kind of hazard - especially for my 2 yr old granddaughter, At this point I'm waiting until spring as the noise isnt too bad right now with the cooler weather, even with the torrential rain we've had this winter. Hope you're figuring things out with your floors - keep me posted!!

Jody, Calypso can go 60-66ft without a transition strip... It specifically states that and is what makes it more appealing than other laminate floors. Who told you it can only go 33ft?

I just purchased the Calypso Lake (Bandon) which I can't seem to find listed any where else. I'm unsure if it is a new style or a re-brand. I'm glad I got to read everyone's issues prior to my installation. It will definitely be on the forefront of my mind during prep.

My instructions list the same specifications as Lisa G, 66 ft.

My humidity guidelines say it should be at 40-65% when at 65-75 degrees. I'm surprised that as the humidity lowers you have less problems. I'm excited to get my floors in but nervous at the prospective problems. We're installing onto a concrete sub-floor so there wont be flexing, there will be possible moisture issues however.

paulhedges, where did you purchase your laminate? I couldn't find that color on PacMat's website but maybe it's new.

On a slab, make sure the installer flattens the slab to within 3/16" over a 10ft span. If the slab isn't pretty much perfect, you'll get a slapping effect once the planks are laid and you walk on them (from flex). Our neighbors have the same floor and are on a slab and they've had major issues as well...They have even had the joints on some of the boards break off.

paulhedges, looking closer at the plank you have I think it's identical to mine which is Tundra. Here's a pic of the same plank on my floor:

Lisa G. you're correct about the 66ft, ! It was me having a 'brain fart'.

Lisa G, I bought our

floors at GreatFloors like most others in here. Most of my slab is pre-leveled from before when it used to have floating laminate. It was changed to carpet, now back to laminate.

I took a photo with a few planks linked together in the hall (the home is still under remodel construction). It does appear as though ours are the exact same style.

Has anyone on here with the cracking/popping issues dealt with PacMat at all? A couple months ago, I posted about a similar noise issue that we're having. Long story short - installer has now been back twice to re-cut expansion gaps and we've seen no improvement. We have not had an independent third party inspect yet, but we recently spoke with the place we purchased the flooring from and they contacted PacMat to initiate a manufacturer defect claim. We were told that we should be hearing from one of their reps shortly. That was 3 weeks ago and we're still waiting to be contacted. Just curious if anyone else on here has had any dealings with PacMat directly, and if so how did it go?

Paul, it looks like the difference is that yours is an 8mm thick floor and the actual Calypso we're talking about on this thread is 12mm thick.

We're having major issues with Great Floors now. They are now all of a sudden refusing to fix our floors so we will be contacting the BBB and an attorney.

jcebuhar - I have not had the expansion gaps done yet - from what I'm reading here I'm a little worried that we will all be in the same boat :(

Lisa G - have you dealt with PacMat?

Jody, we have contacted PacMat a few times to ask questions and they've been very responsive but haven't dealt with them in regards to a claim on our flooring because it's believed that the product is fine and our problems lie with Great Floors not prepping our subfloor properly (along with many of our neighbors).

Well, I spoke the flooring co. again today after not hearing anything from PacMat. The owner of the flooring co. said he spoke with PacMat, and the ball is basically back in our court. Per the manufacturer, we are supposedly one of only 3 or 4 people that have ever had noise problems with this floor (funny, all of us must be on this thread). Anyways, PacMat was very quick to blame the problem on our subfloor. They believe the issue most likely lies in our floor joists being spaced too far apart which is causing the floor to flex too much. We are on a crawl space, joists are spaced at 19" which is well within manufacturer spec which indicates a max spacing of 24". Keep in mind they made this assessment without speaking to me, inspecting, or knowing anything about our subfloor. Their solution is to "fix the subfloor" which would be a massive (and expensive) undertaking. The flooring co. suggested we try applying talcum powder to lubricate the joints. I am willing to give this a shot seeing as right now it's easier than ripping out the floor.

We ordered a couple samples of the Calypso from Floor City (seems to be the only place I'm finding it, not seeing it on Great Floors site, am I just missing it?). We really like the look and feel of the Tundra. Has anyone ordered through floorcity.com?

It seems the closest pickup location through floor city is about a 4 hour one way trip for us (we are in central Iowa). I'm waiting to hear back from them on what it might cost to have about 650 sq/ft shipped directly to me.

We have taken the sample around to compare at some locale flooring places, but really haven't found anything that we like as well from a look and feel standpoint. We haven't been to Home Depot to check out the Pergo Outlast+ in Vintage Pewter Oak, but it at least looks somewhat promising. Any opinions on this line?

