Hello,

Thanks for all the great information on this site. I have a problem that I would like some assitance with. We have installed 3" x 3/8" prefinnished Brazilian Koa engineered hardwood flooring in our upstairs great room of kitchen/dining area/living room in January 2009.

We had it installed using the best fabric the retailer sold installed on OSB.

We have cupping and delamination (and some cracks) on several boards. (noticed in September 2009) One is so bad that you could see the second layer of the engineered floor.

I contacted the retailer and they had me call customer service. I sent photos per their request and they sent out an inspector.

The inspector stated that the flooring was at 6% rh and the supfloor at 10%. He also stated in his report "However, it shoud be mentioned that a moisture reading is only as accurate as the day it is taken. It is very possible that a highter amount of moisutre intrusion could occurred days, weeks or months earlier."

The retailer claims that it is "environmental" and it doesn't warranty anything.

We live in Evergreen Colorado. I would guess that the retailer would have a line out the door everyday with people having issues if it were the climate condition of Colorado. Most don't have a humidifier. Shouldn't everyone have this issue or is the product defective? I never have heard of this in Colorado from anybody I know that has a hardwood floor.

We let the flooring sit for 17 days before installing.

Thanks in advance!

I dont want to jump the gun, but I'm pretty sure what manufacturer this is.
Do you mind telling me?

Lumber Liquidators Schon Brazilian Koa (Durenko) Flooring.

That's the one

I have seen the Koa, and the Walnut, of the Schon engineered do the exact same thing in the LL showroom. On a sample board, and installed on the display floor. And other surrounding products and other Schon engineered species were not affected.

LL is correct. It is environmental. Those species, of that product, have issues in any environment.

Just let me say...I dont take saying this type of thing lightly.

Consider this. The wood installed in your home evolved in a tropical climate, and you have placed it in a temperate climate. Certainly its going to react. Some of these "exotic" woods work better than others, but all need to have controlled humidity levels to avoid these cracks and splits.
Sometimes manufacturers do not do enough field testing to evaluate the suitability of various woods to perform as flooring.
BTW, the readings the inspector got are moisture content, not RH., but we knew what you meant.

Where do I go from here? I have about $5500 into the floor. I have a lab and a 4 year old.

1. Do I own the problem 100%
2. Does LL own the problem 100%?
3. Is it shared?
4. What is a fair resolution?
5. What would you recommend as a floor type? Cherry?

Thanks for the advice as I not sure how to proceed. I really think that LL should have talked to me about moisture levels at the time of the sale. The only thing they talked about was letting the floor adjust to the house for 3-4 days prior to installing it. This is my first experience with hardwood flooring. It now makes complete sense about the type of wood and being in a very dry Colorado.

Jeff

You can bet that the other parties to this sale (manufacturer, retailer, etc) are going to place all responsibility on site conditions, therefore you.
It is unfortunate that most salespeople have no clue what they are selling, and therefore do not do an adequate job of educating the consumer on how to maintain their floor. It can be said though that the information is in the box, in most cases; but who reads that?
Although it means nothing to you at this point, our company has monthly seminars with all sales staff to ensure that they are up to date with the products we sell.We also provide our customers with our own written instructions on maintenance and care, in case something is overlooked in the showroom. This is done BEFORE the sale and we sometimes lose a customer because they think that the floor they can purchase down the street wont require the same care.