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These seem good, but I don't think are sold on the HD website anymore...

There are also some really nice wood looking tiles these days. Porcelanosa miakes a cool looking one: http://www.porcelanosa-usa.com/productdetails.asp?proddet=924&srcfrom=New+Collections&pageid=5

And there's a walker zanger tile that looks like zebra wood called Xilo: walkerzanger.com

Obviosuly a bit pricier than vinyl!

Wasn't there another AT entry a few months back about another vinyl flooring product that looks like wood plank? Someone had seen it in place at a Walmart (!) and was mystified by it...I remember finding it at my local Lowe's, but don't remember the name.

I still would be leery of putting something like this (vinyl tile, square or rectangular/"plank") in my bathroom. I've got two little kids and no matter what we try to do to stop it, huge amounts of water get splashed on the floor every time they bathe. It seems to me no matter how tightly the tiles fit together, there's still a seam, and water can get in there. Bad news in the long run.
I'm going to use sheet vinyl when we redo our bathroom this month (great timing!) to minimize this problem.

Maybe this concern is not such a big deal if there are only adults in the house.

I have considered using something like this product in lieu of laminate or hardwood when we redo the floor in the kids' bedrooms. The cost is about comparable to laminate, but this has the advantage that if one section gets scratched/damaged, it should be pretty easy to pull only one of them out and replace it. Not so for clicked-together or nailed-in options.

i saw a similar product called Adura, i think made by either Armstrong or Congoleum and was blown away by how realistic it looks. i was walking on it for a couple of minutes before i knew it wasn't wood. a great choice for bathrooms.

is there a manufacture's website for Trafficmaster Allure? i googled and all i could find were discussions about it...

strange thing: i went to our local Vons and Pavillions and noticed their new dark-gray antique-washed-ish wood flooring in the produce section. my partner hates fake wood flooring, but it totally fooled him. the only give-away was that i noticed some wood patterns repeating.

Rocky, I spent a great deal of time myself trying to hunt down an online source for more information about the product, but there doesn't seem to be anything. I emailed Home Depot for a response and more details, but it seems for now your best bet is to visit the store and check out the product in person.

You can see a short video on this flooring at Home depot website. Go to Homedepot.com
click on know how at top of web page. then click on homedepot.com tv. Click on product demos and then click on allure floating resilient flooring.

I bought the cherry colour and will be installing this week. I have read in forms about smudge marks appearing but no one ever replies whether they wipe up or not...I decided to take the risk and see how it goes

This product is sold in Australia by Harvey Norman stores. It is waterproof and very durable.Many stores have it on the floor of their showrooms and undergo harsh treatment by consumers.

I bought the allure trafficmaster resilient flooring from Home Depot. It cost 40.00 per box of 16 planks(24 sq.ft.).And has a 25 yr residential warranty.It took 7 boxes to do my kitchen. My 10 yr. old grandson and myself(pushing 60) installed it in about 4 hours. I did all the cutting around corners, and he laid it. We didnt have any problems at all. And everyone thinks it is real wood, and was professionally installed.I couldnt be happier with it. I plan on putting it in the dining room next.

I saw the trafficmaster allure in the store and it was very impressive for such a low price. It looked as good and real as any Dupont laminate and it was less that half the price. Looks really easy to install and it is 100% waterproof for pet and baby accidents!! The underneath tabs are rubber/vinyl so you don't have to worry about any water seeping through the seams.

I recently found out about the TrafficMaster Allure resilient flooring at Home Depot. I have since done quite a bit of research on this product. It appears to be manufacutred by Halstead International, which appears to own MetroFlor, which appears to own Konecto. The Home Depot Allure product is their brand name for the same product but in a thinner version (4mm) than the Konecto product (6 & 12 mm). Home Depot currently only carries three patterns, but the Konecto line comes in a much wider and thicker range of wood grain patterns. Konecto is available online and through some flooring retailers. They claim to be coming out with a line of tile patterns as well sometime this spring or summer.

