Golden Select review: Bad service 41

We had the exact problem with J.Sonic Golden Select bamboo flooring from Sams. We had it professionally installed by the very experienced professional who installed all of the flooring in a new 35 unit condo developement. With a month,
our floors separated, dented and buckled. Now the company will not reinburse us saying "our floor has too much slope".
Slope does not cause massive shrinkage. Our installer says the shrinkage is caused by the flooring. I know he's right and I'm glad to see someone else post their grievance. Thank you.

I agree, we had the same problem with the same flooring from Sam's Club. My floor buckled like crazy even though we had left the appropriate spacing where the floors meet the walls. My brother in law also installed the same floor about the same time and his is doing pulling apart. We are trying to get refunded, but I think it will take a small calims fileing.

Because the floor was not dried well, the mositure content of this floor must be more than 12% (I guess there are about 16%-20% in your floor), that is the reason of shrikage and deglued, as well as it will low the hardness of bamboo and easy to make scratches on it. The drying step is the most important and costly step in bamboo floor production, while the mositure content of the floor is used to be hardly learnt by clients. (brightbamboo)

Was your experience with the uniclick floating floor from Sam's?

I hate to be negative to anyone doing home improvement projects, especially in this economy, but please check out domestic hardwoods. There are a lot of mills in your area that get their product from managed forests.

Bamboo has many non-green attributes that big business does not want the consumer to know: Bamboo has become so popular that the Chinese have been cutting down forests for bamboo plantations. Often, the bamboo harvested has not reached recommended maturity. Bamboo floorboards and other bamboo products are a lamination of many different pieces. The process for bonding these pieces together often involves formaldehyde. The floor will slowly off gas in your house for years to come (think of FEMA Katrina trailers). Bamboo floors are extremely difficult to refinish, usually resulting in a tear out and replacement after a relatively short life (versus oak, maple etc. which can be refinished multiple times). Making this product requires a lot of energy that is produced by dirty coal powered plants. Shipping bamboo uses a lot of foreign oil. Chinese factories are pumping out millions of board feet on poorly maintained and calibrated milling equipment (an importer from San Francisco called me to consult on a local remodel, it took three shipments to get satisfactory product—that means two floors in a landfill or pawned off on unsuspecting customers). The Chinese have a terrible human rights record. Other countries do produce bamboo, but many if not all of these issues are still relevant. (I hope I don’t sound like a Chinese basher. Very nice people with a great culture and history, we enable the Chinese government while criticizing it.)

This is your home and your decision. Bamboo does have good attributes. I just want you to know the ones that are not disclosed to the consumer. Check out the domestic options. It’s good for the environment, the economy and your mental and physical health.

Hope I didn’t ruin your Saturday,

Sam's and Costco and Lowe's and Home Depot and Lumber Liquidators etc. have all been buying these cheap products and selling you for less. The problem is they don't tell you that you're buying some lousy crap for less. Not all bamboo is the same, as you all painfully found out. It only looked great in the check out line.

After reading comments from David Rowe, I had to add my own comments. It looks like you likely are involved with the oak and maple industry, and don't have a clue what you are talking about. Apparently the only way to sell oak and maple flooring, is to spread lies and hatred about other products and countries. While there are bad seeds in every batch (including America), to make these ###ic statements of bamboo and Chinese manufacturers just accentuates your stupidity.

I purchased the bamboo at Costco for my home after extensive research, and I can guarantee that just because the flooring was about the same price as "cheap" bamboo, their product was anything but cheap. In fact, I found in my research that the Costco bamboo quality was as good or better than those who charge significantly more.

As a hardwood flooring installer for nearly 40 years, it appears that many of the problems listed above have more to do with improper installation than the quality of the product (I'm not saying these are good products). Instead of bashing bamboo and China, you might start looking for more qualified installers!

We are yet another victim of Golden Select Click Bamboo. Me and My girlfriend did 3 bedrooms, licing room and hallway. I spent 400+ dollars on floor leveler, floated the entire sections and we have very notieable gaps in our floor. This product really sucks and we saved for 4 months to purchase this from Sams. Please to anyone considering this product, DO NOT PURCHASE! YOU WILL REGRET IT. Anyone had any luck contacting the manufacture?

