We are currently having Gaia Black Series Eyre installed and the stairs look off like this too…..😕

@Beau Monde Fine Floors Inc @Mary C just to clarify, the photo of Sawyer wasn't a project installed by or purchased from Beau Monde Fine Floors. I am happy to send/post more photos of Sawyer if you need them.

My only question I have to all of you that are having problems, why are you not purchasing your Gaia flooring from Beau Monde Fine Floors in Belmont? We are approaching our 40th year.

We do not have the problems that I keep reading about on this thread.

Below are stair images using Gaia's White Series...

American Hickory

Impala

Caribou

Impala

Black Series Eyre

It does not matter where we all buy the cheap Gaia flooring that is being advertised as ”luxury” we all will share the same fate in which they will laugh at you saying what Beau is good at saying to protect his brand ”it’s the installation problems” and walk away like this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aKdP_DlESxY

You have been warned. (Out of 360 posts on here, Beau probably accounted for 350 posts himself)

@Bee Thank you! I would love to see more photos of your Sawyer floor. Are you happy with the floor and the color? Any info you can share would be appreciated.

Would you recommend reinstalling the stair nose?

how hard is that with the rest of the planks already installed. I noticed cracks on mine too but thought it was part of the pattern as I saw some of the same markings on my planks. is this not the case?

here some pics of my stairs

steps

This is red sole. I saw a few imperfections but I thought it was part of the pattern to make it look like wood. Would love to hear if they are flaws versus intentional pattern. I also think that a close to perfect is a more reasonable expectation than a perfect installation as there are variables installers have to work with given an existing landscape but again, I would like to hear from others as what to expect

Ivan Dmitrev, let me make this perfectly clear, I do not work for Gaia Floors, Gaia Floors has been around for approx. 4 years, my company Beau Monde Fine Floors is approaching its 40th year, check out our 40 plus 5 star reviews on Goggle. I do not know what kind of problems you are having and at this point I do not care. If this is truly a problem with the Gaia floor itself have an independent inspector look at the floor and have him or her write a report. If you cannot manage that then call Gaia Floors direct at 408-899-6680, all Gaia Floors come with a 50 year residential and a 10 year commercial warranty. If it is a installation issue and you used a license contractor, then call the California State License Board. In the meantime stop complaining and do something about it and share that information with everyone.

@hulamom28 Your floors got delaminated just like how ours was. First cracking, then slowly peeling off. Google vinyl delamination and you will understand. Everything Gaia advertised is not true about their cheaply made floors that they advertised as ”Luxury”plastics. Give your floors another 1-2 years max and you will see it will completely falling apart and they will send someone to your house to tell you ”it’s the installation problems” and walk away. It would be nice if Beau could stop posting the same image 50x to try moving up everyone’s posts about what they currently experienced negatively with Gaia flooring so hopefully someone could come in and give their opinion other than Beau. This Gaia floorings is a classic example of a China made product that looks good outside and inside clearly the opposite.

Thank you Beau Monde for your guidance. Since I just had my floors installed, I will give Gaia a call. The installer purchased the flooring directly from Gaia so I’m
thinking they are certified to install their products.

I’ll provide an update once I hear something in case anyone else needs assistance.

I’m doing this proactively in case the situation get worse as a point of reference for Gaia but am overall satisfied with Gaia.

hulamom28, thanks for sharing your experience, did your installer drop off the warranty and maintenance information? you can call me Michael :-)

No, I didn’t get the warranty- let me ask for it. thank you!

@Mary C I just uploaded a few more photos in an ideabook (under my profile) called Gaia Flooring. Hopefully that’s easy for you to find. We absolutely love the Sawyer and we ended up installing it in all of our bedrooms as well as our living and kitchen areas. It’s a timeless, beautiful color that‘s neutral, not too light or dark, and has held up perfectly with our two large, very active dogs.

Hope this helps; just let me know if you have questions or want even more pics.

I'm also interested in the Gaia Sawyer and the Medieval Floors Super SPC Blois and I asked the owner of our local Abbey Carpet what is the different between these two 10mm thickness and he explained that the Gaia Sawyer is a hybrid 50% SPC & 50% WPC and the Medieval Floors Super SPC Blois is 100% SPC. The guy is really funny, he asked me "Do you preferred a Toyota Hybrid or a Tesla?" lol

@Bee Thank you for uploading those photos. Your floors are beautiful! One of my concerns was that Sawyer might be too dark. The natural lighting in my house is not great, but I'll be painting my interior walls white and I know that will help brighten everything up. I'm happy to hear the floors are holding up to your dogs. I have two very active dogs as well. They are a big factor in what type of flooring I move forward with. Thanks again!

