Anyone use Costco Shaw Flooring?

[CalGalTraveler]

I called to make an appointment for either lux vinyl or porcelain wood tile. They forward to a local dealer. Any experiences good or bad?

 

[klpca]

No personal experience but check out the message boards on Houzz. I seem to recall that some had issues with them (but some people are whiners so everything needs to be taken with a grain of salt). For our last go 'round with carpet we used a well recommended local carpet store. It was a great experience. We checked them out on Yelp, plus we found out that some friends had also used them. I did not do any significant price comparison. It was only two rooms and our alternatives were Lowes and Home Depot and the customer service there was just awful so I chose to deal with people who truly wanted our business.

I just realized that you were looking at hard flooring (reading is fundamental, lol). Probably similar advice - to check with houzz, but one additional alternative would be to hire a good decorator. They really won't cost that much more - maybe 10% - and you will get great advice and probably much, much better installation. We used a decorator twice in the past 10 years and the experience was night and day different from using HD. The only reason that we didn't use her again was that she has gone very upscale and we couldn't meet her minimum on two rooms of carpet.

 

[Laurie]

I called to make an appointment for either lux vinyl or porcelain wood tile. They forward to a local dealer. Any experiences good or bad?

Yes, in 2019 we ordered the Shaw luxury plank vinyl thru Costco for 2 rental houses, when they were having some sort of promotion, and the overall experience was very good. I wanted a sample for one of the finishes and the local flooring company who Costco worked thru didn't have, so I contacted Shaw directly and they sent right away. The local rep was otherwise pretty responsive, and the installers (who worked for the local flooring company, not for Costco) did a good job. One installation crew even painted all the quarter-round for us first and let it dry while laying the floor. Purchase and installation was all working with a small local company, not with a big corporate entity.

The billing was all thru Costco. Between the promotional discount + Executive membership + credit card cashback, the price was pretty good. The only very minor issue was we ordered for both places at the same time, specifying quantities for each address, and requested they split the invoice into 2, but they wouldn't do that.

We sold both properties so I can't speak to how well it held up in the long run.

 

[Laurie]

For our last go 'round with carpet we used a well recommended local carpet store. It was a great experience... It was only two rooms and our alternatives were Lowes and Home Depot and the customer service there was just awful so I chose to deal with people who truly wanted our business.

Agreed; we've used local companies for all our other flooring jobs, which have been many. The only OK experiences with Lowes/HD have been storm door installations. Window installation -- forget it, never again.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Shaw products are great. My aunt owns a carpet/flooring business in Rawlins, WY, and they highly recommended Shaw carpet to us for our remodel of the townhouse. They also recommended Shaw for our current house kitchen floors. Too bad they won't install for us.

 

[aandmrun]

I also purchased through Costco and received the 15% gift card which was great. The flooring I got is Shaw LVP in teal. We had them installed in 2019 and they still look great. I love my floors!

 

[VacationForever]

Definitely lux vinyl planks as they are softer and warmer on the feet. They are also less likely to result in breaking bones if one falls done.

We selected Shaw Flooring vinyl planks when we were going to build a new home.

 

[DaveNV]

A reminder that you're dealing with Costco, so the warranty is good, and service policies will be to your benefit. Costco doesn't make or install the product, which is what the local vendors are about. But Costco stands behind what they sold you, so you are at little risk. They won't work with local vendors who are a problem.

On a personal note, we had Shaw laminate flooring in our previous home for a dozen years, and we never had any issues with it. Newer products are even better, so I'd expect their LVP stuff to be excellent.

Dave

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Thank you all for your input. TUGgers are awesome!

I met with the local Costco/Floor representative. He seems good but was pushing me to laminate vs. luxury vinyl plank (LVP) due to cost of the latter increasing due to oil rise. He said they don't offer ceramic tile anymore because they have had so many issues with bad installations and there are limited tile layers in our area and they can basically ask for whatever they want = expensive.

I am still leaning toward LVP because we have animals (who sometimes have accidents on the floor) and this is a once in a 20 year decision so additional cost will be spread throughout the future. We also had bad experience with laminate in another home but that was 10 years ago. He claims that laminate is better now.

Would love anyone's thoughts on laminate vs. LVP.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Also contacted Home Depot and they seemed cost effective for LVP but we will need the installation estimate. One concern: she mentioned installing by putting quarter rounds against the base boards. The Costco rep mentioned removing and replacing the baseboards so the floor tiles flow underneath. She said she could paint the quarter rounds white to be the same as the baseboard. The quarter rounds sound cheap to me and I have a high end home. Has anyone seen these quarter rounds? Opinions?

The Costco rep also seemed concerned about using laminate against a round tile rotunda we have from our entry to our living room. He was doing some research on how to make this work. Does LVP or ceramic tile have these issues? I don't want to cut the rounded edge off of our tile rotunda to make this work because it will take away from the round foyer. We currently have carpet. I hate to have to use carpet again.

Anyone else have these issues? Any other gotchas to be aware of? Our installation will not be in wet areas (i.e. no kitchen or bathrooms because we already have tile installed). Mainly living, dining, office, upstairs hallway and bedrooms about 2300 sq feet.

TIA for your thoughts.

 

[aandmrun]

This is just a personal opinion, but over the years we have noticed that the Home Depot installations have not been as well supervised or professional as some of the installations by other companies. I still highly recommend going through the Costco companies because Costco makes sure that the product and installation is up to the customers satisfaction. Good luck with your decision.

 

[klpca]

Also contacted Home Depot and they seemed cost effective for LVP but we will need the installation estimate. One concern: she mentioned installing by putting quarter rounds against the base boards. The Costco rep mentioned removing and replacing the baseboards so the floor tiles flow underneath. She said she could paint the quarter rounds white to be the same as the baseboard. The quarter rounds sound cheap to me and I have a high end home. Has anyone seen these quarter rounds? Opinions?

