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,

I'm searching for Bella Cera "ESTATE" Monticello Collection (Hickory) Engineered Hardwood Flooring. The color is called "MONTICELLO." Any amount will be considered; left over remnants or boxes. My home flooring was flooded, and i need for repairs. Also, if enough inventory is available, I have other rooms I would like to use this flooring in. I have searched the North Texas Market for this flooring, including the manufacturer. The manufacturer tells me; Monticello is discontinued, no longer available, and my only hope is maybe, locating it through a distributer's warehouse (they may have leftover stock on hand still in their inventory), or installers that do actual jobs. Also, if "Monticello" is not an option, is there a color match in the Estate Collection? Bella Cera Estate-Montecello (Hickory), is a combination of 8" & 2" Planks. I don't really need the 2" planks. I only need 8" planks. Thank you! (Text or call972-987-7800)

Here is the BIGGEST sign that engineered hardwoods are *recommended (but not required): "We live in the midwest and have extreme changes in humidity." That's your red flag RIGHT THERE. Now that's not to say solid hardwoods are NOT allowed. They are. But an engineered product has a better CHANCE of dealing with the climate than a solid hardwood. Now on to the Pink Elephant in the room: humidity control via your heating/cooling system (aka HVAC system). Did you pay to UPGRADE your HVAC system to ALLOW hardwood in your home? Do you have BOTH A/C AS WELL AS a humidifier/dehumidifier attached to that HVAC system? I know the midwest can have HIGH summer time humidity (especially during storm/tornado season) and LOW humidity in the winters (to the point that fuzzy socks cause shocks when you touch the door nobs in your house). The HUMIDITY control is THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT PART of your build. No I am not kidding. Make sure you look at the specifications of your unit (you bought it...you should know what it is and how it functions). Ask the questions of the HVAC COMPANY that installed it. Now onto hardwoods. If you have the RIGHT HVAC system you can have any wood you want. Solid or engineered it won't matter. Now let's look at the quality of the products you are looking at. Shaw 1/2" hickory = thin. The WEAR LAYER is what you are looking at. A nicely made product should have 3mm wear layer or thicker. A 1/2" engineered plank is considered rather thin but can be acceptable SO LONG AS the wear layer is decent. Next is the Asian Walnut. This is a cute way of saying Acacia. Now Acacia has two concepts. One is the Acacia TREE and the other is an Acacia bush (aka 'short leaf'). Sigh. The cheaper versions will be the bush. That means SHORT PLANKS. Like 11" - 48" (less than 1 foot long up to a MAXIMUM of 4 feet). Wow. That's short. Bella Cera website is NOTORIOUS for being difficult to find a specific species. You would have to send a link of the actual product you are looking at. My next question is what is the price range/budget you have for hardwood? You might want to work with a less exotic product if you want a higher quality wood floor. I would hate for you to pay all that money only to find out you picked one of the lowest level hardwoods on the market. But first things first: check your HVAC system and it's ability to keep the house a happy healthy humidity level specifically designed for keeping hardwoods happy.

Engineered wood is still wood, and wood has a natural amber/yellow/orange tone that is tough to mask without extensive processing. If you are set on a light, "sand" colored floor, it would provide you many more options to expand your search criteria to other flooring products.