We had Johnson Hardwood"s Luxury Plank Vinyl flooring, Public House- whiskey sour installed by the builder after we looked at the product at a flooring center recommended by Johnson. We have lived in the house for exactly 2 years, and for the first year the flooring cleaned up nicely. In the beginning, I had contacted the "technical rep" for Johnson, and he recommended Rejuvenate LVF cleaner as it is low Ph. That is the only product I have used on the floor since we moved in. We loved the floor so much that we paid $7000 to have it installed in our lanai last year. In the past several months, the floor in the main house is blotchy or spotty throughout, and it looks like certain areas have a film. We clean up water and spots immediately, but the spots continue to show when the floor is wet or dry. So far the lanai doesn't have the same problem, but it's only a year old now. I did report these issues to the technical rep at Johnson, and he wants we to contact the maker of Rejuvenate as that product is likely the cause of the spotting all over the floor. He also wants me to find out who the contractor bought the flooring from when the house was built, and I am to provide the name and contact info for the flooring contractor who installed the floor in the lanai last year. I have tried to take photos with my iphone, but only a few of the spots will show up. I clean this floor at least twice weekly with the Rejuvenate and I vacuum it daily as everything shows up on the dark floor. I know I am going to get the run around from the Johnson rep. I am so upset that we paid top dollar for what we thought was a quality flooring only to have it look like cheap vinyl flooring. I wish we had never heard of Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring.

@Ryan Thanks for the question. A concrete slab that is sitting ON the earth (ie. not in a high rise on the 10th floor) always requires a vapour barrier underneath. Always. If anything, it maintains your warranty. There are three definitions of slab concrete: 1. Below grade. This is normally poured concrete for a foundation that has been dug into the ground. Like a basement. Even if 1 square inch is 'below grade' we view it as ALL below grade. 2. At grade. This is a common situation. Concrete is poured onto the ground and the house is built from there...going up; not down. Again, this is sitting 'on the ground' therefore it is considered 'damp' until proven otherwise. Even in the desert areas, we find dampness in slabs that are sitting on the ground. Moisture LOVES to condense on cold surfaces...like concrete. 3. Above grade or 'suspended slab'. This is the 'high rise' situation. You don't have to be in a high rise. It just means the slab is suspended in the air. It touches nothing but air above it and below it. This is the ONE situation where you can 'get away' without a vapour barrier. But you still void the warranty as soon as the contractor starts laying the first run. The installer is responsible for installing product on-site. If you did not purchase the vapour barrier, then the installer did not install it. If you used the SHOP'S installer, then they are responsible for ensuring you purchase everything you need for the job. Which requires you to tell them what your situation is. You get what you pay for. A good flooring installer *should have pointed out you needed a vapour barrier. And then would have told you what to purchase for him/her, or they would have said, "I have some in my truck, it will cost another $1/sf for the materials plus $0.50/sf to lay it." Something like that. And the preparation of the concrete is another thing that should have been paid for and performed. But so many contractors just want a paying job, that they offer the 'no frills' install. They get there, they install what is needed/purchased/sitting out for them and then they go home with a pay cheque in hand. I've had experiences where my QUESTIONS to the homeowner caused them to hang up on me. Yep. The question, "Is this for a bathroom?" caused such angst they started to yell it was none of my d@mn business and hung up on me. OKee DOKee then. I don't know what your situation is. The above is just an example as to why a store, with highly trained FLOORING professionals (ahem...a flooring store and not a 'big box' store like HD) would miss something as simple as a vapour barrier for a concrete slab.

I have vinyl planks in the long hallway on the other side of the house, 1 of the back bedrooms there, and thru the kitchen. the kitchen had beautiful wood flooring and I had my handyman rip it out to put down the vinyl. I had him put it in my walk in closets. I had planned on tile flooring but my sister built about 5 yrs prior to me moving in here and she has tile all thru-out her main floor. Every time I'd been over there my legs and back were sore for days. it took me a few yrs to connect it to spending a few hours there walking her hallway, kitchen, dining area, bedroom etc. when I finally figured it out I nixed putting tile in here. In past years that has come up rather often on 'kitchens'. Besides it is harder on you if you fall than vinyl would be. I had to think of those things as I aged. and I do believe that is the source of a lot of my sister's problems with her legs and back. I had Armstrong planks put in. took me a long time to decide on one and then find one that wasn't busy or ugly or cheap looking. that was about 6 yrs ago. I'm sure they have improved. I wish I could have gotten more of what I did - but I bought all they had and then it was discontinued. now I have to find something I can live with (pattern wise) for my bedroom and the other 2 bedrooms on the west end of the house - plus the bathrooms and laundry. I also decided that if there was a water leak in the kitchen, these planks would be much easier to pull up and dry out / replace than tile would be. Besides, there's no way I want to contend with grout these days. I wanted something that would be easy to clean and less dangerous to me if I fell on it. My comfort is my priority these days. CindyMac - I love the look of the wood vinyl in your laundry room! what brand is it and what is it called? I'd like to see if I can find it locally. I think it'd work in my TV room and 2 remaining bedrooms.

Another thing to consider when looking at the engineered floors is plank length. I just realized why I didn't like some of the photos I saw ... they had too many short pieces which gives the floor a choppy look and to me, it looks too much like a tile effect. The Uptown Floors suggested above sound great, and I will look at them more closely, but they still have "shorter" board (12" to 8 ft). I am looking at another company with board lengths from 3 ft to 12 ft. Those longer boards make a big difference in the overall look in a larger open floor plan. The longer boards do cost more, so I need to do some more comparisons and value of spending more for a more pleasing look. Their other specs are mostly similar. I think floors are going to be my hardest decision!