We are flooring a master bedroom and dining room. The frustration is that none of the flooring retailers we’ve visited want to discuss brand specs/quality. While asthetics are important, our concern is finding a quality product that won’t be replaced in 5 years. We are north of Dallas metro area, have visited several retailers(not big box stores) and at every one of them we are led to particular brands with no interest in discussing product quality. One retailers even refused to show us anything but Bella Cera, kept say it was “on sale”. The top of our budget borders about $10-12sf but we keep being led to Shaw, Bella Cera and LM, all of which we see several bad reviews from. We would certainly be happy with a less expensive floor if it will hold up, just leery of all the bad reviews for cheap floors. We have done a lot of online searching but only end up more confused and are told to pay attention to wear layer thickness, yet hardly any of the products meet minimum recommend wear layers of 3mm+. We are installing over slab and would really appreciate some brand guidance.

Another option is to talk to installers for opinions on which brands, in their experience, work best. Flooring made in Canada is usually high quality. Check out Mirage and Vintage/Muskoka. Also, check magazine articles for reviews and Consumer Reports.

Can confirm Vintage and Mirage make good products and stand by their warranties. Lauzon is another good one out of Quebec.