Hardwood flooring

[MiltonBound2006]

We will be moving into our new home in March 07 and will be putting in Hardwood on the main floor after closing. We have been researching flooring and have come up against conflicting advice....so here is my question...

Has anyone put in hardwood and had problems with the humidity levels and floor drying out / cracking? If so...did the flooring warranty cover the damage or did they blame you for humidity issues?

The reasoning behind this question is that we found the flooring we want (Jatoba Brazilian Cherry) however there is a cheaper version (around $5/sq ft) which apparently comes from China and a more expensive version (around $6.80 sq ft) that comes from Canada....and one sales person tried to tell us that the stuff that comes from China is not treated early enough and can dry out and crack. Although they come with 25 yr warranty....He said that they will blame the humidity in your house and will not cover it. I can not find any info on this sort of stuff on the internet.

Any help would be appreciated!

[sidb]

Hi. I think you might regret going with hardwood floors from China. Spend the extra for Canadian product. It is better quality and the engineering behind it better as far as the material and finish.
If you install hardwood floors on OSB (that's the standard 5/8" tongue/groove flooring they use on new home. Unless you upgraded to plywood subfloors. They should probably use staples to nail the hardwood in. On plywood subfloors you can use nails. It depends also on what the manufacturer recommends.
Don't fall for the cheaper price. You usually get what you pay for.

Look around. There is a place down on Royal windsor drive and Winston Churchill (just west of Southdown Rd on the south side) that has hardwood floors.

Cheers,
Sid

[MiltonBound2006]

Thanks for the reply Sid - the money difference is minimal so we certainly would rather pay for the CDN floor if it is better - I was just curious as I had never heard that before and I was wondering if it was just the 'salesman' that was trying to get more commission! The flooring all comes from Brazil so why the fuss about it coming via china??

I will go check out the place you recommended.