Flooring Update

Sooooo, after many, many visits from flooring company representatives, tests, photos, and phone calls; Amtico, the manufacturer of my Artica flooring, has DENIED my flooring claim for the main floor of the house and refuses to warranty their product! This is especially unfortunate because their 25 year warranty was one of the major deciding factors when we selected the flooring.

The reasons for their denial are mute. A company should stand by their product…period. If there are no concerns of workmanship or installation then it’s time for the big, bad corporation to suck it up and repair or replace their defective product!

I am the kind of person who gives people (and companies) the benefit of the doubt and I always, co-operate to ensure that they have every opportunity to make things right. In this case, the company saw no value in making sure that they had a happy customer.

The bottom line is that Artica flooring fails at nearly every turn. Based on my experience with the product, I would absolutely NOT recommend it. They tout that their product is nearly indestructible, yet even the smallest fleck of material on the floor can and has caused deep scratches that cannot be repaired. The only option is replace the plank or tile. They claim that there is no telegraphing (when lines or nail pops are visible through the flooring material), yet telegraphing is the main issue with our flooring, despite our sub floor being glued and screwed down!

I made a good faith effort to use environmentally responsible flooring throughout the house but at this point, there do not seem to be the kinds of products that can realistically compete with traditional flooring materials. They are slowly coming along, but they are not there yet.

Thankfully, I have been working with a flooring company, United Carpet, that has been a strong advocate on my behalf the entire process and has, despite not being financially compensated by Amtico to do so, agreed to replace the flooring at their cost. They have stepped up to make things right! THAT is what a company *should* do!

We have decided to go with hardwood throughout the main floor, including the kitchen. Here are the options I narrowed it down to (all are engineered Vintage Hardwood Flooring from their Pioneered line):

Ash Carriage House

Red Oak Chariot 

Hickory Old Mission

Red Oak Mocha

I ended up picking the Hickory Old Mission. It was very close in colour to our current flooring (which we really like), and a nice change from the natural oak tones in the cabinets and trim.

They are also going to replace all of the bathrooms and laundry room flooring. I chose to go with DuraCeramic in Black Earth (from their Rustic Stone line) by Congoleum. The only down side is that I have to say "bye bye" to my sparkly floor. It was fun while it lasted (picture a sad face here). Here's what I chose:

The owner is trying everything in his power to ensure that the floor is done for Christmas. He’s not making any promises, but I have my fingers crossed!