My wife and I are looking at different floors from hardwood to engineered. Has anybody had good or bad luck with bella wood. I joined consumer reports tonight thinking they would have much more info about each product besides just the ratings page. I was looking for more detailed info. The floor is going in livingroom kitchen diningroom and hall way.  Would also like a response from CR moreator Angelo and Anne. Thanks john  

I installed Lumber Liquidator's Bella Wood laminate floor in my house (living, dining, bedrooms).  While it looks fantastic with a much more "real wood" look than most laminate, I find it extremely difficult to clean.  I have a dog and every footprint, breath mark, etc. shows up on the plastic surface.  Despite claims, it can also be scratched (excited dog ready to take a walk) and it is NOT easy to install.

Price wise - great.  If you have a dog, I wouldn't get it ... at least, not a dark mahogony color as I got. 

Thank you for your response. Yes we have a dog,and he gets excited alot. We have laminate down stairs and the dog hasn't really scratched the floor that I can see. It is made by aloc. It has aluminum Oxide for the final coat. You can scratch it if you have a sharp object with a lot of weight or force on it. We move (slide) our furniture without picking up our furniture and it doesn't seem to scratch it. Keep in mind its down stairs with not as well lighting as upstairs. I think we are going to go with engineered wood with aluminum oxide finish. Menards sells one called antique oak. It has real wood throughout the board. Be careful when you buy engineered flooring make sure it is not pressboard (cheap furniture uses this) plywood throughout. I'm not an expert on this, I just have been learning this after my first post. Maybe someone else can let us know how they feel.

robyn,

can you expand more on the point "NOT easy to install"? what did you find difficult? I'm considering getting this from LL and installing it myself in my son's bedroom. thanks.

I had a Wilsonart Red Label laminate floor installed in most of my home (professional installer).  I love it.  I have two Dalmatians who are VERY active.  The floor looks the same as it looked when installed in 2006. They have not scratched it despite running, jumping, sliding, etc.  My only mistake was going with a cherry color.  A dark color shows drips, water spots, and dog hair more clearly than a lighter color wood.  If I had it to do over again, I would go with an oak or darker maple color.  As far as installation, as I said before I had a professional install it.  However, the flooring is the usual tongue & groove.  I would think if you took one of the classes that Home Depot or Lowe's offer for installing laminate/wood floors that "float" (not nailed), you could do it.  The installer had to level the concrete foundation in one spot.  He laid the cushion (noise), used a plumb line to mark the starting point and worked from there. It took him slightly over four days (9-4) to rip the old carpet out and install the flooring, but it was close to 1200 square feet.  Good luck.