I have talked to the contractor and he says he will do nothing about it. He says if the floor wasn't level I should have fixed it myself before asking them to come and put down laminate floor. He said that the customer is responsible for making sure the floor is level and they only do the installation. However, that is why I hired professionals. If I knew the floor had to be level and I could do the installation myself, I wouldn't have hired them. I didn't even know about the importance of the floor being level until AFTER the installation. When we started to have problems, I started researching and found out that this is usually caused by an unlevel floor. I called three other installation companies and none of them said I would have had to make sure the floor was level. Two of them said that is one of the most important aspects of installing laminate and they would have checked the floor and used some type of levelling compound BEFORE the installation if the floor wasn't level. I can't believe my contractor thinks I should have known this and fixed it for him before he started. I am beginning to think I may have to hire someone else to fix this and go to court with the original contractor. I'm not going to pay for a mistake he made or did not even tell me could be an issue. It's not like he said your floor might not be level and I told him to go ahead and put the floor down. He claims that I should rip the floor up myself, level the floor and then have them come back to fix it. I'm noticing more problems with their work and I don't feel I can trust them to fix the job when they did such a bad job in the first place. Plus, the contractor isn't treating me too well now. I guess after I've paid him, he doesn't want to be worried about it anymore. It seemed to be a problem in just one area, but as we are looking at the floor more closely, there are a few areas that when you step on it, you can actually see that the laminate depresses down a bit (only slightly) but enough that it is a concern. On another board, they told me to make sure there was a 1/4" around the wall. I don't know if I should rip up the sides of the wall in one area to make sure they left space or not. Now I'm afraid the whole floor might start to buckle if the depression is because there is not enough space around the edges. I have also learned that they are supposed to let the laminate sit in our house 48 hours before installation to acclimate or there could be problems. They brought the laminate in and started installing it right out of the box, so it hadn't sat in our house for anytime at all. I'm getting more and more concerned about this problem. Thank you for your response. I've found several good people on the internet but unfortunately I'm in Alberta and most aren't located near me.

You might try using a 2nd dry mop or rag as you go and drying the floor with that. Pain in the arse I know! Do the floors have the shinny finish or the matte finish I can't remember what they called sorry but that might even make a differnce. We thought about putting down a matte finihed laminate I'd like to know if the matte finish streaks.

The worst part is right after I bought the place the county placed a moratorium on new construction with vinyl siding! This builder gives you a big house for the money but it comes at the expense of some things, vinyl siding and lot size being two of them. This is also the perfect example to prove my point because I still feel this is a nice house because it does have a decent amount of hardwood flooring and berber, also cultured stone facade and nice plumbing fixtures and cabinetry. Little things like that really went a long way in my case. The level of finish was better with other builders but I really needed the extra space. Vinyl siding is horrible though. I can't imagine it being popular in the pacific NW since vinyl gets mildewed and needs to be pressure cleaned at least once a year. Twice on the north side. Neighbors were getting quotes of like $300 and up to do it but I did it myself. On a windy day you can hear the siding shaking and it's very annoying. And weren't people in the vinyl siding factories getting really sick? I remember some documentary on HBO some number of years ago about this.

Mannington's Restoration Laminate IS water resistant to surface water for up to 72 hours. If properly installed, it can be used in kitchens and bathrooms--per Mannington. I have two samples in my home now and am awaiting two more that are currently out of stock. It is beautiful flooring, and there are many colors to choose from in the Restoration Collection. I licked together two of my full plank samples and poured water on the joint where the two joined, left it for 8 hours and no water leaked through to the paper towels below and there was no damage to the planks. Before we buy it, I will give it the 72 hour test. I got my full plank samples from efloors for .99 cents each. Armstrong has a water resistant laminate, also, called Audacity. I don't like that it is made in China and is only 10mm thick with a 2mm attached pad. I haven't been able to find a dealer in my area or find where to order samples so I haven't seen it yet. The Mannington laminate is made in the US, is 12mm thick and up to a 3mm pad can be used with it in installation for a quieter floor. You might check out both of these before you make a decision. i was quoted a price of $3.49 per sq ft for the Mannington Restoration Laminate, but it was on sale for $2.89 sq ft at my local dealer. I don't know about installation cost as we will do the floor prep and installation. Just be sure you get someone to install that will follow the installation instructions to the letter and use the glue and caulk required for kitchen and bathrooms. If not done correctly, your warranty will be voided. Good luck on your decision.