I recently had about 1000 sqf of "Hickory Engineered", Hand scraped and distressed, 6" x 3/4" ANTIKKWOOD COLLECTION by CANADIAN STANDARD installed in my house in Ottawa Canada. The laminate layer is 2mm.

Everything was fine for a few weeks, but then I started to notice a bit of "gapping" between end boards on the laminate layer. After some research and asking around I've been lead to believe this is not uncommon and just a seasonal (winter) fluxuation. The installer sent me a canned-response which basically said "this is normal in winter, it'll be fine again come spring" type thing. I think I can live with this if it's truly normal.

But I had a bad vibe with this as the boards that were "gapping" also seemed to have harline cracks too - sometimes with wood grain as a "distressed look", but sometimes not and you can feel a bit of a sharp edge if you run your finger over it.

Last week we had a corner piece of laminate catch and is lifting. It's about 1/4" wide and about an inch long. It hasn't completely ripped off, and I have it taped pending installer coming to take a look. So hopefully that can be fixed, and of course it's in the middle of the main hallway.

I've since gone more deeply over the rest of the hardwood. I have about a dozen spots where the laminate "ends" look problematic for splitting and delamination in that they're rough and seemed cracked and pulling away. Put another way, I have this sinking feeling there's about a dozen spots at risk for laminate just "catching" or something (a sock, or what have you) and lifting over the next year or so.

The gapping is not extreme, yet anyways, (~Credit card width), but there are some spots where in the right angle you can see white board below the dark laminate layer.

We do not have a humidifer, but do have a RH guage which I believe to be fairly accurate. We've been hovering around 30% for the past few weeks. It did jump to about 40% for a week or so, but is now back to 30%. So we aren't "extreme" in that respect from what I can gather, but definitely at the lower end of normal range.

Ok, so that's the background. The installer is coming to have a look in person on Tuesday, and I'd love any advice people may have on what I might want to ask about, look for, and request going forward.

If there is de-lamination of part of a plank the manufacturer should pay the installer to replace the plank.

I agree with Pete - keep in mind that the manufacturer will likely want to send a rep out if possible to inspect the floor before agreeing to pay any replacements. If your house is outside of the 35-60% RH range, then during that visit he will say "Sorry but this is happening because you let it dip below 30% and that's outside of our warranty". 10/10 times they will side with the installers since that is where they get their business from, so even if it was installed without taking moisture readings or ensuring the proper climate, the homeowner is still likely to take the blame. I'd recommend getting a humidifier either way.

A couple of things to keep in mind - gaps that are 2mm or more are generally not acceptable, however, a credit card is not quite 2mm, so you'd need to see more space before it becomes a warranty issue. As well, all defects and issues must be examined from standing position and in regular light (this does not include excess light from large windows, light from a flashlight, or light at certain times of the day) I have gone to conciliation inspections over this point; the homeowner can see gaps in his wood but only if he stands in a certain spot where the light from his windows reflects off the finish and accentuates the problem. Another time it was handscraped material installed along these large bay windows that happened to be east facing on the water - light in the morning would pour in and you'd see every board that was 1mm over or underwood in the millwork as it would leave a shadow. In each case, the homeowner did not win and no repairs were made to the floors.

Thank you both very much. The materials came from the installer themselves, so I'm hoping they have enough volume/clout with the manufacturer that I'll get some benefit of the doubt or extra help at least.

I have to admit that I'm a bit dumbfounded that at no point in time did anyone ever mention that having a humidifier would be required, or even just a good idea. I'd have bought one in a heartbeat if someone suggested as much. I'll definitely be getting one ASAP. Hopefully that'll reduce issues going forward.

Did the installer leave any boxes or warrantee when finished?

Yes, there were 2 and half boxes left behind. I could not find any warranty information in either the open box, or one of the unopened boxes.

The box itself says "Aluminum Ceramic Oxide - 35 Year Limited Warranty".

I did use the "contact us" form on the manufacturer website, and did not get a reply. I used their "contact us" email address on Sunday, and have not yet got a response (just asking for install/warranty documentation).

Anything I should be looking for in the boxes?

Installer comes in a couple hours, I'll be sure to report back.

Somewhere you can find out about "conditions" for the warrantee.This outlines what the method for installation, the conditions for the environment that the floor is going to be installed and care an d maintenance so your warrantee is not meaningless.

The visit went well, I'm comfortable with the situation and we'll see how things look in a few months.

* The cracked corner he believes was just a fluke or perhaps from the installation, but easily glued in place as it hadn't completely come off.
* The gapping is actually settling back a bit as we get more humidity going.
* There was only one spot that he had a concern over which he believes can be easily addressed, the rest are more grain oriented and newbie-paranoia with the style of board. (as an aside, I should have noted this really is intentionally a rustic style floor with lots of knots, etc).
* He apologized for not leaving a copy of the warranty, but will deliver one ASAP. He also reiterated he'll stand by any additional concerns I may have over the next full year, and given his volume via a mutual trusted designer, I think I'm comfortable we'll be covered.

Thanks again for the tips.