What is the satisfaction level of clic loc engineered floating floors...

I have a maple clic loc that the manufacture [Award hardwood Floors] has agreed to replace do to crackleing noise at all seams...manuf. inspected and found conditions to be perfect, flat sub floor, level flooring, moisture good, room to expand, proper under foam etc.
I am finding other Clic brands that I like [Kahrs & Schon] but I am concerened that I will repeat the problem.

Don't know what to tell you. Sounds like they are taking care of the claim.

I've got some pretty bad noise in one area of mine too (you can read that thread titled "Creaks in floating floor" in this forum). We have about 1300 sq. ft. of hickory quick-lock floor laid on a concrete slab. When it got cold here I noticed a few more pops here and there but those are not too bad to live with compared to that one real bad area.

I think as far as wood floors go in general, I have some likes and dislikes:

Like:

-The look of a wood floor. Love the look.
-Fairly warm to walk on in bare feet in the winter. It's not as warm as carpet but it's way better than (unheated) tile.
-No grout lines.
-Easy to clean.
-Relatively easy to install.

Dislike:

-Very pricey material (wouldn't matter so much if it performed better).
-The noises from the floor in general, especially the really bad ones I asked about on that other thread.
-Repairs can be very hard to do. And I can see it's going to need repairs. Probably lots of them over time.
-I don't know about other woods or wood floor types but what I have is much too fragile. Takes almost nothing to scratch/scar/mar the surface.

I think if I had it to do over again I'd almost certainly just go with ceramic tiles with tight grout lines. If I were to take a chance with wood again I'd probably use solid hard wood glued down to the concrete slab and not a quick-locking floor. However, although I like the look of wood I doubt I'd chance it again with any type/style of wood flooring. My guess is in 5 to 10 years what we have will have developed so many problems visually and with noises that we'll have to replace it to be able to sell the house.

So no, I certainly wouldn't put click-lock stuff in again and even though I like the look I doubt I'd put any type of wood flooring in again. Just my personal experience with it has been so bad and costly.

Was this stuff purchased from Lumber Liquidators?

You probably want laminate or vinyl plank. Wood looks like wood, but wears like wood. If you want a dentless medium, wood is not for you.

Floorguy,

Yes, lumber liquidators in the Detroit area...they have offered a credit and I see a Kahrs product and a new Schon 4" single plank that I realy like but they are both floating clic-loc!!!

I am finding the Dura-Wood matte 30 year finish to be very durable and dent resistant...unlike other floating floors that I have seen at friends homes that scratch and dent at the simple move of a chair.

the clicking, crackeling, snapping & popping at every clic seam is not acceptable.

I have yet to meet someone, whos expectations were met from Lumber Liquidators, unless they were deaf, dumb, or blind.

What about Bob Villa and Dr. Laura? Both advertise for LL.

Ours was from LL too. I kind of think it's more a manufacturer design issue than retail source issue, but either way I need to figure out what we do now. I still need to talk to my installer and see if he might be able to fix the creaking problems. If not then I'll talk to the local LL and see where I stand.

Unfortunately I doubt we'll be able to "fix" the noise problems very well if at all and the easy-scarring issues will never be gone. If we can't get the noise problems under control then in the end I'm afraid the only real solution (if we stay in this house) will be to remove it all and start over. I hate doing that not only from the cost standpoint but especially from the huge amount of work that will be required moving everything again, pulling all the baseboards and so on. But if we stay here I do not want to "live with it." We "lived with it" for 16 years before we remodeled!

It's a real shame. The flooring was one of the biggest costs in our remodel. Initially it looked like it was a good choice but now looks like it was a pretty big mistake.

Are there GOOD engineered, floating clic-loc products out there [Kahrs, Schon]?
-or- is a glued tongue and groove a better engineered product?

Lumber Liquidators is the only one selling it, so you tell me if it is retail sales of junk, or manufacturing of junk???

Repectable well established flooring retailers will cull those type of manufacturers right in the trash can. When you sell a product and have nothing but claims, it eats into your profit and most of all your reputation.

Lumber Liquidators doesn't sell installation labor(even though "their list" consitutes a relationship) they can have a lot of wiggle room, leaving you to hash it out with the installer as they wipe their hands clean, only turning around and doing the same thing to the next guy that walks in. When you walk in their front door, your buying on price... low price. What do you expect, it is liquidated at a low price. For get about quality, it was cheap.

I've installed both Kahrs and Award's click floating floors and had no problems with separation or noise. And there where even a few uneven areas that we tried to flaten as well as we could (one subfloor was a NIGHTMARE ) Still, that Award floor performed just fine. It's better than it was when it first came out, fit wise. The Kahrs went together well also. I can't say if either of those brands never have problems but the times I installed them, they performed very well.

Any manufacturer can mill wood a bit too tight leaving the floor making noise.
The floating floors require milling that does not allow gapping but must allow for movement.. If milled a little tight, the floor makes noise...
We've seen all manufacturers ship material a little off leaving the floor to make noise..
Seen same problem in Laminates as well as Hardwood.. It can happen to anybody...

Tex