I have had my Smartstrand what will be 3 years in June. I didn't buy mine at Lowes - got mine through the same carpet place where we bought our original carpet 20 years ago. Anyway - about a month after it was installed, I was printing out some photos and you guessed it - the printer malfunctioned and the ink just sat on top of the paper and when it "shot" the paper out, the ink continued on - all tiny spots on my carpet. After a moment or two of panic - I got out my wet and dry vac and a pitcher of water. I started with a couple of spots and when the water hit it, the spots spread. Oh crap, I'm thinking but I recall reading that would happen and to just keep flushing and sucking up the water. It worked! After I got all the ink up, I just kept blotting up the area with plain white paper towels. Once it was dry - you couldn't tell where the ink had been. Now - I still don't take any chances. Anytime I print on photo paper, I put a plastic table cloth in the area where the printer is. And I don't use glossy paper anymore. I did just have the doorways restretched as I was having some "fraying" where the carpet met the tile. The original installer came back to do it and he admitted that his helper at the time had not done it correctly. I have a 3 year warranty from the carpet company on the install as well as the warranty from Mowhawk. Didn't cost me anything and the guy told me that my carpet looked like new. I was considering having it cleaned but he told me if it were in his house, he would wait as long as possible. I do have a few spots, mostly from my grandson, guess I will spot clean them. I have the Smartstrand pad - with moisture barrier. I was really impressed when it was installed - no odor from the pad or the carpet.

Solid hardwood is milled straight from the tree. It is solid throughout (like a 2"x4" is). Engineered is like plywood, but made out of the type of wood that is advertised. Engineered Wood Flooring has roughly twice the dimensional stability with changes in climate (moisture and temp), and will expand and contract aboput half as much a solid wood flooring. Solid wood flooring can be refinished many many times. Engineered wood flooring has limited thickness to be sanded and refinished. If going with engineered and you are looking to the future for refinishing, I recommend a very hard wood to limit wear and denting. The Janka Wood Hardness Test is one of the best measures of a wood species ability to resist denting and wear, however, at some point a wood species choice may become harder than the finish going on it. This can prevent future sandings needed if it ever needs refinished, so a harder wood may be able to be screened and refinished saving time and money from sanding becasue of its hardness, where a softer wood that is worn and dented might need a resanding PLUS rerfinishing. Here is a janka hardwood list then you can reference that with the products you wish to view/buy Hardwood Flooring Wood Hardness Scale prefinished hardwood does not require sanding. Site finished does. Mowhawks hardwoods are prefinished so they do not require site finishing to be installed. However, some years down the road you may with to have them refinished If no retailers around you have felt led tips, get your felt at an arts and crafts store, rag shop, or sewing shop and cut your own.

I am so new here and am not sure where to post my question -- maybe you can help. Another question about Aladdin Silk at Home Depot-- I brought samples home and on the samples is written "Mohawk smartStrand BCF 3GT polyester with Dupont Sorona". I guess I am confused since I interpreted a prior post on another thread to mean that Aladdin was made with the Canadian PTT SmartStrand which wasn't Sorona. Does is make any difference in real life?? Also --Does anyone know the relative DENSITY between Aladdin Silk, Command I and II, and the Organic Luxury line? How would one judge quality between the lines? Thank you, Thank you soooooo much!

I went to the locator yet the Floorscapes dealer I saw today didn't have everything I'm seeing on the Mohawk website. They just had the standard display (triangles) and one other type. I'm personally getting frustrated with this. And all the different names and some places carrying only a few, etc. I'm looking for something similar to Thai Silk color on the big display board but less pinky, a bit whiter, more 'cream'. There's a deadness to these colors to me. But this is definitely more pinky vibe. I saw a 'potential' at Home Depot but the board was lent out so I couldn't tell from the 1.5" wide swatch. Does Home Depot have their own colors in Smartstrand? Is it hopeless to find the same color or type one sees at Home Depot at a real carpet store?