The Costco rep also seemed concerned about using laminate against a round tile rotunda we have from our entry to our living room. He was doing some research on how to make this work. Does LVP or ceramic tile have these issues? I don't want to cut the rounded edge off of our tile rotunda to make this work because it will take away from the round foyer. We currently have carpet. I hate to have to use carpet again.

Anyone else have these issues? Any other gotchas to be aware of? Our installation will not be in wet areas (i.e. no kitchen or bathrooms because we already have tile installed). Mainly living, dining, office, upstairs hallway and bedrooms about 2300 sq feet.

TIA for your thoughts.

No to the quarter round. The flooring goes underneath the baseboards. And IMHO, quarter round does look cheap. And as long as you are redoing baseboard, replace them with the wider baseboards - I think ours are about 5" wide. It is a relatively inexpensive change that has a nice impact on the appearance of the room and the floors.

We used laminate upstairs because we didn't want to have to replace some of our subfloors. Any imperfection will show under LVP. So far we are really happy with it but it's only been a year and it is pretty much just the two of us so it could be different for someone else. It is fine for us but in an upscale home I would actually consider using real wood. I don't think that you will add any value with laminate or LVP. (Says the woman with laminate floors, lol). Again, I like our laminate but for resale it won't be a floor that anyone will be excited about.

FWIW, we had HD install carpet years ago and one of the installers stole an Ipod from my daughter's room (they had used that room to stage their tools etc). I realize that this was a lifetime ago but HD did not care that something was stolen. They sub out the installation and in our case that company denied that a theft had occurred unless we had a police report. Police wouldn't take a report because we had not seen anyone steal the Ipod. HD did absolutely nothing. Frustrating.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Thanks for the info about HD and quarter rounds. I agree that it would look cheap. We will go the baseboard route. We still own an angle saw from installing laminate 10 years ago in a rental so might try it ourselves in some less noticeable rooms before hiring.

FWIW....We installed Costco warehouse laminate in 2010 in a rental home but had such a bad experience with chipping and water bubbling that I have decided that with 4 pets, we will pay 2.5x for Lux Vinyl Plank. Full Disclosure: The laminate was installed in a kitchen and bath which was a mistake. It would probably be fine in bedrooms, but I worry about our pets having an accident or scratching the floor.

We already have extra large diagonal tile throughout the downstairs. We were told that adding more tile would not add to the value of the home and without a perfect match, would detract. We were told that hardwood would add value but only 10% of the cost of the hardwood. For example, $20,000 would only add $2000 in value. Most of this install is in the upstairs. The LVP is the thickest CoreTec to match our tile height, has a 15 year scratch and limited lifetime warranty hence the high cost.

After Costco rebates we get 14% back which helps a lot. I cannot wait to get rid of that carpeting.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Thanks all for your comments and perspectives on our flooring purchase. I wanted to let you know what transpired to close this thread out.

We received a very expensive bid from the large local flooring company that Costco referred us to. After some research it turns out that the flooring they recommended they don't sell in volume so we were quoted full retail price at close to $10 per square foot for luxury vinyl! They also said we would need to spend another $3000 to replace all of our baseboards because the installers would "destroy the old ones." It seemed so disconnected Costco => Costco certified local floor store designer => Installers.

So I started to look around. I searched on the Internet and found the same flooring for $4.50 less per square foot but quickly realized that many of these online flooring companies are scams and some manufacturers won't provide warranty for their products sold through these channels.

I then went on Nextdoor.com and found a flooring installer who formerly worked for one of the big floor stores for 20 years and now works on his own. He recommended a different brand and said the Shaw floor the Costco referred supplier recommended had quality issues. He is preserving most of our baseboards as well and happily will replace any they damage for no extra cost saving us $3000 + painting. His rate was fair, fixed and less than Costco's. The Costco provider also wanted to charge us by room for moving furniture - this local contractor is taking care of all furniture movement in the price.

Then I contacted the manufacturer and I found a local flooring reseller for the recommended brand. He was fantastic! He also confirmed that the floor material that Costco recommended was not only too expensive but also had quality issues. He gave us a contractors rate on the brand we chose which brought our cost way down.

Overall we saved more than $13,000 by not going with the Costco provider and we are supporting local small businesses and trades with our remodeling project. I love how our providers take pride in their work and have deep expertise and reasonable rates.

 

[DaveNV]

Thanks all for your comments and perspectives on our flooring purchase. I wanted to let you know what transpired to close this thread out.

Overall we saved more than $13,000 by not going with the Costco provider and we are supporting local small businesses and trades with our remodeling project. I love how our providers take pride in their work and have deep expertise and reasonable rates.

It's great that you found something that works right for your situation. Sorry the Costco thing didn't work out. That sounds rather unusual. But I'm glad you found something that works right. And saving $13K is awesome!

Wishing you many happy years with the new flooring.

Dave

 

[PigsDad]

I always try to use locally owned businesses whenever possible, the problem is finding the good ones! I know some people have had good experiences w/ going through the big box stores (Costco, Lowes, Sam's, etc.) for home improvement services, but I find more often than not that they use the lowest bidder subcontractors, which mean they are the ones cutting corners. No thanks. Plus, I don't need an additional level of middlemen; it only adds to the total cost.

Kurt

 

[aandmrun]

We were fortunate enough that the company Costco was dealing with when we purchased was a long time family owned business. Therefore, we received very good service. My floors have been in for 4 years now and still look great. I guess not all Costco's can be the same since they operate in so many cities. I am happy that you found some good floor solutions in your area. Thanks for sharing your flooring experience.

 

[rickandcindy23]

The granite quote we got from Costco's recommended company was crazy high.