@Marjorie Sun I would do my own research rather than listening to a sales person who is trying to make commission from competing products. Unless our flooring company misrepresented facts, which I highly doubt based on their reputation, Gaia is not 50% WPC. The manufacturer website also does not indicate any WPC in its specs.

To the vehicle analogy, I’m sure a great many people would prefer the dependability of a Toyota hybrid over a newer auto manufacturer that has been associated with numerous human deaths based on its supposed advancements.

Also the difference between the Black Series and the Super SPC is the Black series planks are 9" x 70.87" and rated at 2,000 psi with a Floor Score rating, the Super SPC planks are 9" x 60" and rated at 2,100 psi with both Floor Score & Greenguard rating, also the Black Series has a 20mil wear layer with a 1.5mm antimicrobial attached acoustic pad and the Super SPC has a 30mil wear layer with a 2.0mm antimicrobial attached acoustic pad.

This is white series sanddollar.

We loved them.

@Bee I’m not sure why Gaia’s website didn’t indicate the materials inside their floorings. I didn’t know Gaia 10mm has WPC content in it either until i read the paper many stores posted next to the Gaia’s displays. I originally went with the Sawyer and had my deposit until i received a cut piece and saw their 10mm made like a sandwich with the WPC in the middle and so I asked the sales guy why the middle is not solid core? By looking at the cut piece I received, WPC material is more than 50% of this product. I went to many stores and not that many still selling WPC floorings as they said it’s the old style and outdated as it’s very soft.

Since you already have Sawyer installed at your place, take a look at some of the cut pieces you have left and see it for yourself.

@Mary C happy to help! good luck!

@Marjorie Sun I have, thanks. More importantly we have had it installed and it has held up beautifully. To each their own though.

To be honest, we also like the color Sawyer too as it’s beautiful, but we have kids and a dog so any content of WPC flooring is definitely not for us because according to many of our research this type of flooring has formaldehyde chemicals whereas SPC doesn’t have formaldehyde or VOC, and WPC is also softer and less dense than SPC as well that is why we chose to go with the Medieval Floors Super SPC Blois when we found out Gaia Sawyer 10mm has WPC content. If we don’t have kids, we may consider WPC as it’s a little softer on the feet.

https://vegasflooringoutlet.com/2019/08/4-reasons-why-spc-vinyl-flooring-is-better-than-wpc-vinyl-flooring/

Does it have WPC in it? I see no mention of that on their website which breaks down the layers.

https://www.gaiafloor.com/?id=1995

There is no Formaldehyde in any of Gaia's three series....

You mean none in the black, red or white series?

If you read the certificate, it says there are formaldehyde VOC in Gaia’s all 3 series at less than/equal to 0.5mg/m^3 and the certificate expired as well. I’m not sure if there are any WPC content in Gaia’s red and white series as Gaia is not being specific to what is inside their products as they didn’t have these information on their website nor their sample boards, but 100% there are more than 50% content of WPC are in Gaia’s black series which ‘formaldehyde is used in production of WPC vinyl flooring,” as i have a cut piece of their black series.

Always check on the quality before picking. My aunt's house is paved with Gaia, they treat it well with SPC floor care.

Marjorie Sun, please show us where on the SCS certificate it states that Gaia products contains "Formaldehyde" also attached just for you is the 2022 / 2023 SCS Global certificate. If you have found a better product than the Gaia planks and it states in black and white that "this product contains "0%" Formaldehyde, please do share! For your information Formaldehyde is associated to wood and wood byproducts.

Beau Monde Fine Floors, WPC stands for Wood Polymer Composite so yes it has wood chips in it so it does contains formaldehyde. I have small kids and they like to crawl and play on the floors all day long so better off no chemical whatsoever on the floors is best. Also my house has many windows which the floors will be expose to the sun a lot during summer so if the core is not solid, it will get warp easily that's why I preferred no wpc. The thing I don't like about Gaia Floors is that they said on their website how their Black Series is "Solid" core when it is not. You can literally use your fingernail and slightly pressed onto the cut side of their sample board and you will ding it immediately. That just to show how soft this floors is. I was almost buying into their wrongly advertisement about how luxury and solid core their floors are..luckily, the salesman I was working with knows his stuffs. I would be upset buying this thinking it's solid core when it's soft core.