I would love it if we could find the Calypso closer to home or something that we liked equally. I'm somewhat afraid what kind of number I might get back for shipping quote...

Hey All - I was wondering about the calypso cardigan. Any more news on that particular style? We have it on order. I would love to see pictures of anyone who has used that and learn any updated info on how you like it. Overall has Calypso worked well for most people?

Looney, msmardi used Cardigan I believe. In person I perceive it as having a lot of black in it but I haven't heard of anyone else using that color.

The durability of the product is great, but the cracking of our planks is worsening each day. It's almost unbearable. We're still fighting with Great Floors to fix the floors -- we will be suing them shortly if they don't fix it. But, we've had another flooring retailer (local, and highly reputable unlike Great Floors who has an F rating on BBB) come and look at our floors and they think we have a defective product and terrible install. We already knew Great Floors did a horrendous job installing it but they said the product itself was fine...So we may end up making a claim on our flooring as well.

If we could get a non-defective product installed PROPERLY, we would be in love with our floors. The product really is wonderful. It doesn't scratch, water just beads up on it, and it's solid.

Lisa- so you think it may have been a defective batch plus bad install? It's such big step for us. We love the flooring it goes with what we're doing. I just hope we are making the right choice on material and brand!

Looney, yes that is exactly what I think our issue is. One of the other flooring retailers we talked to just recently completed a claim with PacMat for defective flooring that was installed during the same time ours was (May/June 2016) and it was having the same cracking sounds ours is. The retailer had to fight 4 months to get the claim approved and now that new product has been installed the floor is completely silent.

We have taken tons of videos of the noises and in some areas you can put your fingers along the joints and make them crack. It's ridiculous that Great Floors seems this acceptable.

My biggest advice to you is to make sure you have a reputable company install it. We did not get to choose to do business with Great Floors and it's been a total nightmare. They also did a poor job templating our counter and the vinyl sheet flooring in our guest bath doesn't even reach underneath the baseboard...They cut it short. Oh, and they grouted where the countertops meet the backsplash rather than using caulk so it's been a huge mess. They're just terrible on every level.

Looneysinlove, We installed Calypso Cardigan in our house last August and love it. We aren't have popping sounds although, my daughter who is in a basement bedroom that is below the main level, says that she can hear us when we walk on the floor. I think that would be true of any hard floor. The color is perfect for us, sort of a rustic look that goes great with grays and dark walnut wood tones (imo).

We actually have a more positive update now. Our home builder basically forced Great Floors to redo our floor so they will be tearing it up (and reusing the planks that aren't damaged) on Tuesday. It's expected to take about a week and we have to move out of our house during that time. I'm still skeptical about whether the product itself may be defective but there's nothing we can do since Great Floors says it's fine. I'll update again when the subfloor gets fixed and they re-lay the floor.

Woo hoo! Good to hear. Hope all goes well and that the week away from home isn't too trialsome.

Has anyone used the color "Salem" In this flooring? Trying to find a good color that will go with the medium oak cabinets that we have to live with for awhile.

Lisa G

Any updates on your flooring situation?

Our floor has been done for awhile now and it's still not great. The installer used 11 bags of leveling/feathering material on our floor (which is a lot) which did make a huge difference in how the floor feels underfoot. It feels much more solid when walking around and we don't hear the vapor barrier anymore. Unfortunately the planks still crack constantly, if not even worse than before. About 2/3 of our floor was replaced with new planks but they reused all of the perimeter planks so that they didn't have to make as many cuts. It's a good improvement in how the floor feels but because the planks make the cracking sound even worse now, I'm super unhappy with both Great Floors and Calypso itself. I still love the performance of the floor but will never own anything other than solid wood floors again going forward.

Lisa G

Well shoot! That's not encouraging :( Do you think there's a possibility that there was a problem with manufacturing? It seems most of us that bought and had our floors installed the end of 2015 beginning of 2016 have had issues with snap, crackle, pop. There have been comments from others before and after that time period that love their floors and are not having any issues.

We've finished two bathrooms and they're solid, warm and no problems as of now. Lots of people walking in and around with heavy equipment (construction zone).

The floor in our downstairs living area will be the largest section and will be installed in the next month or so. I'll update with any findings.

Jody, Most of our floor was replaced with brand new planks and we still have the cracking. At this point we just have to live with it.

Worst flooring ever !!!! They need to pull this off the market!!!!

Judy Melahn - what has been your experience?

