New LVT floors

Today the crew from Northport flooring was back to replace the luxury vinyl tile (LVT). We really liked the style of floor we put down.

This is the Konecto Exotic Woods Bamboo in Caramel.

 

Apparently, we got a bad batch, because almost immediately, the planks started coming up, like this:

It was most noticeable in the laundry room, but the planks were also starting to come up in D's bathroom as well. Our builder called Northport, and the owner came over and took pictures. A few days later, he called us to say that he would be replacing both floors. He suggested we go with the Armstrong line of LVT instead. We still liked the bamboo look, so we choose National Creations ArborArt, Bamboo Caramel. 

Two days ago, the replacement planks were delivered so they could acclimate to the house before installation.

The crew arrived promptly at 8:30am, and after laying down lots of drop clothes, got right to work pulling up the old planks.

The other issue we had in our laundry room was the drip pan for our washer. When MAS came back with our right-sized dryer and installed it, they cracked the drip pan.

We've been leaving messages for them to fix it, but to no avail. (We loved MAS for the selection and price of our appliances, but the customer service we've received since then has been frustrating).

I had suggested that the flooring crew work around the washer and dryer, but to their credit, they insisted on replacing the entire floor. They took out the drip pan because it was useless anyway.

Once the drip pan was pulled out, we saw that they didn't seal the drain, either.

They took a break from the laundry room as I was consulting with Todd, our builder.

When I brought our son up to see what was causing all the racket, he was very perplexed to see his toilet in the hallway.

The new floor looks almost exactly like the old...but is nice and flat.

Here you can see the difference between the old floor (far) and new (near). The pattern is exactly the same. The old floor was slightly thicker, and the new floor has a slight texture to it, which makes it less slippery, which is good for me!

After talking to Todd, we decided that I would run to Lowe's for a new drip pan and Northport would install in. We're very grateful for this because that washer and dryer are HEAVY!

The new drain was securely sealed. 

The new drip pan is actually a better fit, and the plastic is much thicker (that is, harder to crack).

They guys finished up at one, an hour sooner than they predicted. They cleaned everything up and vacuumed the new floors, the hallways, the stairs and the entire path to the front door.

 

D was very excited to check out his "new" bathroom.

And he immediately started getting bathroom back in order. 

He was not as excited to take a nap, but after a short obligatory meltdown, he was asleep within ten minutes. 

It feels good to know that we have the floors replaced. We continue to be grateful for Charis' ongoing help with the last few punch list items. There are still a few little things we've noticed since we've moved in that are getting worked on (that may be our next post), but mostly they are minor, and if we were more handy, we could fix them ourselves. But even with the occasional hiccup, we are so happy that our house is home.