. . . and now it begins I had SPECIFICALLY insisted that the carpet be power stretched. It was written on my order. It was written on the installers' job sheet. So what do I find when I check on their progress? A stinger. Which punches holes in the carpet and is explicitly prohibited by the CRI. I took a picture of it and emailed it to Lowes, and told them that the installer had violated the Mohawk warranty requirements. And hopefully didn't take chunks out of my subfloor in the process, but probably did. The installation team manager called Mohawk to confirm what I told him, and they said yes, stingers are a no go. So, I told them they are going to have to do it all over again, with new fresh materials, and do it right. more fun.

I sell Shaw 3/4 solid hickory natural for 3.99 a ft on promo about once a month and stil make money. And that is a buying buy the carton price. HD buying tuckloads can surely sell it for that. It will be 1st quality and nice stuff. I also buy 2nds from shaw occasionally. They would never have the quantity of 2nds needed to distribute to HD. We buy a truckload of wood 2nds and it cleans them out of a style. The warranty is inflated by HD but 30 years is a joke anyway. The guy having the problem with Bruce is just a Bruce thing in my opinion. Any lower cost Bruce products has problems based on our experieince. We allow an extra 10% waste for Bruce lower cost stuff. That is what HD and Lowes sells a lot of. You will not have troubles with this shaw product. Guaranteed. I know Shaw just too well. Watch and see and learn. Good luck with the Hickory.

I can comment on Pergo flooring. I had it installed about 12 years ago through Lowes. We had a very experienced flooring installer put them in. He did lots of prep work first: screwed down all the floor boards prior to installing the Pergo and all my flooring squeaks went away. My Pergo looks as good today as the time it was installed. I have dropped items on this flooring over the years: no dings or scratches. My brother who is a real estate appraiser for expensive properties was surprised it was Pergo and not wood. I can not say enough about Pergo. Best of luck in your decision. Always research and read lots of reviews on any projects you plan to do. The time you spend is worth it❣️❣️

@Margaret Leavitt wondering how your flooring is now? and was it Floorte Exquisite? the waterproof hardwood product from Shaw?? Daniel's floors looked very dark, I wondered if the scratches showed up more because of its tone. I am looking at the Exquisite for our entire house in the Safari Oak. Our other home has Brazilian Cherry floors from Lumber Liquidators, it is Bellawood. Those floors have been down now for 10 years & very few scratches, but it has a very high gloss finish. the high gloss is a very hard finish but I really want more of a matte finish this time. any comments would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!