Hey! I'm about to purchase some flooring, but have a hard time finding reviews for the Shaw Floor product I'm looking into. It's the Estate Hickory line, in the Ginger or Warm Sunset color. I'm trying to choose between these because they're GreenGuard Gold certified, the highest indoor air quality standard to date. I think the wear layer on these is about 1.8mm, so not the very best, but we're a younger couple doing a remodel and need 900 sq. ft. Needless to say, we want something durable but we can't break the bank for this project. Does anyone have this installed in their home, who would like to share your review and/or pictures? Thank you in advance!

Choosing the right flooring type isn't enough for your living condition. You will have to consider the types of cut: flat sawn, rift and quarter sawn, quarter sawn or live sawn. Quarter sawn and rift & quarter sawn will be best choices, because expansion and contraction is along the thickness of the wood. You will need climate control all year round. 70 degrees at 40 % relative humidity is where you want to be throughout the year. The use of a humidifier/dehumidifier will be needed year round. Although, engineered flooring is more stable than solid. Using the wrong wood specie in your living condition can run the risk of de-laminating with engineered wood. If, the top veneer is more or less stable than it's core and backing. You will experience de-laminating in extreme humidity swings. Take in account of what the engineered flooring is constructed of: mdf or plywood. The width of the flooring will account for how much expansion and contracting also. 2 1/4" strips are the most stable. As you go wider, expect to see more wider seasonal gaps. Proper acclimating is critical, should be performed with a moisture meter. For 2 1/4" strip flooring , sub-floor and flooring moisture should be within 4%. For all other widths 2% moisture differentiation is allowed or should not be exceeded. Don't forget proper expansion gaps, which is the thickness of your flooring, example: 3/4" thick = 3/4" gap. Sub-floor type and condition will affect the performance of wood floors. All this needs to be considered for the proper and successful performance of your wood floors.

I just saw this, Itsoi. I left the mustard on there for 24 hours and then cleaned it off. It faded completely after a short time (maybe a couple of days, I can't remember). I never heard about conditioning it, that could be a good idea but we've been pretty harsh on ours for the past 3 months and it's holding up really well, so might do that after a year or if a specific room needs it before. I felt that the oil finish would be easier for me to do touch ups on if I needed to. Still have construction going on but we've been living here for the past 3 months. And we routinely throw balls and toys for our dog down the long runway of the living room/hall and I've yet to see her nails scratch up anything! It's been pretty impervious to our kids dripping water in the kitchen also. I don't know how it will look in 5/10 years but at the moment, I'm still really happy with our choice. It seems like a very low maintenance, easy to clean (doesn't show much dirt/dust!) floor. We paired the Rockwood Claystone with BM OC17 on our walls and like the color combo. If you're leaning towards buying it, just buy 1 box and pop it together somewhere you can look at it for a week or so. I think you'll get a pretty good idea then if you like it or not. And if you like it, you can reuse it, win win! Good luck!

I recently remodeled and installed Mirage floors. I had researched and Mirage were reasonably well reviewed and had an acceptable wear layer. I was more concerned with the durability of the finish since the reality is that I would NOT refinish any floor because of the logistical impossibility of doing so in my condo. Mirage is based out of Canada and claim to use green lumbering and manufacturing practices which was something important to me. I wanted to go with either US or Canadian company. I had considered white oak but I have a lot of white oak cabinetry and so I opted for the red oak in a natural blonde finish. I chose the Select and Better option because it had less grain and fewer knots and so was less busy. My floor is really a backdrop and not the "star" as I have area rugs which are the main floor decorative element.