This is all great information and I agree with 99 percent of it as I have been a victim as well. I am a single parent and have saved for months to be able to afford. Has anyone made Sams accountable and asked for reimbursement from the manufacturer? Does anyone have any proof that this material has formaldehyde in it? If so, I would say we have a law suit on our hands. I am going to approach Sams for a full refund including my time, labor, and materials. I will post my response at the beginning of next week for anyone interested.

We recently completed a year-long renovation and addition to our home, which included installing 3000SF of engineered bamboo flooring, costing about $10/SF. We did extensive research and purchased our flooring from a well established flooring vendor. Our flooring was manufactured in the United States by a leading-edge, well-established domestic company using six year old plus bamboo materials. The installation was done per manufacturers specifications by an installation company that has been in business for over forty years. As noted, this flooring was part of a major renovation program, which included removing all of the floor joists and subflooring throughout the house and installing new pressure treated joists and subflooring structural materials covered with new Advantech subflooring. All subflooring materials were installed using high grade adhesive and screwing the Advantech to the joists. (I am a semi-retired engineer, developer and construction project manager and was on-site throughout the renovation project and took a special interest in all of the flooring work.) We scheduled the flooring installation at the end of the overall project and then covered the flooring with a heavy grade contractors paper and foamcore product to minimize the impact of foot traffic as the various subcontractors worked their way out of our house. We have placed floor protection "cups" under the load bearing points of all of our furniture, have walk-off mats at all doorways, mats throughout our kitchen, and other means to protect the flooring in high impact areas throughout the house. All of this work was completed and we opened our house for a family dinner during Thanksgiving week of 2009. At the conclusion of Thanksgiving weekend, with only 7 people in the house, our flooring looked like it had been down for years. We contacted our supplier who prepared a claim request to the vendor, who ordered an inspection by an independent inspector. In turn, the inspector prepared his report stating that the problems were not with the flooring product and that the condition of the flooring was normal wear and tear. The condition of the floor after the first three weeks included excessive scratching to the surface layer; scratches that broke through the surface layer and went into the actual bamboo; cracking along the length of the boards resulting in splinters; dents anywhere on the floor where something had dropped (we're not talking pots and pans, but rather a piece of silverware, etc.); indentions from furniture even though there were protective cups to disperse the load; etc. And all of this occurred in a home with two semi-retired adults; no children in residence; two grandchildren one or two days a week; and, two small dogs with well-clipped toenails, etc. All of this product deterioration doesn't include the frustration from water spots, footprints, etc. from anything that come into contact with the floor. Our flooring has now been down about 10 weeks and it looks like it has been down 20 years. Our supplier has been trying for two months to get the manufacturers rep to visit our house and inspect the situation, all to no avail. They have also left numerous messages with the cucstomer service department at the manufacturer and have yet to receive a return call. SO, what do we have to show for all of our efforts -- beautiful walls, woodwork and trim; very tasteful paint colors; creative lighting and built-in furniture; new furniture, and many other parts of our retirement dream home --- all sitting on flooring that looks like it was removed from a house just before the house was hit with a wrecking ball and demolition bulldozer. As the saying goes --- "Let the buyer beware" ----- and --- "Forget about customer service after the sale is made"

We purchased bamboo flooring from Sams just over one year ago. So far, we have had the opposite experience. Our floor has been attractive and durable. We placed it in a high traffic area and we have a medium sized, very active dog. I have noticed a couple of small scratches, but otherwise, the floor seems great. The only problem I have is that there is a small section that seems to be floating. It clicks everytime I walk across it. I attributed that to the installer.

I got some floors from Costco, and my strong suggestion is not to buy them. What a crap, and the customer service is the same. 2 months so far and no answer. More than $1000 dollars to the garbage. No more with JSonic. Please be aware of what a huge scam.

Let me just ask you all one question and not to be negative towards your personal experience of the bamboo floors.

When you purchase anything : Do you go for the best possible price? Sure you do and this is the problem.

Every product or company has a good, better, best, as we all know.
Bamboo is also rated; (just as Hardwoods are):
Some having inferior to better wood from different parts of the tree which creates different hardness etc.
Some having 2 coats of polyuretane others 5. There again Polyurethane has different degrees of hardness and quality.
So folks I am sure you get my point and I hate to say you get what you pay for.

I own a construction management company in Arizona. Over the last 25 years I have picked out the best quality companies to deal with
so I could get the best quality and service afterwards. Yes I paid a little more for this; but is it worth the aggavation you had to go through to save the difference. I say know because I used to buy just like that.