Marjorie Sun, so I guess SCS Global is lying whey they stated on the certificate "Less than/equal to 0.5 mg/m3" Since you already made up your mind, may I suggest Medieval Floors Super SPC Collection, it is Floor Score, Greenguard Gold & SCS Global Certified. Did your salesman know this?

Clarification WPC stands for Water Proof Composite, It is basically a mineral polymer with a foaming agent to make it lighter. There is no wood or formaldehyde in Gaia eSPC.

Gaia Floor Black Series is an engineered core with SPC (solid polymer composite) and WPC (waterproof composite). The engineered multilayer core is how you can get a light weight and a stable waterproof product that has the benefits of an SPC top layer.

It is also more stable than other resilient products.

I'm usually a lurker, but I think everyone should know WPC stands for Wood Polymer Composite, and because there are wood minerals in it, the flooring will expand, easy breakage due to its softness, and easy warping. Check out Gaia's Black Series and compare:

So yes Gaia is wrong labeling their Black Series as solid core when it's not solid core.

Source: https://denverhardwood.com/education/wpc-vs-spc-flooring/

From "Floorcovering News"

What is WPC exactly?

The “w” stands for wood, but the fact is the majority of WPC-type products entering the market today do not contain wood. WPC is a composite material made of thermoplastics, calcium carbonate and wood flour. Extruded as a core material, it is marketed as being waterproof, rigid and dimensionally stable—thereby overcoming various traditional engineered wood disadvantages while still offering wood-look visuals. In an effort to differentiate their products, suppliers are branding their WPC offerings with names such as enhanced vinyl plank, engineered vinyl plank (or EVP flooring) and waterproof vinyl flooring.

From "Right Flooring"

What is WPC?

The word "wood" in the name is a misnomer - most WPC's do not contain wood. WPC is a composite material made of thermoplastics and calcium carboanate. Extruded as a core material, it is waterproof, rigid and dimensionally stable. Like SPC flooring, WPC is often referred to as enhanced vinyl plank, luxury vinyl flooring, or waterproof vinyl. Waterproof, rigid, & stable, WPC floors are appropriate for situations where laminate should not be used.

so you guys are saying that Gaia's Black Series 10mm thickness is a WPC, and it is NOT a full solid polymer core like whatever Gaia Floors been advertised all over the net all these years?

Gaia's planks are SPC and not WPC, that is a fact.

The fact is our 10mm Gaia floors that we installed inside our house looks exactly like the picture below on the left side WPC (Wood Composite Core/Expanded Polymer Core), god they screwing us no wonder our floors is very soft by the sunlight and it's wrong Gaia been advertising everywhere that's a SPC floors

Someone please show me where it states that the Black Series is a WPC product

Hi All,

We’re installing Gaia Riva this week. Any recommendations on the linear pattern we should ask our contractor to do when laying the floor based on the plank variation ?

Just make sure your contractor is aware of the fact that there are only 5 different patterns and if space is permitted stack all your planks in those 5 different patterns piles. Also make sure that your existing sub-floor is smooth and flat as glass.

Black Series Atticus

Alyssa Nick we are looking at installing Gaia Riva as well. Are you able to share pictures once installed? Hope you love it!

Hi - my newly installed floors were beautiful for 1 day and then the tile contractor destroyed them. My GC is telling me that the metal “Knick” I am seeing is from a pin nail they have to do for stability on the stair tread nose trim. I don’t think this is correct. Pics of “Knick and plus pics of the destroyed part. They are going to fix, but I am so mad. Questions for expert: these metal “knicks” that they are saying are pin nails, is this the normal installation? And if they just redo the nose trim, will it be a worse seam? Should I make them Re-do the entire stairwell, not just nose trim? This is the Sole, by the way and I loved it for 1 day exactly. Now I’m scared it won’t hold up. @BeauMondeFineFloors any help appreciated.

we never use nails on the stairs, we only glue them and tell our customers not use the stairs for a minimum of 24 hours, however what I see in the pictures is not nails, but damage caused by someone dropping or dragging an item on those stairs. They will need to order new flush stair nosing and redo those stairs.

Thank you so much, I wish your company were close enough to use, your insight is priceless, thank you for taking the time to answer @beaumonde