Here are some useful links: www.metroflorusa.com, www.knoectousa.com, http://forums.houseandhome.com/showthread.php?t=18503, http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?clip=/media/2007/01/25/video2397085.rm, http://www.mobilehomerepair.com/forums/read_thread.php?id=4703, and http://www.flooringmarket.com/Metroflor.html

Now my questions are: Does anyone have better info about when the tile patterns will come out and if Home Depot will carry them?

Also, one of the above forums had several complaints about the planks coming loose at the seams between planks. I have found no info about whether or not this problem was ever successfully resolved. Does anyone have an update on this problem?

Hi. We ordered 13 cases of Allure Trafficmaster Dimensions Resilient Flooring from Home Depot; they had it boxed and waiting for us at the door. We didn't think to check the "Run No." which turned out to be wrong by one number on four of the boxes. If the "run numbers" are not exact, the flooring can be so off in color that you can't use it. In our case, we had to rip out one whole box after installing it; we didn't see the problem until we stood up and looked across the floor. Major problem for us as the store only had two boxes with the correct number available; that leaves us two boxes short and they can't get them. The manager said it was our part to "check the product to make sure it matched." They didn't.

Hi...

Some of the above comments are so timely! Yesterday I went to HomeDeport and looked at the 3 Allure samples on display. The vinyl itself looks awfully thin but the salesman "assured" me that it would hold up to water and traffic. I was also told by the salesman that if enough people purchased the Allure that more finishes "eventually" would be added
I just visited one of the websites suggested above by HMP and very much like the Prestige line...very useful...thank you.

I initially considered putting down the laminate planks/floating floor but dropped the idea because I would not be able to install them myself. It hink the electric saw needed is heavier than me. Then I considered solid vinyl square tiles (not the self adhesive type) but HomeDepot had the most awful collection and most of the decent ones were discontinued. I was then shown the TrafficMaster Allure line (3 finishes) and was amazed at how easy these would be to install.

HMP I also wondered about planks becoming loose at the seams...will try to research this some more.

I have looked at the Allure and Konecto product and have had an order for Prestige Plank, Beach for about 3 months. This stuff is taking the slow boat from China - literally. I have a deposit on an order of 14 boxes with a local flooring place, and the distributor keeps changing the availability date. The local guy has some samples at this point, so I am going to wait a bit longer. Our local Home Depot had a fair display of this stuff with 3 of the lower end items, but has done nothing with the product at this point. I feel like this will take off, but they must be having production delays.

I have talked with a disstributor and manufacturer's rep who keep saying it's a very hot item, but I think the issue is that they can't get supply at all. A place in the midwest is advertising, but is not able to give date committments. Since they've lowered the price a little bit, I am wondering if demand is as high as stated.

The product really appeals to me, and I am just hoping the quality is good and the adhesive is not crap.

Thanks to the comments on this forum, especially the cautions on getting the same run date, we have ordered the Allure to do our complete 1400 Sq ft condo.

I just learned that Konecto has just come up with a sound underlay to reduce sound transmission through the floor. I would like to do this to reduce the sound transmitted from my home theatre to the condo below. Has anyone put the Allure down with a type of sound underlay?

I have had the konnecto flooring installed in our home and it is great. I first looked at the the Allure at home depot and it just does not compare to the upper lines available through konnecto. the finish on the allure scratches very easily. the konnecto prestige will hold up to everything, kids, dogs and lots of traffic. i would be leary of putting anything like that on my floor with the finish that the allure had.

I also saw the Trafficmaster Allure flooring at Home Depot. It immediately caught my attention due to resonable cost, easy installation and no need for additional products (glues, underlays etc). After researching Allure on the internet for the last week I purchased 23 boxes of the cherry color which we are installing tomorrow in the living den area. The info I found on the internet has been all positive comments, including someone that had done their own "durability" test. The test included stomping on it in high heals, sanding on it with sand paper (50 passes) and trying to jab a hole in it with a lobster pick. The floor stood up to all the tests. So, I am very surprised at pmsued comment that Allure "scratches very easily". When I get home tonight I will do a test or two of my own and check the run numbers. Hopefully they will check out so I can preceed with the installation.

