Yes, they had to sand it lightly and then carefully remove all dust and residue. I don’t get why you are buying this flooring to begin with though. I would never have bought it if I had known how poor the finish was and that the company didn’t care or stand behind their product. In the end, we spent much more than we would have if we had just bought a better product. There are quality wood and engineered floors out there. Why don’t you give them your business? I posted my experinece so that people could learn from my mistakes, not repeat them. 🙁

The oiled finishes (either UV cured hardwax oils or natural finished hardwax oils) both require "oiling" and maintenance. The DuChateau floors have been called "thirsty looking" after only a few months. This is upsetting to many people who thought they could get away with "no maintenance" for the first year. I like to suggest that clients apply the replenishing oil AS SOON AS the floors are installed. This is the recommended application for commercial floors. So we know it should be done in certain circumstances. Depending on the colour of the floor, the coloured finish has to be used - especially with repairs. Oiled floors require maintenance. There is no way around it. The good news is it can be done by the homeowner at very little cost. It can be done in high-traffic areas or room by room. Repairs can be done by the homeowner as well. The bad news: it has to be done. Yep. The work has to be done. Either by the homeowner (cheapest way) or by a professional (most expensive way). But it must be done. Like I said, I always like to start off a freshly laid floor factory finished oil floor with the best chance of success. With factory finished hardwax oils, that means a nice dose of refreshing/maintenance oil put down right after install. It takes about 24 hours for it to "cure" or dry. That's it. Nothing exciting. And it makes the floor much more attractive and homeowners much happier for much longer. Remember: we have NO IDEA how long those floors were sitting in a warehouse. It could be 2 days (freshly applied UV oil) or it could be 10 months (very dry looking UV oil...means it is time to reapply). So you might as well go ahead and apply more at the time of install and be done with it. It makes for a MUCH HAPPIER situation.

Good morning @HU-38570487. Thank you for considering RIVA for your project. We do have Pearl available. The only difference is that now our 8'' collection is called RIVA Elite and it is available in both select and character grade. It is the same high-quality as always and we guarantee 25 years with the proper maintenance. If you would like a sample, please send us an email to info@rivafloors.com with your address and we will be happy to process your order. Once again, thank you for choosing RIVA.

It is about $5.50/sq ft from the vendor we are buying it through. Would you recommend going with a higher wear layer? What is ideal? I am still open to changing brands at this point...nothing has been ordered! We live on our family farm, so will absolutely put some wear on it :). I do want to stick with engineered since we live in Missouri and have both the humid summers and snow in the winter. We bring in a lot of moisture on the floors.