I am two months into a head-to-toe home remodel and have been lurking on various Gardenweb home forums almost since I started. To say I've picked up a lot of useful tips here is an understatement. I'm reviving this thread one year later because I'm looking to install the same engineered floor, and I haven't been able to see an actual sample of it at the local flooring companies I've visited (that carry the Hartco brand). Also, none of the salespeople could tell me anything about it, which shocked me. The only "review" I can find is from Hosking Hardwood's website, which gives the Valenza Engineered Wood Collection five stars out of five. Does anyone know if Sakura cherry is more or less photosensitive than American and Brazilian cherry? Sakura's Janka hardness rating is 995, so that's at least a small advantage over American cherry. Is there a lot of color variation with Sakura? For those who've installed this floor or have seen it, is it as light as natural maple, which is the sense I'm getting from photos? Is Valenza Engineered relatively easy to install? The other floor I'm considering is BR-111 Dolomites Bavarian Cherry, which I have seen in person. Aside from the fact that this flooring is more expensive, I'm not sure I'd care for the great color variation in planks that has been reported with BR-111's products. Is the Valenza floor better/worse than or about equal to BR-111 Dolomites? Thanks in advance. OMH08

This is an old thread, but it seems both the bamboo (Teragren) and the pecan/hickory (Armstrong) were from good companies. I suspect this poster could not have gone wrong with either. I nearly bought bamboo, but went with a handscraped hickory for the same reason, to hide flaws. My installer mentioned it was a good product based on the amount of good boards and that there were long lengths. It was not Armstrong. It seems I hear more complaints about scratches in bamboo, but that could be from buying bargain brands. My installer mentioned the Teragren bamboo I almost went with and said it was so hard, he bent nails trying to install it. Although he dropped tools on my hickory, and I have three sons, there are no dents. I've had it a year and although there were scratches in the first week, I haven't seen any since then. Maybe the oils on our feet are soaking in and preventing them? That is strange to see scratches in the first few weeks and then not for nearly a year after. I also notice that it is ambering and changing color when compared to where there are throw rugs.

Angelclub, Now that I redid my 5" wide floors with the long boards (BR-111 Brazilian Cherry Engineered) since I had water damage in my home with Triangulo 3.25" wide boards that were all so short, I am disappointed in how the installers installed the floors in certain very noticeable areas with seams lined up and patterns instead of random and stacking similar colors to make long boards look longer. I did not know what you meant when you mentioned you like to be involved as you like floors to be random and now I totally see what you mean. I wish I could redo a section of my new floors. I also now wish I went with the wider boards only because they were longer. This post popped up in my email box as someone like a comment I made so I was happy to reread the comments.

johnatemp, thank you so much for letting me know that you used Vista Film which I think will be good for me to use also since as it is I do not get that much sun so this should help a lot. I love the Brazilian Kempas. I could hardly find any companies that made this in an engineered wood except for Hartco Valenza Collection by Armstrong's Commercial line (very nice and thick with such a gorgeous grain) and some unknown companies. That is when I went back to Brazilian Cherry as a floor I loved. If I had a sub-floor and a basement below my home (my home was built in the beautiful preserved wetlands with woods around me... country like but close to all the stores and highways), I would have more options with solid wood. I am looking for thick sawn layers on top of the plywood so I will have an engineered wood that can be refinished if I ever need to. My client just drove me around to some homes to show me the hardwood floors in my area and these homes are gorgeous. I am back and needing to work but feeling I really love the grain and rich coloring and the semi-gloss finish that is so nice without being too shiny on the BR-111 Triangulo Engineered 3.25" Brazilian Cherry planks. I also love the longer boards that are 5" wide with more grain showing but I think the 3.25" looks better in my home office so I will have more variations in the color showing that I love. I still love the Pradoo but this morning the glossy finish is smudgy while the BR-111 is not. I also love the way the Pradoo looks in the family room but in my office the Brazilian Cherry looks so much nicer with my cherry wood furniture and putty file cabinets. I think you are right that buyers will recognize quality and there will be buyers that will love the style and the choices I made in my home. For now I am not nervous anymore going with an exotic wood that has no stain. I will try to send in some pics of the samples a little bit later on since these are very beautiful big samples and not little boards to give me a much better idea how much I love the look of this wood and color variation.