As a tip for your installation, it would be wise to do the install the way that the pros suggest installing a regular wood floor. Open up a few of your boxes at the same time and select from all of them at random. This way any slight variations in color between the boxes will not be apparent.

I just built a Screened-in Porch about 5 ft off the ground with a 3 foot knee high wall around it. I was thinking of using this on top of the Plywood floor. Do anyone know or think of any reason why this won't hold up outside????

only reason i know the allure scratches is my neighbor had it and has 3 small dogs and there were scuff and scratches everywhere, that is what made me go to the kokecto instead of the allure.

I just installed 25 boxes of Allure (hickory colour) I really like the look, and it is easy to install once you get the hang of it. Corners are a bit tricky, but it cuts just like linoleum. When moving furniture back in, it did scratch in certain places. I was expecting a bit better durability but they were heavy pieces of furniture. Some are not exactly scratches, but a shiny line. Has anybody figured out how to get rid of these shiny streaks? Other than this, great to clean and looks good.

We're now about 1/2 way into installing 1400 sq ft in our condo. There seems to be no problem installing it on a thin foam underlay. We can definitely feel that it is a bit softer underfoot. It does however make the installation quite a bit harder as it takes a lot of care to not shift or damage the underlay when installing the Allure.

We are now wondering if it would work to split the Allure down its length in 2 and glue it on for a baseboard. Has anyone thought of this or tried it?

Teeman,
We installed it on our 2 balconies. On the balcony that gets morning sun some end joints have opened up to about 2mm. I think due to the extreme temperature changes. It doesn't worry us as we think that it just makes it look even more like real wood.

Regarding scratching comments. We also found that the Allure scratches easier than some other linos. It seems to be because it is a bit softer, which is a comfort benefit. For us empty nesters with no pets it is not a concern, but with kids or dogs I would concur with pmsued's comments.

The Allure planked Flooring In my opinion is an extremely good product. The warranty alone states the exceptional quality. Not only is it 100% water proof it also is a floating floor you can install virtually over anything except underlay and carpet. It is also compatible with “Radiant Heat”. It was originally designed for boats and RV’S . It is an extremely flexible product as well installation is so easy all the tools you need is a roll of double sided tape (for the initial start), straight edge and knife. You lay your first row and continue row by row.

Home Depot now has FOUR NEW COLOURS two of which are Allure vinyl plank Chocolate Item number (491-085) and Bamboo Dark item number (460-501)

The chocolate tile has real texture as well as grout lines they designed it with three tiles to a plank it is a wider plank than the wood looks. It would be perfect for the décor of a bathroom, laundry room, and kitchen

The bamboo is very realistic looking as well

I am wonder how you lay the Allure up to the tub. It seems like a bead of caulk running the length of the tub would look bush league.
Any thoughts?

Bluecheese,

We caulked the kitchen by filling in the gap to the wall and keeping the top flush with the top of the Allure. Wtih brown caulking you hardly notice it. We plan to do the same in the bathroom.

We have a 4-season sun room. All screened sliding windows on east, west, & south. Possible moisture problem in winter. The room is heated by furnace and installing as well a base-board heater. Is Allure recommended for this type of room?

We have installed the trafficmaster allure flooring back in April. Soon afterwards we started seeing areas where the seams were lifting. We have tried reapplying pressure, even using a 100# roller, but still the seams lift. It seems like the installation instructions provided as well as product description and recommendation for use are not very thorough, and leave the consumer vulnerable regarding the warranty. NOT A HAPPY CUSTOMER!! Would NOT recommend this product. I have seen on other blogs where other people have had this same problem also.

