For that price point, I heard good things about UrbanFloor. There is also a local manufacturer here in Cali, whom I am purchasing flooring from, that has great knowledge of the industry, products, and has an excellent line of flooring himself. Message me if you want their info, and you can talk to them and see if they have something you like.

Hello Kailasa, My wife and I used a Real Wood Floors product in our new home and couldn't be happier. Coming from a flooring background, I had a choice of several competing products, but chose Real Wood Floors for their quality and overall value. The products we purchased are now a part of our home and we couldn't be happier. Our floors are made from Rift and Quartered White Oak and American Walnut though Real Wood Floors carries a variety of species that come in different widths and grades. They also have some flooring products that are prefinished as well. I hope this was helpful. I would encourage you to give them a call. Here is a link that might be useful: Real Wood Floors

I plan to put maple engineering wood floor in natural color in my home office. I like its quite, clean look. We don't have kids and pets in the house. I got a few samples from flooring stores. The flooring installer says I should just pick the one I like since first quality products (instead of factory clear out, or seconds) all have good warranties. Is this true? Could anyone please teach me how to tell if one product is better than others? What characteristics should I look for in a sample? What is the reasonable price range for a quality floor? Does brand name of a company matter? What width is ideal? Thank you in advance for your inputs.

Sigh...in all installation instructions throughout the building industry, the humidity requirements are clearly stated. I'm very sorry to say that it is the homeowner's responsibility to ensure their home has all the requirements to keep a floor (or cupboards, or drywall, etc) happy and healthy. I know. You don't know what you don't know. I get that. A flooring company normally does not do the 'humidity consultation' with a customer. That is something that rarely happens. A SUPER HIGH END outfit (like the one's who would install wood flooring in multimillion dollar homes) would make enquiries...but the rest of the industry simply does the job and goes home. Not all...but most. If every company said, "Hey! Homeowner! What type of humidity you got in there? Wow! 77% huh? Sorry. Nothing doing. You gotta' pay to upgrade that HVAC unit of yours before I put my wood in there." those companies wouldn't make it through their first winter. I'm sorry this has happened to you. We are trying to get you to take action against the installers. The company that ordered the floor, delivered the floor and then installed the floor (without culling the defective product) is the one holding the one responsible for NOT ordering enough for your job. They are responsible for NOT acclimating your flooring. They are responsible for NOT culling the obvious split planks. They are responsible from the moment they ordered the wood to the moment they installed the defective planks. The manufacturer, Shaw, is responsible for manufacturing defective planks. They WOULD HAVE dealt with that if the planks had been CULLED and SENT BACK. But instead the installers decided to plow ahead. The installers have taken on the manufacturer's responsibility. You need to go after the company that ordered and installed the wood. It is up to THEM to go after Shaw for defective material.