Everlast Floors in Whippany, NJ did a terrible job with my installation and they damaged my file cabinets and scratched my floors and I can go on and on with the problems that I have had with the store. I wish I installed the 5.25" wide long boards Amendoim instead or the Brazilian Cherry long boards that were wide with a different store that takes pride in doing a good job and stands by their work. They were also supposed to do the installation in August 2014 but knew the wood was backordered so waited a few days so I could not cancel the contract to tell me and then told me that the wood would be there by the end of August but to wait until Gary would come back from vacation to cull the wood and be there. Gary the Salesman came back and then the wood still was not here and when it arrived I was trying to finish up my 10-15-2014 deadline and had to put off doing the floors. I can't believe how many damaged file cabinets I have and scratches on my floors and boards lining up with seams in a pattern that the installer admitted and the poor quality shoe molding used that looks terrible. Please do not use this store. When I have time, I will be doing a poor review on Yelp about the store. The salesman is a Bully and signs off if I pay, "we will pay for the file cabinet damage to the broken drawer that the installers did to a cabinet and replace the T-Molding (they stole the one I bought in a prior year that I had in the garage as they bought wood of another species stained that was too short) and other promises that they broke. They waited so long to say they will be here so I could not stop payment on the credit card. The installers that hardly spoke English did a good job but the one that headed the team that was an employee that they paid as an independent contractor, left green tape (I bought as they ran out) underneath the shoe molding and I can't get it all out and did the pattern and admitted it and had no idea we had enough wood and did not listen to me and used boards I told him not to use on my floor. I am so unhappy. The worst part is they never sent me the insurance claim form that I requested so many times to file a claim and they lied about the pad being so warm that anything in addition would be overkill and they keep telling me the owner of the store would call me back but he ignores the situation and I had to stop calling as it was my tax season. Just warning others.

ajsmama, I think like you, I would have loved a wood like Bloodwood since the red color is what I wanted. If BR-111 sold Kempas, I may have went with it but I was afraid to go with Kempas after reading problems Hartco's milling had with it despite feeling it would be more red. In all since I like most of the pictures of Brazilian Cherry, I feel I will be happy once the floor is installed and the floor oxidizes to get the rich reddish colors. My allergies were bad all night and today which I feel is a combination of the wood outgassing through the boxes and the muggy weather outside which most likely is causing my mold and weed allergies to act up. I have not had allergies in awhile except for bad allergies so I stopped going for allergy shots. I may have to call a new local allergist (my other allergist is too far so I just keep putting off going) to continue my allergy shots since they had helped me so much and in August and September are my worst months. Hence, the wood in the family room, is probably to me like someone just painted the walls with a low VOC paint and I will be patient and wait for the outgassing to lessen. I am still excited about my floors but I have to finish some work before I can get back to emptying these rooms, paint the walls in the two room home office (the wood is being stored in the third room on the first floor which is open to the other rooms)and having my floors installed so I can post pictures of the beauty of the wood.

LIve wire oak mentions many things...the biggest red flag is the 'professional' (ahem...) using a low-grade DIY product such as Minwax. Minwax stains are OIL based. They take time to cure (72 hours anyone?) before a product such as Loba can be applied (water based product out of Germany). And just like oil and water NOT mixing, Loba and Minwax do NOT mix. Loba has their own line of water based stains. They are expensive, but beautiful. A SOLVENT (aka oil based) based finish (like Minwax) turns ORANGE. Not just 'yellow' but ORANGE!!!!! So...you can kick Minwax to the curb IMMEDIATELY!!! Like YESTERDAY! Water based polyurethanes (such as Loba 2K Supra AT; Loba WS 2K Supra; Bona Traffic HD; Bona Traffic; etc) do NOT TURN YELLOW! They are referred to as "clear coats" by many. White Oak NEEDS a sealant (Loba Easyprime = Loba sealant) when working with water based polyurethane. If you do NOT use the sealant (because you are using a WATER BASED polyurethane) then you will find the White Oak tannins (the stuff that gives wood its colour) will move to the surface of the wood and sit there = turn yellowish over time. Whew! So first things first: find ANOTHER refinisher. Water based stains are a B!tch to work with if you DO NOT have the training. And NO, you do NOT WANT to be the 'project' they floor dude uses to learn the product. Water based polyurethanes are ANOTHER issue all together. As easy as Loba is to work with....it still takes PLENTY of practice to 'figure out'. Especially if you are an 'oil guy' for 20+ years. Please find the nearest professional: www.nwfa.org An NWFA Certified Flooring Sander/Refinisher is going to charge $5+ per square foot to work with the high end stuff. But it is TOTALLY worth it. And that $5/sf is JUST the staining/finishing. The TOTAL cost for installation is going to add a few more $$ per square foot for the labour to cut/install the wood floor itself.

Just a little Heads up. Brazilian Oak is called Tauri. It is an 'exotic' hardwood (it comes from somewhere other than your continent). Like MOST exotic hardwoods it is photosensitive. That is to say it GETS DARKER as it ages. This has NOTHING to do with the finish. It has everything to do with the WOOD. The pretty, soft, velvety browns and smooth beige you are seeing WILL NOT last. Nope. They get darker and STRONGER in colour. Yah. Even though they are ranked as 'low' on the photosensitivity radar...they will still get a snick darker as soon as they are exposed to 'light'. The white oak is not something that has this issue. In fact it can fade in a medium amount of time in direct sunlight (with old windows with very little UV block on them). And the STAIRS are going to be a NIGHTMARE with Tauri. The amount of effort put into 'matching' the colouring with another species can double your flooring budget. Nope. Not kidding. And just so you know...there are PLENTY OF COMPAINTS about Shaw wood flooring products. I would suggest you go ahead and search this website to see what people are complaining about. Some of the treads are old...and some are very new (like 1-2 weeks old?) which tells me Shaw is NOT pulling up it's socks on this issue.