I INSTALLED THE CHERRY ALLURE BY MYSELF [I'M A FEMALE ALMOST 60 AND FAIRLY GOOD AT DIY PROJECTS].I PUT IT IN MY KITCHEN AND MUDROOM ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO.I CAN'T SAY IT WAS EASY AS I KEPT GETTING STUCK TO THE EDGES.HOWEVER EVERYONE LOVES THE LOOK AND MY BOXER STILL HASN'T SCATCHED IT! I THINK A ROOM THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE A LOT OF CUTTING AROUND EDGES WOULD BE PRETTY QUICK TO DO AS THE MUDROOM WAS MUCH QUICKER THAN THE KITCHEN.DOES ANYONE HAVE A GOOD CLEANING PRODUCT THEY CAN RECOMMEND? I'VE BEEN USING MURPHYS OIL SOAP BUT AM NOT THRILLED WITH THE RESULTS.

IN RESPONSE TO MKAY: YOU MUST LEAVE A LITTLE SPACE FOR EXPANDING TO AVOID THE LIFTING UP OF THE PLANKS.AT EACH END I WAS SURE NOT TO GO TOO CLOSE TO THE WALL AS I WAS PUTTIN MOLDING THERE ANYWAY.

I look at it this way. I have bought the flooring, I think it looks nice, it has a warm feel to my living area. The carpet is gone, which was my goal. It's easy to lay down. Some have complained because edges come up, well, get a glue, and tack it down again. If it scratches treat it like you would a vinyl shoe, find a polish and rub into area. It may or may not work. I spent quite a bit of money on my linolium floors, they have scrathced, and look dirty. Hard wood scratches, only it takes a lot more to fix it. Hard wood or laminate are not waterproof, they warp. This is waterproof. It isn't all that expensive, to me, it's more or less something there until I can afford to put something in thats ALOT more expensive. So, then I can find all the flaws on that spendy stuff as well..Ugh no thanks. I have had many many compliments. Oh and my Boxers love it, why? Because if they have an accident I know I can clean it up. With carpet, ugh..it's there forever. I am satisfied. I plan to do the basement area as well.

I recently had problems with flooring located near sliding glass doors which led to the deck. The flooring near the doors faded from the sun and now it does not match the rest of the flooring. Can anyone tell me if the Allure flooring has any UV rating or can you share any experiences you have had with Allure which has been installed, for a couple years, in a sunny area?? Responses will be appreciated. pete

Tabatha, what Home Depot Store has the Bamboo Allure?

I purchased the TrafficMaster Allure about 3 months ago for my living room, dining room and hall. This was a major purchase for me dispite the very reasonable price of the product. I'm sorry to say, I would not use the Allure again. I also have problems with the seams seperating. Also shiny marks where I slid my coffee table to clean under it, and I'm not happy with the apperance. It looks dull. I have tried cleaning with a product made for vinyl floors, but it does not help. Any suggestions?

hi all, i'm a professional floor installer, 3 months ago I installed 500 sqft of this particular product in a dog grooming house, and i got a call a few days ago from the owner saying that some of the planks are starting to come loose, I went over to take a look and discovered that near the bathtubs and cages quite a few planks were indeed coming loose with planks curling slightly and adhesive strip lifting up, yes it was properly installed with 1/4 expansion gap. i've been doing researches since trying to figure out the cause for this type of problems as it seems that others have encountered it as well. the place this floor is installed gets wet mopped twice a day, and tub/cage area gets constant exposure to cleaning chemicals like shampoo and deodorizers, also it get high level of air movement as the driers goes into action, i've contacted the depot folks and called the trafficmaster helpline, but they weren't much help, if any of you folks out there have encountered similar problems, please share your experience here so we might find out the reason behind it all.

and a response for a previous post, those shiny drag marks will stay there for the life of the floor as i have encountered them as well, also this product does not accept acrylic based polish, even if you apply more than 5 coats it will come off with the scratch of a fingernail, the stuff walmart uses has polish on it, but i am yet to find out what's the base product and what kind of polish were used. also avoid having heavy, sharp object dragged over this surface, as it will actually scratch off the wear layer.

