An undercut saw or a toe kick saw okay. I will have to get myself one. The installer does not seem to care who his man hired and what his man did. My own contractor on the job said common sense would tell you. It is good product by Award Flooring. I was told this wood was very stable. my enivironment is not too moist. no no moisture problems. i have old subfloor up there and it is measuring fine. i had another man come up and take some moisture readings with his good delmholst. I have a patina relics wide plank 6. distressed engineered. It is in my cottage so why would i have put real hardwood. I have dogs this is the ideal flooring. Now i am hearing that the cracks-from what i have read-could be the glue settling and people walking on it. How long would it take glue to settle? This floor has been down two weeks. From reading about I now know get the subfloor and your wood reading no more thatn 4% in the difference. But this might be slightly different with wider planks? maybe. Do you know anything about glue drying. Could the cracks be the tongues breaking? My installer will not listen to me and won't tell me what he did with the float in install. I found nails-oh yes- in the hallway. the hall is not finished. So what do i have now a combo job. This was not a cheap job. I paid for complet flooring in the place plus some fiber flooring. thanks for your input. Greatly appreciated. I have a show down with this man on wedneday i have asked him to bring along his installer. He refused to cut an expansion gap and insists the floor does not need it. This is a man in the businness for 14 years. I have lots of pictures taken. i do not know if he taped the seams on the foam underlayment either. ....

Thank you HerrProfessorDoktor, I am glad you are letting others know about the issues you are having. It is too bad you regret the dark, perhaps you could restain them lighter in the future? I am very fortunate as I have had dark hard wood floors in my last house and plan to install them again in this house. I love the look and had no regrets last time with care so I think I will be okay. However, I do think it is wise of you to post as there are others who may not know the challenges of dark hardwood floors looking pristine. A rumba is always is a nice little feature to help with much of the dust. ~boxer Here is a great link / poll that talks about this topic. [light or dark hardwood[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/poll-light-or-dark-hardwood-dsvw-vd~5047868?n=235)

Quietwalk or 1/4" cork. I've seen the Eco-cork "numbers" and how they achieved them....not pretty. Unless you can buy your downstairs neighbor a 12" drop-down Armstrong Acoustic ceiling, you will not get what you want from that product. Eco-Cork foam is 90% polyethylene foam (not cork). They HAD to add cork because of some complaints that they were using the word "cork" when it didn't have ANY cork (100% polyethylene foam = false advertising anyone?). So...they added a snick of cork and then republished their old numbers. Done like dinner. And still wonky after all these years. Having sold and worked with cork for more than 6 years, I have investigated pretty much every underpad out there. QuietWalk is the ONLY one I have respect for. Please use their 3mm thick pad...or thicker if you can. The 1/4" cork is lovely because you throw it down like a beach blanket. No tape. No glue. Just butt the edges together and start laying the floating wood floor. It will help even out tiny wobbles in the gypcrete...which is helpful because gypcrete is a PAIN in the @ss to deal with if it needs patching. Either one will get you a nice quiet home....the cork will be more rigid and sometimes that is needed over a little bit of a wonky subfloor.

Not without transition strips. The EASIEST thing to do is: install cabinets (make sure the bases are raised the same height as the thickness of the floor you are using) with an eye to making sure the appliances can fit underneath once the floor is installed. The FLOORS can (and should be) done last. You get all of your 'wet work' done (painting, cabinets, counter tops, tiling, etc) and THEN you float your floor in the house. This is the easiest way to do it. Done...like...dinner. And you did NOT have to change the form of installation. You floated the whole thing. Congratulations!