Wood Flooring Warranties- What Do They Really Guarantee?
Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 6:29PM Wood Flooring Warranties
Let's take a moment to talk about warranties.
Most wood flooring comes with some sort of warranty. Most often, I hear about warranties on pre-finished wood flooring or laminate flooring.
Lower grades of wood flooring may only have 5yr. warranties-, for example Home Depot's Bruce Plano Strip line. Laminate flooring has a variety of warranty lengths, but no warranty seems better than the other.
The majority of all flooring is select grade. Lumber Liquidators has their running line of Bella Wood which has a 50yr. warranty and a seven coat finish.
Somerset flooring has 25yr warranty and ten coat finish. (go figure)- They use the same finishing technique. (your first red flag)
Read the fine print, and you'll find that the list of exclusions on most warranties is taller than your house. You can void your warranty as easily as:
- A pebble from your shoe
- Sand on the floor
- Your shoes
- The wrong cleaning product.
- Wet mop
Also, reduction in gloss is not considered surface wear. There is a good chance the warranty may only cover the defective part of the floor. It may not cover anything at all if your installer uses a different technique than the manufacture approves.
The bottom line? Warranties don't have much credibility.
Trust and respect an experienced installer.
Reader Comments (4)
I think most flooring guarantees are good, as long as they come from a brand name like DuPont or pergo. I wouldn't trust the generic flooring companies however...
Hi omba! Thanks for commenting.
In my experience, the fine print of wood flooring warranties doesn't hold up under close scrutiny. I'd love to hear more about your experience with these companies, as we are always looking to recommend the best products to our customers. Can you share a story of when you've seen a warranty honored, and under what circumstances?
The warranty seems meaning less if it can easily be voided by one the above mentioned points. It seems to me that they are more of a selling gimmick than pure facts. Thanks for sharing.
Very useful information. Thank you!