Friday, March 13, 2015

My Laminate Floor is Killing Me (Lumber Liquidators WARNING)

Update: Lumber Liquidators somehow won their lawsuit. They don't even have to do a recall of their obviously dangerous floor because of the BS excuse that it's better left undisturbed .. Sounds kinda like Asbestos, doesn't it? They didn't even get fined for putting people in harms way. I don't really have any words to explain how I feel about this, but it sounds like the typical BS where companies are typically protected more than citizens. The only change is that they are now required to make their flooring in the US, but I still would NEVER trust this company. Buyer beware!


Hi all!

I haven't posted in way too long, because I'm a huge slacker!

I'm still working on getting a brand new blog on Wordpress set up but, like a said before, I'm a slacker. Stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, I really wanted to warn you all about Lumber Liquidators, especially because this site is probably attracting new home buyers, DIYers, or renovators. Here is the episode of "60 Minutes" that made us aware of the problem.

As some of you may have seen, 60 Minutes did a story on them and how a good amount of their flooring is tainted with a very high level of formaldehyde that violated safety limits set by the California Air Resource Board (CARB). Formaldehyde is used in the glue used to put together laminate flooring. If the levels fall within the safety limits the flooring should be safe, but the flooring from Lumber Liquidators (sourced from China) surpassed the limit on almost every single test 60 Minutes adminstered. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen and can cause health problems as serious as cancer. It is especially harmful to children.

This article by CBS does a good job at discussing the issue. In the article (and on the 60 minutes episode) they say "In test commissioned by '60 Minutes,' 30 of 31 boxes of the product labeled compliant were not, with some emitting as much as 13 times the Carb 2 limit."

The video also shows Managers of the manufacturing plant in China admitting the products made for Lumber Liquidators are not CARB 2 compliant despite what the boxes say. They also say how it is about 10-15% cheaper to buy products with this level of formaldehyde, and they COULD make it CARB 2 compliant, but this would be more expensive. AKA Lumber Liquidators is a money hungry, greedy, low-life company that cares more about profits than the health of it's customers (Of course, that's just my opinion...).

The company is defending their product and is STILL selling this flooring, but they are now offering customers an air testing kit that will measure the amount of formaldehyde in the air of your home. In my opinion, this is ridiculous. This test does nothing to test the actual flooring, and they could easily argue that something else in your house could be contributing to the levels in the air. The company says, IF the levels are higher than normal they will CONSIDER replacing your floor at no cost.

As some of you know, my boyfriend and I put our own flooring in after our home was built in order to save money. Guess where we bought our laminate flooring... Lumber Liquidators. Guess where our floor is sourced from... China. Guess what our floor looks like... The floor the Manager in China was pointing to when he was say it was definitely not CARB 2 compliant.

Awesome, right?!?!

As of now, we're not sure what our immediate move is. Our flooring costed us  around $2000 and countless hours of installation (I was sore in places I didn't know I had and my knees and hands we red, cracked, and aged about 10 years). I'm also really concerned about the health affects of cutting all of that wood. As you may know, I installed this flooring myself. I was surrounded in saw dust from this product for DAYS, and so was my dad, mom, boyfriend, and dogs. I would imagine sawing open this flooring would release whatever chemicals are hiding within, and a very large portion of their customers do the floor install themself. Also, what about the companies they work with for installation? Those workers are around this stuff ALL day EVERY day.

Deep down, I know we can't live with this floor. I feel like I'm breathing in poison. With all the testing done by labs (you can see them all in the 60 Minutes video), I have a hard time believing they aren't dangerous to have in the house. We absolutely need to replace them before kids become a reality. We'll probably reach out to the company, but I have a feeling this will lead nowhere. They're sticking to their "our floor is perfectly fine" story, and I think a lawsuit will be the only way to make them give people a refund or replace their flooring.

