Two years ago I had the above hardwood floor installed in our new
home.  Since that installation the floor has become extremely
scratched.  The warranty does not cover this.  I had an independant
inspector from the installer (Bischoff Flooring, Louisville, KY) check
the floor.  Their answer concluded the floor is not covered under
their warranty.  I agree with what they state.  However, I do not
agree with what they state on their product or with the intent of what
we paid for.  I need warranty claims etc. so I can pursue in this from
the legal side.  I feel that we were misled on how well this floor
would wear.  The wood can be scratched with your fingernail.  The
inspector dod this with his pen and still rejected our claim.  This
floor was very expensive, and now we stuck with a basically worn out
floor after less than two years.  i have samples of the product.

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Request for Question Clarification by mother-ga on 12 Jul 2002 06:47 PDT

Hi Tom,

I've scoured the Internet for grievances, warranty claims, BBB
complaints, even just a sneeze of dissatisfaction, and have pulled up
nothing. I get the feeling that Award Flooring is "too new" on the
market to have generated any claims such as yours. Would you like
resources about filing complaints, arbitration, and the like?

I'm assuming that in order to go this route, you can prove or argue
that you followed exactly the manufacturer's recommendations for
cleaning and maintenance. Meaning, you kept the floor clean and swept,
used recommended cleaning products, used furniture leg pads, and
declawed your dogs? Well, maybe not the last one. No hardwood floor is
scratch-proof, and scratching is much different than wear-through
(which means the finish is gone and bare wood is appearing).

Also, when the inspector and you scratched the floor with your
fingernail/knife, was the scratch white-looking, and can the scratch
be buffed out with something like "Endust"? If so, the scratch is not
down to the wood, just the finish. Award's "space-age" (!) finish can
be "screened" to remove surface scratches. You could request
information on this as well.

Let us know how you would like to proceed with your question. 

Good luck!
-- mother-ga