Here are some pics of the Lato Base that has been installed for about 1 month we ordered it in the summer and it arrived in December due to the pandemic supply chain boat traffic jam. it seems nice. it is lower shine and much more non slip than our previous laminate and warmer on cold mornings. +/- you cant run and sock slide on it. we replaced laminate that was light but more colorful in orange and pink hues (bottom pic is our old floor-notice how you can see the edge of each lamite plank. For a plastic floor, this Lato is more “realistic” than the old floor which had multiple boards per plank. Lato is light and looks best in the rooms with deeper contrasting colors imho. Maybe we will go darker on the walls the next time we paint Our house is 100+ years old. The Lato feels like a timeless color and I against our dark modernish Ikea cabinets. we did 900 sqft continuous over multiple rooms on the main floor we’ll see how it holds up long term. my kid roller skates on it and plays hockey on it with no marks or scratches that havent cleaned up. we clean it with liquid products and have the pet water dish on it without worries. The micro bevel is about as deep as the faux wood grains. We were not a fan of the deep grooves and trendy big planks but maybe this flat bevel will present a problem if any buckling or swelling occurs in the future. We’ll see. Under can lights and other fixtures it looks nice and doesnt mirror the light source. There are certain times of day that the light shows the artificial grains more. Overall, it looks good, but i doubt folks would be fooled that it is real wood while standing on it. But, it seems to have gotten firmer with fewer soft / hollow spots as it has sat and settled . . . or im used to them now. Subfloor was 23/32 tonge and groove particle board over exising imperfections from settling. Its not perfect but better than it was before particle board was laid. the negative- The wear layer is brittle. we did find a crack in it from an unknown source. Not sure if something was dropped or maybe a kid was testing dads hammer while he was not around after install. also in one of thr doorways, there is a gap in the subfloor it was soft and a plank cracked in half when someone stepped on in that spot. the previous laminate had spanned that soft spot without cracking. we did not use an approved installer. lesson learned we are going to see if we can replace just one or two tiles by cutting the tongue and gluing in a replacement as seen on line. hopefully others will not see the negatives that we have experienced. this is our first luxury vinyl and maybe the problems would have surfaced with other products too.

leftontheinside We got our First Crush installed a few weeks ago, and there are saw marks. Some of our samples made them look very busy, and others didn't have them at all. We went through a local flooring store. The saw marks are definitely there, but not noticeable when looking at the floor as a whole (I looked at a lot of pictures because the saw marks were almost a deal breaker). We love the floors. They are beautiful! HU-751872317 We got a custom taupe stain made that coordinates well with the floor. If you still need something, I can get the formula.

Another thing to consider when looking at the engineered floors is plank length. I just realized why I didn't like some of the photos I saw ... they had too many short pieces which gives the floor a choppy look and to me, it looks too much like a tile effect. The Uptown Floors suggested above sound great, and I will look at them more closely, but they still have "shorter" board (12" to 8 ft). I am looking at another company with board lengths from 3 ft to 12 ft. Those longer boards make a big difference in the overall look in a larger open floor plan. The longer boards do cost more, so I need to do some more comparisons and value of spending more for a more pleasing look. Their other specs are mostly similar. I think floors are going to be my hardest decision!

I don't like the idea of LVP because of the environmental impact. I have been hoping that with technology there might be a super water resistant coating for hardwood floors. I have looked at Vermont Natural Coatings Super Whey 3500 which is used in commercial buildings, hotels, & restaurants. Vermont Natural Coating Whey water-based poly coating has been used on many sports/ basketball floors which do get lots of wear but not much water/ liquid spills that sit for at least 8 hours. I would never put wood in a bathroom. I have a semi-open concept home. The kitchen is open to the family/ great room so matching flooring makes the room look bigger and more elegant. The entryway flows into the back great room area so I prefer the main floor being the same flooring. I have seen how the water-based poly coatings on solid hardwood wears quite terribly over the years especially in front of the sinks, stoves, and refrigerators. Every design show makes the main floor all wood now unless it's in Florida where they use tile or LVP. The exception is the mudroom/ primary entrance from the garage being tile IF the main floor is hardwood/ engineered wood flooring. I have been looking at the new waterproof engineered flooring but many reviews show many brands have poor scratch resistance. See: https://www.flooringstores.com/blog/waterproof-hardwood-flooring/