I was surprised to see a 25 year warranty mentioned. We just discovered this product last week at Home Depot and I made a point of checking the warranty period to that of Pergo and I what I saw said 15 years rather than 25. Are you sure about it being 25?

I didn't see a good link for this in the comments, but Home Depot's website has TrafficMaster. I should have put this down instead of the pergo I used (and which I was assured would be fine in wet rooms)...it's doing okay, but there are some problems where a leak occurred in back of the toilet. This after only a couple years. Oh, well...next time!

I put down the 2 types of Traffic Master vinyl squares over a year ago. The tile looking ones in the kitchen, and a parquet type wood in cherry in my dining room. In a house of boys and pets it seemed like a good idea. It was. It was easy, they have held up very well. With heavy furniture items I would recommend something under the legs as vinyl will "dent" a bit. But it cleans up well, the seams have all held, and I have had a bunch of people think they were real. I love telling them it's vinyl. I would love to try the planks, but this stuff will probably hold up way to long to re floor in the near future.

Another option for vinyl plank flooring is Armstrong Luxury Vinyl Tile: http://www.armstrong.com/commflooringna/luxury-vinyl-floors.jsp It's used in the produce area of our Seattle Safeway stores and seems to take a beating well. It has just enough texture to make it less slippery and more realistic looking than many laminates. As a commercial grade product, it's more expensive than the average HD products. But if you're looking for long-term flooring that will take frequent mopping and stand up to dogs and kids, this may be worth considering.

Has anybody had this flooring in a home that is not temperature controlled and gets cold? What is your experience?

I was going to do most of my house in this flooring until I found out from the manufacturer that the house must be temperature controlled between 65 and 80. I am so dissapointed because my house does not have central heat and temp flunctuates.

I found it hard to believe that everybody is installing this in buildings that do not dip below 65, so I went to Home Depot and spoke with the flooring person. He enthusiastically told me that there is no temperature requirement. But since he had no experience with the flooring, I decided to heed the manufacturers warning.

He also told me that bumps in the subfloor will not show through the planks once installed, even if greater than 1/8 of an inch, so don't trust the Home Depot people to know what they are talking about with this product!

Also, the manufacturers rep said to use a scotch brite scrubber sponge dipped in mineral spirits to buff out the light colored scuffs that people have been talking about.

Is vinyl flooring eco-friendly? Doesn't it emit PVCs & other gases? Is this something we should bring into our homes?

i just did my bedroom and the other bedroom and I will be doing the rest of the apt. its really clean looking and easy to put down. The previous floors had many layers of paint and were tired of painting them, we want something clean looking. So far I really like this product. I purchased 2 boxes on line when they had a Holiday free shipping special. I special ordered the "dark walnut finish" with Home-Depot in Manhattan. They only sell certain finishes at the store. They told me the Dark Walnut comes from England.

i might be totally missing something...in which case, i apologize...but how come no one's mentioning ikea's TUNDRA flooring? At $1.18/sq. ft. and nearly identical specifications, it almost seems like a better value...

Hi Arolex,

We installed it on 2 concrete floor balconies that are not termperature controlled in Victoria BC Canada. The balcony that does not get direct sun is fine but the one that gets the hot morning sun has very significant gaps on the end seams where the sun hits it. This appears to be from the extreme change of hot sun to almost freezing that eventually opens up the gaps.

Given the fact that we were aware of the risk we are not dissatisfied. Given the price, convenience and alternatives available we are not considering changing it but it is not ideal in that situation.

Hello Plann.b,

We considered Ikea's Tundra and it was a close second choice, but by the time you add up the underlay, extra time and difficulty to cut and instal, we thought the Allure came out cheaper. In spite of my comments to Arolex above I thnk that it is a much better choice for a balcony that is subject to high humidity and occasional moisture. Also now that it is installed we have gotten so many compliments as I think that it looks better. However that for us is our personal decision, I am not critiquing Tundra.

