In my opinion Mercier finishes are as good as it gets. The finishes look great and they emit low to no VOC. One of the downsides to a very clear finish with a high gloss level -- for Mercier that would be Semi Gloss or Satin gloss -- is you see footprints even from socked feet. Do you know what gloss level you have on your flooring? I don't have an answer to the sock feet but I'd strongly suggest you follow -- to the letter -- Mercier's maintenance (cleaning) instructions. See mercier-wood-flooring.com > All About Floors > Documentation > Maintenance Guide. Two reasons to do this, 1-they know best, and 2-if you do what they specifically say not to do (use wax, household detergent, concentrated wood cleaner, oil based soap, vinegar/water mix, no fabric softener when you launder the mop heads... they're very specific) you void the warranty, 35 or 10 years depending on the product. To get their finishes to meet the low to no VOC certifications they base the chemistry of their finishes on soybean oil, among other things (they don't make excessive use of plain old, traditional urethane for example). Their website explains this fairly well. To get their finishes perfectly clean, with no dull, translucent film afterwards, you have to follow their instructions exactly. Amazon sells their cleaning kits, and I think Bona is the closest third-party brand to what Mercier sells as their cleaning kits (50% micro fiber mop head, and cleaning fluid in a spray bottle). Hope this all helps.

I emailed my contact asking him for clarification on what he said vs. what's printed on the back of the sample. (see below) I don't know what all the little hash marks & such mean, but all in all I am satisfied with his answer to this and the many other questions I've asked. We will be moving forward on the job with this provider. We feel good about it. He's presented himself very professionally and I think we're going to be very pleased with the end result. I'll be sure to repost when it's all finished so y'all can see what we got. :) Thanks for the help! Here's what he had to say: "I was mistaken in that particular product as to the length size. The chocolate cherry is 12"-47" which is still a beautiful floor. The checker board look is caused by poor installation. When we install a floor we are very particular with how it is laid out to avoid what we call stair steps: ------I and H patterns ------I---------------I which makes the floor look "checker board". ------I I-------------I------------- -------I ------I---------------I Hope that helps,

We used this product Smartcore Pro on a kitchen floor install. It was a nightmare to install. In my opinion the tile snap in‘s are defective. Once snapping in place they pop back up, and a slight adjustment to a tile throws every other tile in place out of alignment. It’s poorly engineered, not the type for a DIY project There’s no room for error. After living with it for two years of constantly shifting out of place we pulled it out and put it in the trash were it belongs. We had a Tile setter come in and installed a porcelain tile floor. Save your money would not recommend it ever. Poorly made and engineered.

Ok...For $4.98/sf this is a look-a-like product with a coloured finish (stain/pickling product) with traditional urethane finish. Not bad...but you get what you pay for. And urethane is a traditional finish that will scratch happily. That is not "wrong". It is not a defect. It is simply the truth of a traditional urethane finish. And at this price....you can't ask for much more. The thickness is 1/2". Again, for the price, that's about as thick as you can hope for. The write up is showing 7 layers of engineered flooring. For a thin(ner) product there are MANY layers. Which probably means there isn't much more than 2mm of wear layer. And if it is 2mm, then you will never get a refinish out of these floors. Never. The fact that HD does NOT advertise the thickness of the wear layer TELLS ME it is very thin. Remember: a THICK wear layer is to be advertised and celebrated! I thin wear layer (as I suspect this is) is a drawback that the company does NOT want you to know. If it isn't advertised then it is probably very thin. So....there you have it. You are looking at a lower quality product, with a lower quality finish (standard urethane is now considered passe because there are tougher one's out there) with a wear layer that is *probably very thin. Sounds just about right for $4.98/sf. And remember, the installation of hardwood (engineered or not) can be the same price as the wood product. Please don't use HD installers. If you have any concerns with floor preparation (in other words you NEED floor prep) then the HD installers/quotes will miss this step entirely....thus leading to months of headaches. Personally I would look at a HIGH END laminate with the right optics. It will be roughly the same price (possibly a few cents cheaper) and it will most likely offer a much longer life span of "happy" than a very cheap (yet pretty) engineered wood floor from HD. And installing laminate is MUCH cheaper than engineered hardwood. Thus saving tons of money if budget is a concern. LVT in this price range will purchase PLENTY of quality with much better "wearability" than low priced engineered hardwood. JMHO.