Anyways .. I really just wanted to get the word out, because I think you deserve to know this if you are thinking of buying flooring from them. I know I would have liked to know before I made the decision to do business with them. I will never do business with them again, even to buy their un-tainted, formaldehyde free flooring. I can never support a company that clearly cares more about money than the health of their employees and their customers.

If anyone knows of any good, affordable flooring places in the Pennsylvania/Delaware area, please let me know! It looks like we'll be replacing flooring instead of going on a vacation this year...

15 comments:

  1. OMG!!! How nasty!!! I always told Jim we should go there when we were remodeling our old house. He was always so against their flooring. Just because he didn't think it would hold up to our dogs. What a toxic ass company. I will let everyone know about this.

    Maybe you guys can go some where local for a night away. We always had tremendous luck with Quik Step flooring. Good Luck Lauren.

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    1. Right?? Such a disgusting company! We're so bummed that we're in this situation but what can you do?

      How is your flooring holding up to your dogs? I think I remember that you got real hardwood and have three German Shepherds? I'd love to go with the most natural floor since this all happened, haha! I'm a little scared of laminate now even though I know it isn't all bad.

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  2. When we first heard the story I was appalled. We felt fortunate because we nearly purchased laminate flooring from LL. I would get rid of the flooring as soon as possible cause your health isn't worth the risk to save some money. I would then try to get your money back. I wouldnt be surprised if some type of collective lawsuit is taking place

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    1. Thanks Owen! I'm so glad other people finding this as appalling as we did! My boyfriend and I just looked at each other in disbelief!

      We're looking into floors right now but the money just isn't there. I get a bonus in June so I'll probably use that towards new flooring. So frustrating! I'm hoping there will be a lawsuit. I've heard some things about safety commissions taking them to court but we'll see! I have a feeling no refunds will be given unless a lawsuit is lost by them (especially because they're smug enough to continue selling these unsafe floors).

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  3. That is HORRIBLE!!! And here I've always thought about buying from them as well. I mean, why wouldn't you?! Something HAS to come of this, you would think. I remember you installing it... yes, it's absolutely gorgeous and you did a wonderful job, but girl you gotta look out for yourself and if that means getting rid of that toxic flooring, you do it. Maybe some knee pads for the future? :) But girl, I'm so sorry to hear that. Clearly a low company. Good luck! I wish I knew of somewhere else to recommend. Keep us updated!

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    1. Horrible is the perfect word for this Michelle! We were taken so off guard by it all. There was no way of even guessing this could happen! We're trying to figure out how to put it in the budget because health is so important. It is so unbelievably frustrating though! Hopefully someone will sue them and we can get some money back, but we will see! I'll keep people updated if we hear anything!

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  4. I think everyone covered my feelings about this mess above! I am so sorry to hear this. Thank you for posting! If ANYONE ever asks me about LL, I will be sure to share your experience. This is a crying shame! Whatever you decide to do on your floor, please get rid of this ASAP. Your health is the most important. Sending hugs!

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    1. Thanks Eboni! Since we won't be getting a refund from them (at least any time soon) I want to at least make them lose some sales! This flooring shouldn't be sold and their arrogance makes it that much worse. I'll never understand how some people can value money so much that they don't care about the health of other people. I wonder if they would put this flooring in their own homes. I'll keep you guys updated on the flooring situation!

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  5. Wow! Thank you so much for writing this. We need to replace some flooring an dI was going to give LL a try. NOT anymore. I will go somewhere else. Makes you wonder what other kinds of crap other companies are doing. Grrr! Too many US companies are sell outs. They do not care about the people, just the profits. Greed is such deep seated disease. Yuck.

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    1. I'm so glad you found this so you can avoid this awful company! It's scary to think that companies do this kind of stuff. Good luck with finding some flooring!

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  6. We just started our build w/ Ryan Homes and we've debated where we'll get hardwood, so this is really helpful. Do you mind adding me to your bloglist? We're:
    http://greenbeltmatisse.blogspot.com/

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    1. Hi Lina! I'm glad this was helpful!

      I'll be sure to add you to my bloglist! Good luck with your new home!

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