We just laid the whole house in it and it has been a disaster!! We had the flooring company come look at it and they have to contact PACmat to come look at it. We are moving in this weekend and I am sick to my stomach at what we are going to do . Unfortunately my gut feeling was to not go with this flooring and and I wish I would've listened to it . Gapping everywhere! Hi low spots, it's a mess! We have laid other flooring before and this has been a complete fail . Run!!!!

Judy, this is most certainly an installer error.

Judy, I agree with Lisa!

Thank you! We are dealing with it . Going to have to meet with the flooring company and hopefully get it resolved.

Anymore to this story ?

Karen - I believe I'm one of a few people on this thread that has had problems with this particular brand of flooring. We had the floor installed in May 2016 and have been going back and forth with the supplier, manufacturer, and installer since then regarding cracking/popping sounds throughout almost the entire floor. The installer has been back multiple times to check and re-cut expansion gaps (this didn't solve the problem) and the manufacturer finally ended up sending an independent inspector in July. I have yet to see the inspector's report but the supplier called me a couple weeks ago and said PacMat has agreed to replace our floors. So, I assume they either found something in the inspection to indicate a product defect, or they're just tired of dealing with me.

Thanks...I have 800sf of this stuff comming in next week ! Do/did any of your cartons have a date of manufacturer/lot number? This is about the only thread on the net about this flooring.

Karen Jilk

& jcebuhar

I was finally able to get the manufacturer to send out a rep to look at my floors. He said that it can take about 30 days before I they get back to me with a decision or what that find out. It has been 2 weeks so we are in a holding pattern at this time.

Karen - I will look at the extra box of flooring that I have and let you know if I see any manufacturing dates or other info.

Jody

Karen - Our installer ended up using every last plank during install so I unfortunately don't have any extra boxes to check mfg date/lot no. I did buy an extra box a couple months later just to have on hand but I'm not sure that info would be the same as the original product. We did purchase the product in April 2016 if that helps.

Karen Jilk - not sure about a manufacturing date but i do have the UPC code:

5420053142628 my flooring was installed around April of 2016. Not sure if that's helpful or not.

Jody

I was just getting prepared to replace a first floor with Atroguard on a slab, but this thread now has me concerned. I was wondering why I wasn't finding more local retailers, perhaps because of so many problems. I agree with the others LVP looks beautiful in one or two planks, but plasticky installed over a large area. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, I will certainly take this all into consideration before I buy.

Hey guys does anyone have pictures of the elkhorn style of calypso installed in there home???

DECNO #Waterproof #Laminate #flooring, which is a new generation of floor. Black HDF boards, with the Atomic hydrogen and high density, is resistant to moisture.

With their waterproof construction and leading hardwood designs, it is an ideal flooring options for any room - even bathrooms, kitchens and mudrooms.
http://www.decnoflooring.com/Innovation_Center/waterproof-Laminate-Flooring.html

I am about to install Atroguard Southern Trail in my entire downstairs. I had a water leak which damaged all of my engineered hardwoods, which I hated. I've looked at other engineered hardwood, Coretec, luxury vinyl, and now the water-resistant laminate. The water-resistant laminate looks and feels so much more like real hardwood. I brought a piece of hardwood home and actually liked the look and feel of the laminate much better than the vinyl, Coretec, or engineered hardwood. It is 7.7" wide and about as thick as real hardwood. I certainly hope I don't have any of the problems described above.

We had the Calypso Laminate installed last year. We absolutely LOVE it. No squeaks whatsoever. Our Home is a 1910 Craftsman, so we went with the Java . We had both the main floor and the upstairs done. It looks so real, People ask us if its real wood. It is definitely scratch proof as we have 5 Dogs and they leave no marks whatsoever. I would recommend this flooring to anyone looking for a solid, quiet, scratch and waterproof flooring. Its awesome. The installers said they have been laying flooring for 20 years and this is the best stuff they have ever done.

Anyone have pictures of Calypso Salem installed? Thanks!!

Update on our Calypso Cardigan. It has been a couple of years since we had it installed on our main floor: living room, dining room and kitchen and we still love it!

I had 1,000 square feet of Calypso Burnside installed in my home in May of 2019. I love it. Much more durable than I even thought it would be. I do need to put some type of "non slip" mat under some runner rugs I have placed. I have read that you shouldn't use rubber non slip mats on certain flooring. I can't find anything on Calypso. Anyone using a particular non slip mat with their Calypso flooring?

Question on Calypso tundra. Did they change the name to something else? We have that in our house and want to put more of it in, but can’t seem to find it