Kahrs Wood Flooring

Having wrestled with this wood loc flooring for the last two weekends, I started to question my pretty good DIY ability......Gaps in the boards where they do lock together (many don't), touches at each end but not in the middle, lock a row of boards and previous rows pull apart.........I've just told my wife I'm going to set fire to it or put it in the bin. It is terrible. Stay away from it. It's the most expensive wooden floor we've bought and it is by far the worst. Buy something else.

I haven't contacted anyone about it yet, so can't comment on the after sales but I'd suggest that you don't take the risk.

Kahrs are terrible

Kahrs are terrible. My usual flooring supplier recommended them when I said I was thinking of a floating wood floor in my most recent renovation. The floor creaks everywhere. Every step. The installer said they have never had the problem like that before, maybe in one or two places butI have 800 sq ft of it and every step it creaks. Kahrs rep came and looked at it and tried to tell me my floor was uneven, its a concrete slab???They also blamed the installer and said they hadn't left enough gap at the edges so the installer came back and trimmed all the edges again still the floor creaks. You can see it go up and down as you walk on it. I wish I'd read up on them before I had it installed because it seems that lots of other people have the same issue. I will likely now have to strip it out and use something else.

Avoid them like the plague.

Terrible to lay,laid it for a customer in Frampton on Severn,Glos. We brought the click together system ,the rebates were far from engineered,I had to sand out many of the joints or run a sharpe narrow chisel down them,I'll give it 1*

because

I'm generous,I've been a carpenter for 29yrs,worst floor I've ever laid but the most expensive,complete nightmare, warped boards many of them,don't buy

Kahrs Founders Collection Engineered Wood Flooring

I purchased 700+ square feet of Kahrs Founders Collection engineered flooring ... at a PREMIUM price (over $11/sq foot). The flooring does not lay flat in areas where the runs are short (although the rest of the floor lays beautifully). Unfortunately the area where the problem exists is the highest traffic area (of course) and is VERY noticeable and visible. After many rounds of discussion with the entire supply/support chain in Canada and the Northwest US (Seattle) it became clear that Kahrs was not going to do anything but deflect the problem back to the installer (me). I was not trying to make a claim or create a fight ... I just wanted a solution to the problem. Kahrs never even offered to send someone to look at the installation (even though their Canadian technical support person was appalled). Instead they insisted it was one of several problems (all mine of course):

1) the floor was not flat ... I spent about a week meticulously grinding the subfloor flat within their spec (I ground apx. 25# of sawdust off the floor to accomplish this).

2) the floor was impinged ... I EXCEEDED their spec with a 1/2" gap around the entire floor

3) there was not a butt joint in each row and/or the spacing of the joints was not correct ... there is a butt joint in each row ... there is only one where the distance between the 2 joints is not to spec by a whopping 2 inches. Note that a butt joint in each row when the rows are only 5 feet wide is not particular nice looking! (but I did it). This spec is something to consider BEFORE you buy this product.

4) the relative humidity in our house was too high. This was absolutely NOT the case when I initially installed it at which time the problem exhibited itself. There are times in the Spring and Fall where we live that it's humid (we're in the Northwest). The temperatures then are lovely and we do like to keep the windows open so, yes, the relative humidity will get above their 40-60% spec at times. Had I known this would be a problem up front I would NOT have purchased this product. Again, the relative humidity was within their specs when the problem showed up. You have to read their poorly written installation instructions to see this. Frankly I don't think they should be selling this product in humid climates if this is the case ... at a minimum they should prominently warn customers at the point of sale.

In summary, although I love the look of the product it did not perform well in areas where the runs are short. Moreover, their support was pathetic. I never felt like they gave a damn if I was happy with their "Rolls Royce" product. Rather, they just wanted me to GO AWAY. After the painful experience of dealing with their "support" I am not surprised at their claim that they only have a 0.4% product claim record ... IT'S BECAUSE THEY WEAR YOU OUT TRYING TO GET SOME HELP!

Do not buy from any internet sites as the company will not warranty floor. I put down natural oak woodloc flooring and after 10 years it needs to be removed. Very intolerant of moisture plus I installed over radiant slab heat with a wood stove in the same room and now the flooring is completely delaminating. Support claims the floor heat must be lower than 80F (way too low to maintain heat in a large room in the winter) and I must run a humidifier to maintain certain moisture levels in the house. You won't find any of these warnings in the fine print of the warranty even if I could get sales support.

I am a single 65 year old women with no kids, no pets and don't wear shoes in the house. I installed the Cottage style Antique Oak wood floors 7 years ago (go south in winter so floors have had 3 years use). I followed Care of the floor based on the Kahrs website instructions. The finish just wore off throughout areas that didn't get daily traffic. Fading was horrific; completely different color and totally bleached out. (my house faces north).