Now if you would like to browse my website to see what I am talking about; feel free to go in and look. You will find all American based companies with the highest standards of quality. There is know pricing on my website and I am not trying to sell you a thing.
I merely saw your complaints as I myself was looking up a company to use for Bamboo on my website and I hope I honestly answered your Questions. If not, I apologize for wasting your time. Just in case I did! My website: www.myadcom.com. My company is ADCOM Enterprises LLC. or go to my contact page and send me an email with any questions you might have.
Sincerely Andy

Have Strand bamboo flooring less then a year old! Product from Longhua bamboo! I am in Montana! Have many house plants to keep up the humity-The floors are shrinking! Get me some information on this company! they are to come in and work on them--But will the floors keep shrinking for years to come---should I have them take then OUT!Got the Flooring from Montana flooring Liquidators--Billings Montana!~!Ps Does the company Stand Behind there Product?

Yup, these are terrible floors. We managed to put a long rounded looking dent in ourson day 1 of installation after trying to gently slide the fridge back in place. This happened despite the fact that the fridge was on a big, thick blanket to make sliding it into place easier. The edges also marked up and splinted off incredibly easy during installation. Probably the worst part about these floors is the super crappy finish. Ours are a dark stain and they show every foot print, smudge, water marks...just about anything that comes in contact with them. I clean them with the recommended cleaning solutions and they will be marked up with prints before I even finish mopping. It doesn't even need to be bare feet. Just a warm sock foot. At first I blamed it on the fact that we had gone with a darker finish but my sister in law had dark floors of another brand installed and they DO NOT do this. I would never recommend these floors. We are now looking at ripping them out and starting over. Think we'll go with the same floors my sister in law installed cause they are holding up great. Can't believe we have to just "flush" the $2k we spent on this crap and incure the additional expense of new floors, not to mention having to deal with the installation process again. Not easy with three little boys under 6! Wow, i' so mad! DO NOT WAIST YOUR MONEY ON THESE

Purchased from Cost co in Ottawa, Canada. Floors are less then a year old.

I too have dark bamboo flooring and the smudges are awful. I have used everything under the sun to clean them and within 10 minutes they are smudged again. They look good right when you mop them but it doesn't last. I have not used any oily soaps or anything not made for hardwood on them either. I too blamed it on the color until I read your post. What kind of flooring did your sister in law use? We paid a FORTUNE for our floors throughout the main floor of our house. We did not purchase them from Costco or Sam's. Thanks.

I have never posted a complaint on-line but am so frustrated with our Costco Bamboo floors from “Wellmade / Golden Arowana” that I would strongly discourage anyone from buying this product. Ours has been in for approximately 3 years and looks deplorable. We have a dog and she is responsible for a minor portion of the deterioration but from the very beginning the dings, dents and scratches started showing and have grown exponentially, resulting in a floor that looks awful. Add to that the high traffic areas where the polyurethane has not worn well and we now have a floor that needs to be completely ripped out. I’ll keep complaining to Costco but doubt anything will come of it. We’ll do our homework in detail next time.

We just had 4 rooms and a hall, bath and laundry room done. Within 3 months we got two gaps and separations. 5 months later more were showing up. Talking to professional floor installers we were asked if the gaps were at door jams and they are. It is important to leave 5/16" gap between the flooring and the baseboard and wall around the perimeter so that the floor can expand. See "How to Install a Floating Floor" http://.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/print/0..1055047.00.html In some places you can't even slip a card under the baseboard. We are in the middle of having this resolved with our installer. We love the floor and it doesn't chip or dent. I wonder if that would have prevented the rest of you from the problems. Many people are loving their bamboo floors and Costco is still selling it. I don't think they don't keep inferior products on their shelves.