General comment,

We found that the Allure can be split between the 2 layers at the edges and trimmed to change the orintation of the overlap. That way we could change the direction of the planks between the bedrooms and the hallways while maintaining the continuity of the floor. It is a bit time consuming but the end result looks perfect.

ahh ok that makes perfect sense then. so you found the allure flooring was easier to install than ikea's? i ask because i'm considering installing a new floor in my living room around summertime, so any pros/cons you could throw out would be much appreciated...

I have a product called Metro Floor, from what I have read in the description it sounds to be close to the same product. The only difference I see is that with my floor each plank is glued directly to the floor. I live in south/west FL. My home is a ground level, right on the water.

I had this floor since 7/04, the floor is installed through most of my house. I have 2 cats, a Yorkie and 4 Parrots. Anyone who has animals knows, that no matter how well trained the animal, you are going to have a mess from time to time. Anyone who has birds knows that you always have a mess! With this floor there is no problem! Everything cleans off with no hard work at all! Plus there are no odors left behind.

Now for the best proven part of this product... After having my floor installed Hurricane Charley hit my home. I lost my roof, windows and part of my walls. It took me almost 2 weeks to even get into my house. When I did, I had standing water in my house. I used a hose to clean it out. We had no power so there was no hot water, but after I got the standing water and 'sludge' out, I cleaned the floor with bleach and water. The smell was gone, the floor was clean and I thought that now I was just going to have to wait for the floor to start coming up. We continued to be hit with storms for the rest of that year, so there was water in my house on a regular basis. Keep in mind that it takes way too much time to get things fixed when you are in a catastrophic situation. I am still working on the damage. The point I am trying to make is MY FLOOR STILL LOOKS GREAT! Even though everything else needed to be replaced in my house, the floor stayed down and the only damage to it was a few gouges that were made by the debris. Now, I could lift each of the planks and replace them, I didn't. I left Charley's mark there.

I LOVE MY FLOOR.! I will never have another type of floor no matter where I live!

I have researched TrafficMaster Allure vinyl planks and I think I am ready to purchase. My question to you guys with the experience is this. My house is very old and has only a tongue and groove floor in 2 rooms. Do I cover it with a plywood sub floor or do I just put the Allure directly on top of the tongue and groove? Also, the kitchen has very old and cracked sheet vinyl. Do I just cover it with Allure and not worry about the cracks? I want this product to last so any advice would be appreciated.

Another question for those in the know.

In the original blurb on this it stated the ''INSTALL IN A ROOM WITH HEAT VENTS".

What about radiators?

And any input on room temperature variation?

Hi boomtown!

The Tundra is a laminate flooring so it is a hard board and you must use underlay on the floor and a saw to cut the planks. It is floating which means that it is not actually attached to the floor, each plank is attached to other planks. It is not waterproof.

Allure is resilient vinyl, it is flexible so easier to lay and get into tight corners and it can be cut with a utility knife. It is waterproof so you can use it in the bathroom unlike Tundra. Since my house is not temperature controlled, I actually think I am going with the antiqued Tudra but otherwise I would go with Allure for ease of install and waterproofing.

Oh, one more thing, if Allure gets damaged, you can cut out the area and drop down a new plank. With laminate, you need to take apart the whole floor.

