Fame Hardwood Floors Product Warranty
Fame warrants that its products meet all established internal, industry and government quality and environmental standards.
Structural Integrity Warranty:
Fame warrants its products to be free of defect in assembly, milling, dimensionally stable and grading in our products original manufactured condition. Fame floors are warranted against buckling, cupping, or warping when properly installed in accordance with hardwood flooring industry installation instruction standards. Product must be properly maintained in accordance with such instructions as well as the floor care instructions provided in this brochure. Since wood flooring is a 100% natural product, wood flooring will continue to expand and contract throughout normal climate changes. This warranty does not cover minor gapping or cupping associated with climate changes that can occur causing our product to expend or contract. In an instance that it is determined by a licensed flooring inspector that our flooring is delaminating, warping or buckling due to a manufacturing defect, Fame will arrange for the repair of or removal and replacement of the defective board or boards. This action will in no way be an admission by Fame of the failure or defect of the entire floor or an entire production run.
Finish Warranty:
Fame warrants that the surface of our factory finished products will not wear through or separate from the surface of our wood flooring for a period of 25 years in residential applications and 10 years in commercial applications under normal conditions and provided that proper care and maintenance have been performed regularly. This finish warranty excludes scratches, indentations, and surface damage caused by lack of proper maintenance, misuse, negligence, spike heel shoes, exposure to water or other liquid, erosion, pebbles, sand or improper protection from furniture. If a manufacturing finish defect has been determined by a licensed flooring inspector. Fame at its sole discression, will repair, refinish or replace the portion of the floor effected with the same or like quality flooring of equal value.
Warranty Disclaimers and Exclusions:
Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight, subtle changes in shading, coloring, that is inherent of many species of wood used in manufacturing hardwood flooring. Area rugs and other sunlight barriers should be moved occasionally to avoid the appearance of discoloration occurring underneath. This is not a product defect. Damage due to water or other liquids, excessive moisture either topical or radiated. Including but not limited to damage resulting from broken or leaking pipes, wet mopping, weather conditions man made or natural disaster are excluded from warranty. Additionally, this warranty does not cover indentations, scratches or other damage caused by negligence, water, moisture, excessive heat sustained above 100f or excessive dry conditions sustained below 30% humidity in all rooms where hardwood flooring is installed. Abrasives, pets, insects, spiked heel shoes, color variations, naturally occurring wood characteristics, improper installation, improper maintenance, insufficient protection in encountering other objects, misuse, or altering the original manufacturing of the product. The sole remedy provided herein is the repair, refinish or replacement of a defective product.
Fame Hardwood Floors Tips on Protecting your Floor
To keep your floor in good condition, it is important to protect it from the following.
Abrasives: When we talk about floor ware, we are referring to the protective finish and not the wood itself. Our factory finishes are made up of a multistep multicoat process using the latest finish technology available today. Carefully applied to create one of the toughest Hardwood flooring products in the industry. Even so, it is still vulnerable to abrasives suck as sand, gravel and other abrasive materials that come in contact with the surface of your floor. Items such as chair and other furniture legs, wheels, etc. will eventually wear through even the most durable floor finish. The following tips will help protect your floor against premature wear. Place felt pads under chair and furniture legs. Ensure that felt pads are kept clean and in good condition. Sweep and or Vacuum your floor regularly to remove any loose abrasive materials that may have been tracked in. Placing an outside mat and an indoor rug at each doorway with exterior access will help keep gritty dirt from getting tracked onto your hardwood floor. Pressure marks on the floor surface occur when the wood fibers become crushed. When this happens the protective finish usually remains intact molding to the shape of the depression. This is usually caused by heavy objects sitting in one place, being moved or striking the floor. Protect your floor from impacts caused by heavy objects by placing larger furniture pads under the heavy object, this will disburse the weight of the heavy object more evenly over a larger area of the floor. This same practice should be used when moving heavy objects across the floor such as refrigerators, pianos, pool tables, aquariums, and any other large heavy furniture. For furniture and chairs with castors, use only castors designed for use on hardwood flooring such as wide rubber castors. Avoid chairs and furniture with hard plastic or wood castors as they will damage the surface of your hardwood floor. Shoes, high spike heels, athletic shoes can pick up gravel, these can destroy any type of flooring. Pets, keep your pet’s claws trimmed well and do not allow them to come in contact with your hardwood floor. Pet urine is high in Alkeline and acidity, should your pet have an accident be sure to get all of it up at once and wipe the area with a damp soft cloth.