We installed Wellmade Bamboo floors 2 years ago and I hate them. They do scratch contrary to claims that they don't and I 100% agree with "nuerotyper" and "DLich" posts...these floors are impossible to keep looking nice. They are beautiful immediately after mopping IF you NEVER walk on them. I am completely disappointed and would not recommend these floors to anyone. We had Mannington laminate flooring originally in just our kitchen which I loved, but we decided to replace the entirie 1st level of our home with bamboo...terrible and costly mistake. Neither Wellmade nor, so far, the retailer we purchased from will offer to refund or replace. The minute you walk on them there are smudges and smears regardless of whether you are bare foot, wearing socks, wearing shoes. I spend literally EVERY day mopping these floors only to have them look terrible. I use the Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner as recommended by the Wellmade company as well as the retailer we purchased from. The product itself is wonderful, it's the floors that are the problem. I have tried using only a damp mop with no cleaner applied and that doesn't work either. I hate these floors and now apparently I am just stuck with them until I can afford to borrow MORE money to have them replaced. And when I do I will go with Mannington.

We have had our bamboo floors for 2 years, the humidity is 40%, and it continues to shrink everywhere. The flooring no longer goes under the baseboards, and is pulling apart all over the place. We installed approx. 3000 sq. ft. and it was not easy to install. I am a home builder and have many years experience installing various types of flooring, and this is the worst. The only solution that I can see is to rip it all out and replace it. I am just glad that I did not install this flooring in a customers house!

We had Golden Arawana T & G bamboo flooring, which we bought from Costco, professionally installed one year ago, and we are very unhappy with it due to high edges and ends that are wearing badly. These worn edges look terrible. Obviously, this stuff isn't perfectly flat. It's obviously curled up slightly on a lot of the edges and ends, making high spots. We have also noticed that a lot of the planks are slightly bowed, which makes for noticeable gaps between the planks. Plus, this stuff seems to be pretty fragile as far as scratching and denting, which might be part of the problem with it wearing right through the finish on these high spots. I would not recommend this product due to the problem with the worn high spots. We sent Do, the Golden Arawana customer service guy several pretty good pictures that show the worn high edges very well, only to hear him say that he needed even more pictures. I've posted one of the pictures here, which I believe shows what's happening very well. Not reassuring. Also, one of his comments to us was that you cannot believe what you read with these negative blogs ~ even when someone else details out the same exact problem we are experiencing! Our main hope that they will resolve this to our satisfaction is that Costco seems to be solidly behind us and is saying they will go to bat for us.

I know exactly what you mean. We just purchased a home with 1800 sq ft. of Bamboo floor. The only rooms that do not have bamboo are the mud room and baths. These floors are beautiful when clean, but seconds later, there are prints all over them. No matter if you have socks only, barefoot, shoes or other... My dogs little prints show upon the floor. My back is killing me from constantly cleaning these floors. The first time I cleaned them on my hands and knees and couldn't stand up normal for the next week. I now have sciatica and I attribute it to spending 2 hours bent over the floor. If anyone finds a solution, please let me know. I think I am going to try orange glow on a small test area in one of the closets to see what happens. It can't be any worse than the floors looking like we never clean them because of the smudges all over.

Floor planks would not sit flat. The uniclick design is flawed, at least in my case. I tried every method listed in the instructions and the planks just would not click together nor lay flat. Going back to Costco for a complete refund. Note, one installer would not touch the install once he tried putting a couple pieces. Said it would be a trouble install, so he backed out.

Buyer beware! We recently purchased $3000.00 of Bamboo flooring from Lowes. The product was manufactured by US Floors. After installation the boards separated and it was repaired by our installer. Unfortunately this occurred 2 additional times. It was not our installer’s fault it was a product defect. I requested Lowes to send someone out to look at the flooring. US Floors sent out an independent inspector and he verified that the moisture in some of the boards was excessive, seems that the disturber was buying his product from an unregulated vendor- Over Seas-and there were no regulated standards on the amount of moisture the boards could have. So in essence I have some boards that are 55% or higher moisture and others with 35%. Because of the boards drying it continues to pull the flooring apart at those joints. I literally have 1/4-1/3" gaps in the flooring. So we filed a claim against US Floors thru Lowes. I was assured multiply times everything would be taken care of. I submitted our cost of original Installation ($2000.00) and another bill for $800.00 for the floor to be taken up and re-laid 2 additional times. I then wrote a letter requesting an additional $750.00 for my time to move furniture and waste two days being at the house so workers could relay the floor. The 1st response from US Floors came back that they would approve the requested amount of $750.00. Okay but there are 2 additional bills. They check and come back that they will pay the $800.00 bill also. So they’re going to pay me for my time and to relay the floors twice, but they don't have the 1st invoice sent for the original installation. I emailed this to Lowes which sent it on to US Floors. I have been working on this claim since May, they refuse to give us any additional monies except the cost of the floor and the $1550.00 in Labor. I still have to repurchase flooring materials, pay someone to take up the defective flooring and install new flooring or continue to pay someone to relay this floor however many times it takes. This being totally unacceptable I went to Lowe and requested to speak with the Manager. He said he'd get it taken care of that the Department Head would call US Floors on Monday. So today I get a call from the store manager and US Floors will not do anything else. There's nothing more Lowes can do - I have stressed I'm in the contracting business and work with vendors all the time. Lowes is the one that has the leverage against US Floors, not the end consumer. So because I was unwilling to settle for less than it has cost me they'll turn it over to their Insurance Company. Oh by the way they let me know also that nothing will be done until their Insurance Co. has their adjuster talk with us, and it will likely take months! This is not right and I intend to notify as many people as possible to let them know it's not right!

