My parents had hardwood floors installed throughout the first floor of their home in the spring of 2012. My mom has noticed worsening chipping at the seams (long edges only). The floors are deep red and the chipping reveals almost white wood underneath. Curiously, the chipping - while completely absent in rooms that are almost never used (like under the formal dining room table) - is not consistently worst in high-traffic areas. The pattern seems erratic. Furthermore, the tops of the planks show no chipping, even where scratches from my sister's dog's claws are visible.

Unfortunately, I have a lack of complete information about the floors because my dad died in February. On visual inspection, I thought they were jarrah (and my sister agreed they were an exotic wood). Pictures from the installation show boxes from Somerset Hardwood Flooring (I have contacted them but not heard back and it's clear from their website that they try to direct concerns through the installer) and show planks that appear to be engineered, not solid wood.

My dad bought them online and we are trying to track down further information - could this be due to a disreputable seller? My dad was both Internet-savvy and construction-savvy (28 years ago, he designed and built our home himself), so I think he would have thoroughly investigated before buying but I don't know.

I'm also trying to contact the men who installed the floor. I know they had not previously installed this type of floor but otherwise, the work they did in our home (my parents renovated the kitchen and two bathrooms at the same time) is beautiful. Could lack of expertise with this type of floor be the problem?

The floors don't look terrible - yet - but I would like to know why this is happening in order to know:
1) Can we prevent from getting worse?
2) Should I anticipate needing to refinish (would that even help?), restain or replace the floors in the next 5-10 years?
3) I'm planning to install hardwood floors throughout the second floor this summer. Can I use jarrah wood again (leaning toward solid wood this time)?

Please help us! Thanks!

Sounds like nailer damage. Got some pics?