Here's my silk flower story. It happened to me today. I'm going to be watering someone's outdoor plants for the week. After surveying the plants in front, I was lead through the house to the backyard deck to be introduced to further plants I would need to attend to. En route, the woman called my attention to a newly reupholstered chair: "Stinky, have you ever heard of Robert Allen?" "Oh, yes." "Well this fabric is Robert Allen." "It's beautiful, I love it." "Well, the dog jumps up in this chair so he can look out the window...can you believe it? Goes straight to the Robert Allen chair." "Gosh!" I proclaim in disbelief. "The plumber here this morning asks if he can keep his shoes on, but the dog goes right to the Robert Allen chair." Next to the chair stood a white wrought iron plant stand with an enormous white wicker basket containing a huge array of silk flowers in every color of the rainbow. I felt dizzy at the sight of the cacophony of crayola box hues, so I rested my gaze on the the newly covered chair fabric. It depicted a subtle dance of cherry blossom branches, rendered in soft aqua and delicate pink, a wisp of brown. Ahh...Robert Allen to the rescue.

I never cared for fake xmas trees...well except the aluminum or pink feather ones that some of my Tiki friends keep up year round in their lounges...LOL. But I do like the ones they have out now days, they are realistic looking and no clean up afterwards. I love the whole xmas decor thing and try to do it every year, especially if I my Mom is coming to stay and/or I am having a party. I place the tree in the corner of my dining room and it is a great fit. The quality of the Frontgate tree is fabulous. If you get one, be sure to purchase the rolling zip up storage bag. You keep the tree on that stand unzip the bag and roll it down to the floor and cover it up with your favorite xmas tree skirt. Easy-Peazy...my handyman likes it. I think mine is a noble fir, remote control LED lights, and I got the slimline 10 foot. I wasn't sure about the lights, but OMG it looks great and you don't have to worry about stringing them and they are evenly placed. I have some beautiful Victorian style glass ornaments from Southern Living at Home and then I dress it up with other colored ornaments and feathers, etc. I have been very happy with the purchase. Frontgate has great customer service, so if you got one and didn't like it you can return it...no hassles. I think it is a good investment that will last for many years. The branches and leaves are very sturdy and you can bend them as needed. It would be great for your place igloo, easy to set up and really suggest the slimline, it is plenty of tree. Frontgate usually doesn't put their trees online until a little later in the season. Also suggest you ask for the mailer catalog, the xmas one is just awesome...lots of great ideas.

Sophia Wheeler--no, it's not gall. Cancork promoted this as a DIY floor. We checked each step with them along the way. We hired a local general installer because there was not a specialist in the area, and Cancork said that was fine. The subfloor was within specifications. We checked that and, again, OK'd it with Cancork. Cancork told me at the time that they didn't tell me about adding a cork underlayment because "most people don't want to do it because of the expense, so we didn't think you'd want to." As for the peeling, it is not in one of the birdbath areas. The peeling is starting from a few very small spots (like 1x2 cm) in one area of the floor. The floor was prepped properly--exactly as per specifications by Cancork before applying the poly, and they specifically said only to vacuum carefully and then run a damp microfiber over it (no cleaning product) before applying the poly. They warned me against scratching the floor or abrading it before applying the poly. In fact, we had to prep it in sock feet to keep any abrasion from happening at all. I understand that things happen, but within 6 months, when we did everything as per Cancork's instructions and now they tell me that we didn't do it properly--that is truly gall.

I know this thread has gone stale but I think I've found an issue with the LACK of subfloor prep: "They found composite tiles under the underpayment which neither we nor they knew about (it was coming up with the laminate removal so had to remove it all. We would have uneven floors) and that had to be removed so and extra $1000+ charge" I'm going to guess the removal of the composite tile (?anyone check for asbestos if the tile was from the 80's?) really mucked things up. The laminate was 'happy' sitting on the tile (I know...it wasn't supposed to be happy, but it was). The removal of the tile *MIGHT have caused some weird domino effect. I'm so sorry this has happened. It should not be part of your life to live through a shoddy bamboo install. With floating bamboo (click-together bamboo is notorious for issues...as in FAMOUS for having issues that reputable companies do NOT want to have anything to do with it) it is IMPERATIVE that all flatness ratings be taken. That expansion and transition strips are used through doorways. That all pinch-points are dealt with appropriately. Etc. If you are still dealing with this, please up date us. And if you can, please add photo re: doorways from hallway into other rooms (like the bedroom with the gap). And finally, bamboo is UNSTABLE. Laminate is very stable. I'm guessing the perfect storm occurred in your home. And another issue: bamboo needs +++time to acclimate. And it takes a special meter (an expensive meter) to take moisture readings of the bamboo (and then it takes someone special to KNOW HOW to use the special meter). I don't think you had anyone 'special' working on this project. I'm so sorry this has happened.