Hey there everyone!
Well, I am back to post on allure again. Since my last post in January, we have been reset in the store with the Allure Tile (corfu and ashlar) and 2 new wood variations:Teak and Blonde Maple. We still have the Hickory, Oak, and Cherry. We have been selling special orders of the different tile looks as well as the different wood/exotics species as well as the cork look! My husband and I are thinking about installing the Ashlar tile plank in our kitchen!
As far as the most recent questions:
Allure is flexible, but with all vinyl/flexible products, they can only bend to a certain degree. If you wooden subfloor is tongue and groove, and there are nails or sharp edges sticking up, I would pound the nails in and sand down the sharp points before installing the allure.
As for the room with the radiator: As long as the room does not dip below 65 degrees, the room is ok to install in. The cold weather negatively affects the vinyl. But as you have read in the earlier posts, some people do not mind the look of spaces between planks, etc. that cold conditions bring.
As for the room with sheet vinyl: if the floor is in rough shape, you can either pull it up or lay plywood or luan over it. As long as you do not intend to ever lay ceramic tile or hardwood over the floor, luan is a cheap fix that will give you a thin layer of woody material to install allure over. This way you do not have to worry about the sheet vinyl affecting your planks of allure.
And Sunnyblaze wrote about her metrofloor, that is the product made by the same company that makes the allure planks, only it is the more durable, expensive, commercial version that requires glue down install. I would recommend a professional flooring company install that type of floor if that was the route you wanted to go-unless you have a small bathroom or entryway.
My husband and I are going to lay the allure tile in the kitchen then possibly the allure wood planks in the dining room. The laminate that we have in the kitchen is just not fitting our lifestyle with our dog who slides around on it too much and when we cook we tend to dribble food and water from the sink onto the floor. The allure will not be affected by the moisture like our current laminate will over time. So we are going to lift the laminate back up and put into my office and master closet (It's 7'x14'!) so that we aren't wasting our flooring!
I also wanted to let everyone know that I am extremely happy to announce that I recieved a call from another home depot associate, I do believe she was from North or South Dakota? If I remember right (sorry I was busy at work!) and she had a customer who had came into the store who had read my blog about special ordering allure, and I gave her Cate French's contact info so that she could get samples and everything needed to show her customer! That is so exciting! It's really amazing how far the internet can really reach when you think about it!
So I encourage you to have your local hd flooring associate call me @ the peru, IL. home depot, store #1977! and I can help them help you get the floor you want! :)

Just got back from our local HD and found they are carrying two new colors/styles. One looks like bamboo while the other looks like hand scrapped plank flooring. Very nice. We plan on installing this product in our kitchen expansion and, to make it even more forgiving on our bad backs, we are thinking about installing it over a 3/8" layer of dense recycled rubber flooring (the stuff that is often used in gyms). We've asked several HD associates about doing that and have received differing answers. Some have said it would void the warranty while others thought it was a great idea. Has anyone out there tried such a thing?

Vinyl flooring is made of PVC and can emit phthalates . A better choice for the environment (i.e. you) is linoleum, which is made of natural ingredients - linseed oil, cork dust, wood flour, tree resins, ground limestone, and pigments. The modern types comes in all sorts of colors. It's water resistant and stands wear very well.

I was considering putting this flooring in our kitchen/dining room combo, however after reading all of these posts, it is making me wonder if the dining room chairs are going to leave scratches or dents in the flooring.

this is for AYLAKAY. I would like to call you for Cate French's number however what are your working hours.

This is my experience with Allure Vinyl. I bought this because the salesman told me how wonderful and maintanence free it is, just mop and go. Less than a year later I have discolored floor where my rugs were. I called the manufacture and was told I can only use latex rugs on this floor. I was never told this by the saleman and did not recieve any instructions with the floor stating this. Home Depot installed the floor and have agreed to replace the discolored slats, but the new slats will not match the existing slats. I have had many arguements with Home Depot Asst. Manager and am not happy with the outcome of my expierence with this flooring or Home Depot. I would not recomend it to anyone and will not shop at Home Depot again.

We just put the Allure Cherry Vinyl down in our dining room and hallway. and we are very pleased with it. It is durable and attractive. A friend of ours thought it was hardwood until we told him otherwise.

I broom sweep it daily (I never knew our dog shedded so much until we got rid of the carpet!). I haven't noticed any of the scuff issues other people have mentioned elsewhere on the 'net. I did notice some scratches where the dining chairs slide under the table, but we should have placed protector pads under the legs beforehand.

Yesterday, we started putting down the Allure Teak in our kitchen. It looks much more realistic on the floor than it did in the store, and I am anxious to see the entire floor finished.

WOW--this blog is incredibly helpful!! Thanks!!

