In my last post, I talked about feeling like a handyman … since we’re installing laminate flooring.
Well, that was shortlived.
The type of laminate we choose is called Swiss Lock, made by a company called Kronospan … with more country sites than you can shake a mouse at. We bought it at King of Floors, where we were told by the saleswoman that it was a quality product, made in Switzerland to exacting standards, yadda yadda.
We got upsold from a cheaper product because of the quality story. Well, now I’m half-done installing it. And it ain’t the quality it was cracked up to be.
Some planks have odd-looking circles on them. Some have odd black ?ink? spots on them. Some have irregularly-sized staves (each plank has three virtual staves, which should be of exactly the same size, since otherwise it won’t match up with the staves on the next plank).
But worst of all, the floor has a clip lock system … you attach 4 clips to each plank, three to the long side, one to the end, and you tie all the planks in together as you assemble them. It’s supposed to keep everything nice and tight and make sure nothing moves onces it’s installed.
First of all, it’s a pain in the arse, particularly near the wall you finish up on.
Secondly, and by far the worst … the clips click. They click when you walk on the finished floor. Very, very annoying, particularly for my wife.
Dunno what we’re going to do about this, but the manager of the local store is coming to check it out on Monday. Hopefully we’ll get our money back.
We’ll see.