I installed my floor after Thanksgiving 2013 and I noticed today that it is beginning to separate at the seams. Thought I'd see if this was common problem or if I did something wrong. Gaging from the comments I've read here on this site, I guess I am also out over $2, 000 for the purchase.

My Bamboo flooring from Costco has been installed for about 4 months. Most of it looks great except for the seven or so places that has opened up over a quarter of an inch. We did everything by the book. Does anyone think that the clicking edge could be faulty on some of the boards? I don't expect it can be fixed either. It's very upsetting.

Bamboo Flooring from Costco was installed about 4 months ago. It looks beautiful except in the 7 or more places where it has separated over a quarter of an inch. We did everything as per manufactures instructions. I wonder if anyone has looked into some of the boards having a faulty clicking system? It's the only thing I can think of.

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THE https://bambooflooringinstaller.com. the material is hard that nail gun does not work at all. Supplier hasn't even refunded for the pieces arrived damaged. Just go to nearest home depot and get unfinished quarter rounds and stain them instead.

Read with interest all the complaints about the instability of Costco's Wellmade bamboo click flooring. My floor expanded well beyond the tolerances Wellmade quoted, then six months later shrunk, leaving me a noticalble gap along all my walls. My installer says he's adjusted twice now, and if I keep this floor, we'll keep doing it. the product is not stable. I am takinng the floor out and returning it to Costco who FYI, WILL give u your money back and then send it back to their supplier wellmade for a 'credit'. So, , those who haven't yet, CALL COSTCO, ask for mgt. and arrange to pull up your floor and return it for a full refund. Then contact Wellmade to cover the labor of installing another floor altogether. I have completed step one with costco and am now awaiting a call back from Don at Wellmade. If they do not cooperate, I plan to sue them.

I have been planning to install bamboo flooring but am getting cold feet reading all these statements... I have hoped that going with a company that is well rated, and getting a product that is structurally sound will avoid the issues mentioned, but now I wonder. Has anyone had any experience with either solid or engineered strand woven carbonized bamboo from either CaliBamboo or Teragren or EcoTimber?

I have 1400 square feet of Teragren Stranded Bamboo. It was acclimated for over a week properly. It was installed with correct spaces at edges as a floating floor by an experienced installer. Room was maintained by HVAC at a consistent 68. Shrinking has caused cracks throughout the floor and the material has shrunk in 3/8" from the baseboard. Theses changes appeared several months after installation. Contractor, Distributor, Independent Inspector, and Manufacturer's Representative witnessed the problem and agreed that the cracks were caused by the product. Teragren removed the product from the market. Nevertheless, Teragren's insurer has denied the claim. Looks like a legal battle will be necessary to get justice from this company. DO NOT BUY TERAGREN product. (Photos would not upload)

Thank you dnaltrop and the others above. I have decided, after researching bamboo flooring for nearly 3 years, to go with solid red oak, tried and true. Also going through a very reputable, honest local flooring company (I know the owners and have had a good experience with them before when I bought marmoleum) rather than a discount store. I cannot afford to do this twice!