Water and Liquids: Wood interacts naturally with water, expanding as humidity increases and contracting as humidity decreases. The engineered structure of our wood floors allows the floorboards to resist some of the natural movement. However liquid spills or wide variations in humidity can have a visible impact on hardwood floors. It is imperative to keep humidity levels in each room that your floor is installed in between 35% and 55% year-round. This can be accomplished by keeping rooms well ventilated and using either a dehumidifier when the humidity levels are too high and a humidifier when the humidity levels are too low. Cleaning of your hardwood floors should only be done using a hardwood floor cleaner with a neutral ph. or a damp terry cloth mop. Immediately clean up any liquid spills. Avoid indoor rugs with undersides made of rubber or any other material that prevents air from circulating properly beneath the rug. Exposure to intense light will eventually discolor most materials including wood. Our finishes are specially developed to protect against premature yellowing and discoloring, however it is still a good idea to move rugs and furniture from time to time so that the same section of floor is not permanently exposed to intense light. Exposure to sunlight is responsible for a natural process (oxidation) that makes the surface of some exotic wood species darken considerably. Moving furniture around from time to time will allow the entire floor surface to get an even exposure to sunlight and maintain a more consistent color tone.
Regular Care: Our standard factory finish make floor care easy. To maintain the look and performance of the finish and keep your floor looking beautiful, follow these simple guidelines. Sweep or vacuum your floors regularly to remove dust, sand or any other abrasive material. Apply liquid hardwood flooring neutral ph. cleaner to the surface of a terry cloth mop rather than directly to the floor. Mop the floor in the same direction as the floorboards. Immediately remove liquid spills from the floor. For tough stains, use a damp sponge or cloth rag and rub in the direction of the wood grain. Never use wax, oil-based soaps or other household cleansers. These products may dull the finish or leave behind a damaging oily film. This can make the floor slippery or harder to maintain. Only use hardwood floor cleaners for wood floors with an acrylic (urethane) finish and cleaners designed for hardwood floors that have an oil finish. See your product specification sheet to determine the specific factory finish that your floor has before purchasing a hardwood floor cleaner.
Helpful Tips: Here are some tips on how to handle most problem situations. Wet spills, immediately clean up any food, alcohol, body sweet or other liquids before they dry onto the surface of your floor. Wipe them up with a well-wrung damp cloth, then spray the soiled area with a hardwood floor cleaner and remove excess. Fatty and oily substances such as crayons, shoe marks, etc. Spray the hardwood floor cleaner on a soft cloth and wipe the souled area. For stubborn stains and marks, put a small amount of white vinegar on the spot and let stand for no more than two to three minutes then wipe off rubbing vigorously. Chewing gum, candle wax, etc. Let the substance to be removed cool down so that it will harden and crumble. (an ice pack or ice cubes in a plastic bag so they won’t melt onto the floor are ideal) Pick up what you can by hand and use a plastic spatula holding it at an angle so as not to damage the floor and scrape off the remaining material. Then use your hardwood floor cleaner to finish the job.
Severely damaged floorboards: In the case of deep scratches or other major damage, replacing the floorboard will be the solution. This can only be done by a professional hardwood flooring installer.
Restoring your Floor: After a number of years, the floor surface is likely to show signs of wear especially in high traffic areas. Generally, the floor can be restored by applying a new superficial coat of finish. Re-coating the floor requires a professional hardwood flooring contractor to make sure that the proper products and procedures are used. Should in-depth sanding and re-finishing be required, professional equipment and craftsmanship are necessary to ensure a quality result.