Yes, they had to sand it lightly and then carefully remove all dust and residue. I don’t get why you are buying this flooring to begin with though. I would never have bought it if I had known how poor the finish was and that the company didn’t care or stand behind their product. In the end, we spent much more than we would have if we had just bought a better product. There are quality wood and engineered floors out there. Why don’t you give them your business? I posted my experinece so that people could learn from my mistakes, not repeat them. 🙁

In your neck of the woods, doing a floating wood or bamboo floor, would be your best bet. The wood is able to move without restraint and fares better than glue or nail down. Engineered wood floors would be a close second, even in your dry climate. The cross sections of woods keeps it from twisting and turning easily. try Kahrs floating wood floors. There are many dealers in and around the Phoenix area. http://www.kahrs.com/en-US/consumer/image-gallery/ Have you compared prices? Some of the good laminate can cost almost the same as real wood. Since you're going to be there 10 years, look at it as a long term investment spread out over that time period. You wouldn't cheap out on your roof or plumbing, why do so on the flooring? do you have a large square footage downstairs that you need to cover? Will there be tile going in anywhere? As for future buyers,,who cares? you're the one living there now. 10 years from now who knows what will be trendy. The only sure bet on something that won't go out of style is real, hardwood flooring.

leftontheinside We got our First Crush installed a few weeks ago, and there are saw marks. Some of our samples made them look very busy, and others didn't have them at all. We went through a local flooring store. The saw marks are definitely there, but not noticeable when looking at the floor as a whole (I looked at a lot of pictures because the saw marks were almost a deal breaker). We love the floors. They are beautiful! HU-751872317 We got a custom taupe stain made that coordinates well with the floor. If you still need something, I can get the formula.

The only real enemy of any wood, sand on site or engineered is standing water. Or wide disparity in humidity levels/temperature. Palm Springs, ( desert) wouldn't have the too humid issue. More likely, you simply have to account for installation on a slab foundation, with no basement below. Also common. No hardwood is going to be happy with less than 30% humidity / more than 50% within your home. The more consistent, the better, as you want to avoid shrinkage gaps and cupping from too much.