Unfortunately I have to add to the above problems with Rona Bamboo click flooring -- we bought the flooring in June 2013, installed it in July 2013 after allowing it to sit for about 10 days in our air conditioned unit. We moved into the unit in August - we noticed problems with foot prints and marking almost immediately. After the start of the heating season we noticed some shrinkage around the walls -- we have a small humidifier and usually have the air at 50+%. We were away in March and came home to several large openings -- at which point we called our installer. He arranged for a rep from Rona to have a look -- they seem to be trying to say that this is NORMAL ! since the humidity may have been too low! CRAP Flooring more likely. At this point they are saying no refund. We have heard rumors that Rona stores their flooring in sheds at the rear of their stores that are not heated or in any way temp controlled. I would feel this would cause excessive humidity in the flooring - which would cause our flooring to dry out and shrink during the heating season. We are moved in now and replacing the floor will not be an easy thing to do -- plus this extra cost is going to stretch our budget to the limit. So to add to those with Bamboo problems -- we will never recommend anyone buy Bamboo!

As an installer of over 25 years, and installing all types
of wood flooring, including the three types of floating floors (laminate,
engineered, and solid wood), solid wood floating floors do expand and contract
more than the others, so there are failures, and almost always due to
installation. I have repaired many bamboo floors that were owner installed, and
I hate to say it, but there were more professionally installed floors that have
buckled and separated than owner installed. Do it yourself installers tend to
read directions where professionals feel they know how to install based on
previous experience. Floating bamboo floors are installed differently than
their counterparts, because of that I have always found a spot where the floor
was restricted from movement, or the rooms were not divided at the doorways,
which contributes to excessive movement in the flooring. Strand bamboo flooring
is not as people claim, it is very durable and if installed correctly, you will
not have any of the issues spoken about earlier in these threads. Because of
the durability, ease of installation, and the green scene, Strand bamboo is a
supreme choice in my opinion.

Bought morning star dark bamboo. Snap crackle pop thru whole house. The floor is floated with their vapor barrier pad and used their recommended installer. There are 2 other class action suits in US that i know of. Lumber Liquators is telling everyone they have a moisture issue. Will be filing a class action suit in Kentucky.

hello everyone, my name is ella and i am working on a bamboo flooring factory more than 5 years and very familier with various bamboo products including flooring and decking etc. just like BI BI BO BANDY said " Every product or company has a good, better, best", there more more than 1000 bamboo factories in China, it is no doubt that some small factories what they only pursue is the one time business and sell you the very bad quality flooring with an ridiculous cheap price to attract you.. but i also have to admit that there are indeed many industries they do their best to make the best flooring and honestly to face every customer...so please do more work before you give your money to someone...
any questions about the bamboo flooring, you all welcomed to send me an email ella11226@foxmail.com for a solution, i am not working on it, i am just want to help to each people who interest bamboo product.

I have had the golden Arawana floors in my home for three years now. I have five teenagers. a hundred pound dog, a 20 pound cat. And I can honestly say I don't dust the floors as often as I should. I did this floor myself and I put down the blue stuff under it. The first full year cycle I noticed I hadn't left enough expansion gap in a doorway that caused some buckling in the summer humidity. I did not use Quarter round. I used a baseboard that has a one inch thickness at the bottom. I pulled up the baseboards pulled the floor part, added set expansion gap. Since then no problems. Literally the only mark on these floors is from where I added a chair and when I screwed in the rubberized feet to protect the floor I did not sink the screws deep enough in the screwheads themselves scratch the floor. I honestly wash this floor about once every two months. The kids spill stuff on it all the time and drop stuff on it all the time. And I honestly couldn't be happier. Considering the amount of abuse at this floor sees there is an extremely small amount of damage. This is the golden arowana stranded Bamboo from Costco. I'd say I got every dollars worth out of this floor and some. And literally I couldn't expect any better results at this point considering the abuse it sees.

We purchased Strand Bamboo Flooring from Home Depot Canada. We did our living room, kitchen, hall and two bedrooms. We had a professional install it. It is coming apart in several places. Then I turn around and notice there are more separations. We spent a lot of money. Now we are told that it has been discontinued. We are so disappointed in this flooring. We had a guy take it up in the hallway and reconnect the two pieces that were coming apart. But it's come apart again. So I decided to do some research on reviews. I should have went with hardwood Floors.

We bought bamboo flooring at Costco three years ago. We live in Florida in a mobile home. My husband installed the flooring. I love the floor. I do have one minor scratch from a bad chair but other than that it still looks great. We do not have any shrinkage and we deal with humidity half a year. I think because of the mat finish dirty shoe or foot prints are going to show more readily that a high gloss. We are redoing our bedroom and am going to try to find this same floor to replace the carpet.