These days installation instructions and requirements are pretty much consistently on or in the boxes. So, there's no excuse.
I do love seeing the installers cutting the flooring net to the vent hole in the floor and shoving the vent cover down in there. THats like one of the first places I look, and some even screw the vent down through the flooing!!!
The so called "Pergo Certified Installer" was installing a rotating lock using the UNICLIC method and tapping block. The use of a tapping block for this laminate sold in Home Depot is explicitly explained in the instructions in bold print, DO NOT USE A TAPPING BLOCK! You'da thunk he woulda figured that out when the planks would not go together and were chipping, plus ledgeing, proud corners etc.
The DIY'er with the other light maple Pergo with attached cushion swears there were no instructions about using a vapor retarder (six mil) under the floor. They were Norwegian with heavy accents, so there's no excuse there. LOL
The one with the gallons of white caulking around the jambs, well, the property management guy was adamant about there was absolutely nothing wrong with the installation, and the buckling was the fault of the renter. And that they were slopping water on it when cleaning. Even though there were zero swollen edges.
On the click vinyl, I give the people the benefit of the doubt as there are still vague and inconsistent instructions about longest length and width of runs, and the use of stops in doorways. These vinyl manufacturers just don't male matching transitions for their floors. And the laminate ones are to high or don't match. Also no weight limits on furniture and appliances, which IMO are the cause of many decoupling floors.
Here's a neat one on a Home Depot laminate. Not installation or maintenance. These spots are consistent even under the beds where no UV light can get or usually cleaned. NO swollen edges ect. Floor is two years old and she's been fighting with the manufacturer and HD since the spots started showing up 1 year after install. She's got 1,500 sqft of it. Ph test in every room was neutral, moisture meter in non-affected areas were all consistent with affected areas.
