How to Understand Hardwood Flooring Warranties

The most common type of hardwood flooring warranties are Structural, Bond, Moisture and Wear. If you are planning to install hardwood flooring in a dining room, a moisture warranty doesn't do you any good. If you are installing the flooring with nails, a bond warranty offers no benefit to you. Identifying what each type of warranty covers will help you find the hardwood flooring that best suits your needs.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Understand structural warranties. Structural warranties are guarantees from the flooring manufacturer that their products will not fall apart, decay or decompose over time. Structural warranties generally carry a lifetime guarantee.

2. Identify how bond warranties work. These warranties refer to flooring that is glued down to the sub floor as opposed to being nailed down. Bond warranties guarantee that the bonding agent will not fail and your hardwood floor will not become detached from the sub floor.

3. Discern what moisture warranties cover. These warranties are generally for a limited amount of time and state that the flooring will resist absorbing moisture from the sub floor.

4. Comprehend the terms of wear warranties. Probably considered the most important warranty for the consumer, wear warranties either refers to the wear of the finish coat and/or the wear of the wood. For this type of warranty, the manufacturers are guaranteeing that the finish and/or the wood will withstand heavy use over time.

Tips & Warnings

• Purchase hardwood flooring from an established, well-known manufacturer such as Bruce or Armstrong. These manufacturers are more likely to honor their warranties should a defect occur in your hardwood flooring.
• Look closely at the specifics of the warranties. Some warranties will be void if you did not install the flooring per the manufacturers recommendation. Bond warranties, for example, will not apply if you did not use the manufacturer's specified bonding agent.

Resources

• Read about Bruce Hardwood Floors warranties.
• Read warranties for flooring manufacturers at Hardwood Direct.