And of course the customer service people took 9 weeks to respond, and made it all about my lack of taking responsibility for maintaining my floor properly. No accountability on their part. Shocking! If you purchase this product, you might as well just throw your money out the window. They look great for about 3 months!

We bought European Salzburg maple flooring which has been down 6 years. It is in a very poor state with lots of black marks and dents. I have been advised that the black marks are where the laquer has broken and the cleaning fluid has changed the colour of the wood. Despite paying £1300 I have discovered there is only 3.5mm of wood and if sanded down this will reduce further. I am very disappointed as the floor looks very poor and like marked laminate. If I had bought laminate I could have had a totally new one now ie 2 floors for less than what I paid for one Kahrs floor.

I love Kahrs floors! 20 years ago, I had Kahrs Paris Boheme installed in my large family room, kitchen, and hallways. The next year I had it installed in the living and dining rooms. Yes, when I dropped things there were nicks. But the floor always looked beautiful and held up well. 5 years ago, my dishwasher broke and water damaged the area just in front, but it wasn't very noticeable. 3 months ago, the refrigerator broke, leaked, and part of the floor buckled. Insurance is covering everything. Because Khars no longer makes Paris Boheme,I ordered the Khars Ash Kamari which is a similar but lighter look. It's being installed even as I'm writing this review. So far, it looks beautiful. It's being installed as a "floated" floor because Khars' new technology has done away with glue.

I've been so happy with the Kahrs product. And when I called the Florida office (often) with questions, I couldn't have wished for better help.

I purchased a "Kahrs" engineered wood floor on account of the sales pitch given, i.e.: The "Rolls Royce" of engineered floors {what an insult tot a prestigious British car !!!!!}

I have the "Hampshire" Matt lacquered floor and i noticed the short ends of the boards were beginning to look darker {this floor is meant to have a seamless finish} and i contacted "Kahrs" regarding this and the UK and was told, oh,they always go darker on the short ends,"Alarm bells started to ring"

The UK representative was sent my home to view what was happening. "The side lengths of the boards are fine,no darkening, the problem is only on the short ends of the boards".

This floor has only been down 8 months, the "Kahrs representative could not explain what was the cause, however made suggestions that Water may have been on the floor, [i only use Kahrs Cleaner,which is diluted as per the instructions and mist sprayed on the floor and absorbed immediately with a Microfibre oblong floor cleaner} i have not once put water directly on the floor !

He also went on to say that his Brother-in-law has the same floor and has the same problem and discovered that it happened due to his cleaner throwing buckets of water over the floor, Hahahaha, if that representative knew what was going on in my mind i.e.; this mans is an idiot !!! and insulting my intelligence. Some of the ideas he came out with were outrageous !!!!! however he could not really say what caused the problem.

My floor fitter came to my home and did all kinds of moisture test and said he had not seen anything like it and the short ends of the boards "which were darkening" were bone dry and no trace of moisture from the sensor he used.

The representative contacted "Kahrs" in Sweden,HQ and then there was a different story,Mmmm. OK ,here goes; Maybe "Ammonia" has been used {who uses Ammonia?} or there is Gas coming from the concrete sub-floor? I don't have a concrete sub-floor !!! Nobody said you had to have your installer to test for Gases from the floor base !!!!!

I have all copies of the emails sent via my floor supplier and Kahrs and believe me the "Kahrs" emails are a complete Joke and insulting. The final conclusion from the representative was to suggest , it's happened due to excessive cleaning {this product has a 30 year guarantee,8 months old floor and excessive cleaning? please work it out for yourself !!!!}

Salesmen may tell you how good the Kahrs guarantee is and they are a reputable company but please be assured that i saw a very different and disappointing picture,the after-sales service is appalling and as for the Guarantee, Forget it !!!!!. There is no quality customer care,it is extremely disappointing and i am so disappointed to be here writing this review.

To add insult to Injury , 'Kahrs have offered me a meagre 10% discount on a new floor from them, what an insult !!!!

You have been Warned !!!!!

Please do your homework well before you decide on your new investment in your home.

Kahrs Oak flooring soaks up moisture on the End boards as the short ends of the boards are not a tight fit similar to the side lengths of the boards. Therefore any kind of cleaning when some moisture is needed will be absorbed into the boards {you can test this for yourself by wetting the tip of your finger with spittle etc and rub it over the end of the board/samp[le and hey presto, you will have a damp mark}.

Kahrs are aware of this problem, however forget the 30 year guarantee as this does not stand , even though Kahrs has not put any kind of sealant / barrier protection on the end boards to avoid this serious problem.

Please be warned buying a Kahrs floor could be a future disaster for your home , You have been Warned !!!!!