I recently found the Traditional Bamboo finish at my local Home Depot and was very impressed with the apprearance for the price. I special ordered a box to do a small bathroom as a "trial run", and my only issue is that it's taken over 6 weeks to get here!! Seriously...I placed the order on 2/18 and was just told it would FINALLY get here on 4/15. Sure glad I wasn't in a hurry or anything.....

So, my plan is to do the bathroom and see if I want to do the rest of my first floor. I'm a little nervous about scratching, denting, and seams separating from the posts above, but I might decide to take my chances.

One hassle I'm running into is finding matching baseboards, especially since Home Depot no longer carries bamboo trim. Any suggestions here? Thanks!

In our opinion, Home Depot should be ashamed of selling this product. We installed oak Allure in 3 rooms plus the main hallway of our home. Much to our horror, when natural light strikes the floor, a very obvious defect pattern is revealed because every plank has an indented area a few inches wide in the middle. When overhead lighting is turned on (which it was during installation) you cannot see the pattern. Took pictures down to Home Depot as well as some left over planks (once you are aware of the situation you can feel the irregularity) and was told by an associate that it is not a product he recommends. It looks terrible and we are going to have to replace our brand new flooring. A huge waste of money, time and effort. We are totally mystified by all the positive reviews of this product.

Following up on my previous post. Home Depot handled this situation for us quickly and efficiently. The vendor authorized a full refund of our purchase price. Home Depot even attempted to get us compensation for our labor but the vendor declined. No explanation from the vendor regarding if this is an inherent issue or a bad batch of product.

RippedOff, please contact me with your email address at hoc1@verizon.net

Let me tell you about that traffic master... First, it's thinner than the metroflor (konnecto) and it doesn't stick as well. We have installed the konnecto in our house, in bathrooms nad kitchen. even though these floors say they are totally waterproof, I would never recommend putting either floors in a room that has long standing water. The Konnecto Floor is a fabulous floor and has now brought out the tile looks are now available. I saw them in a flooring specialty store in Morrisville, Pa. All American Family Floors. They have the wood look planks and the tile looks. i am planning to put the tile look in my powder room and 4 season room. The traffic master was put doen in my hair salon and it looks so crappy I had to actually ask her who did her floors because they lloked so horrible. Coming up in places and they were told by Home Depot that they didn't need to even out the floor and they didn't. You can see every nook and cranny in that floor. We put that konnecto down by Metroflorusa and LOVE IT!!! Friends have now bought it. They had a problem with moisture coming up from their concrete slab. Even though they did a moisture reading before they laid their pergo down twice. When Pergo came out, they had moisture even with the moisture film put down by a professional. Pergo won't warranty the product. So this Konnecto stuff was perfect for them to put down. They had a backer board put down on their foyer floor 1/4 inch and then the Konnecto. Holding up great!!!! They love it and even with their Bulldogs and two kids, it looks great still. Don't expect either Konnecto or traficmaster not to scratch becasue you muct understand it is a vinyl floor, not made of steel. Left furniture and put protectors under chair and furniture legs. Larger protectors leave less indentations. You will have a hard tine finding matching molding for the trafficmaster bamboo. That's one reason we didn't get the bamboo look.

OH BY THE WAY ADURA is made by Mannington and it is a limestone and liquid vinyl composite very flexible

Here are some links to a great marble site: (with large selection of granite stone tiles

http://www.amlinkmarble.com
http://www.amlinkmarble.com/floor-tile.htm
http://www.amlinkmarble.com/Tile_marble.htm
http://www.amlinkmarble.com/Tile_granite.htm

I love my cherry Allura floors, we just did the kitchen and bath, both were very easy, and they look HOTT.

The Home Depot near us just received the Blonde Maple color of Allure yesterday. We went last night and purchased all they had. We are re-habbing a home and will put it in Kitchen, great room and hall....about 500sq. feet.
We are aware of the negative comments but are willing to take a chance on it. One question: Do we install the floor before the baseboards are put in place or after? Any other installation tips would be appreciated...thanks!

I would say before, it's easier than dealing with quarter-rounds.