Hello,

First time poster here. My wife and I had new hardwoods installed last week throughout the first floor of the house, and we're really unhappy with the way they have turned out.

Quite simply: The colors don't match. On about 15 to 20 of the planks, the colors bear absolutely no resemblance to the sample we looked at. It's not a matter of some variation. I'm talking about we picked a light brown stain, some planks are blonde and there's a few that are so dark they look like they were charred in a fire. They stand out from the light brown planks we thought we were getting -- and not in a good way.

So I'd appreciate your thoughts. How should this have been handled? What recourse do I have?

I have already talked to one third party who thinks there is no way to pull the planks we loathe and replace them on an individual basis; his opinion was that the whole floor would need to be re-stacked. I'm meeting with the company and installer tomorrow. I suspect they will suggest replacing on an individual basis, but I'm leery of this after the third-party thought that would be impossible. What are the pitfalls to individual replacements?

I kind of suspect that it would be a lazy correction to a poorly executed install, but I don't know that for sure. Appreciate thoughts from experts such as yourself.

Samples can always be misleading, but you are the customer.

Replacing is simply a matter of patience and skill, but maybe the third party is seeing something we can't. The removal part will also be a messy job unless the individual uses a good dust collection system when the planks are cut out. How was this floor installed? Nailed, stapled, glued, floating? Oh, restacked. That sounds like it's been nailed or stapled. This could be a real disaster especially if it was a stapled 3/4 inch hardwood. Staples are held in so strongly that damage is inevitable, not to mention the time involved to remove all of them from the subfloor or board tongues.



More of an installer responsibility to cull out (toss aside) off colored boards, but I suspect all of us have been there at one time or another. However, 15-20 sounds more on the extreme side.

How do they plan on installing the new? Is this a beveled floor? Distressed? All sorts of things we need to know.

Have any pics?

Thanks Ken. Appreciate the thoughts.

It is indeed 3/4 inch planks stapled.

Not sure how they propose to pull out the individual planks and put in the new, but I will ask that during our appointment later. And I'll take pictures to post here too.

I can cut out and replace a board out of a 3/4 solid prefinished floor in about 15 or 20 min. especially if it was just installed and has a beveled edge. Just dont let them top nail the shit out of it, tell them to glue it back in, urethane glue underneath and two part epoxy for the tongue. A bad repair by a incompetent installer will look bad, done the right way they are near impossible to find. BTW what kind of wood and what grade did you buy color variation is expected in certain grades and species.

I'm glad you stepped in with that one. I've never really grasped what to glue it with. Of course I can't name many(one below) solid replacements but plenty of gluedowns. What really got me when I was in St Louis two years ago watching Dan'l Boone use that two part epoxy..is he used it both to attach to the subfloor and into the tongue. I thought to myself...hey you're basically locking the piece into the subfloor and not allowing any chance for it to expand and contract with the rest of the floor.

I asked the god of hardwood installation about it. He didn't back down at all. "If the floor moves it's an environment issue(no stable Rh or something along those lines)...

Top nail the sh..t outta it? I was in a very similar situation when I first started in installation back in the day. About 25 off colored boards out of 700 square feet. It was sold as a cabin grade swamp wood product nailed down. At the time I never heard about gluing them back into place. All were topnailed with the old fashioned cleat top nailer. Times change or I was a hack.

IMO, it's really not a big deal to replace those planks. It's a blessing in disguise that it's a naildown...the planks come out clean and easily, and can be replaced with no notice of replacement. Where as gluedown.....a royal tedius PITA...ofcoarse it's done all the time, but a whole different ballgame of time, craftsmanship, and making an undetectable repair.

Appreciate the thoughts. Thank you.

I took some pics today. Trying to figure out how to upload them here.

A lot of folks use Flickr or similar, if it's a problem...

Thank you. Here's a link to a Flickr slideshow:

http://www.flickr.com//photos/79926191@N06/show/

I think the photos above are representative of the problems, as I see them. Some boards where the color doesn't match. Some where there are dark streaks. Some where the floors were installed unevenly.

When we met today, the installer and company seemed to indicate they could pull the problem boards and glue in replacements. I guess I could see this is if it was one or two planks. But I'm worried that if it's 25 to 30 planks, which it is, I'm just going to wind up with a damaged and sloppy-looking floor.

Depending on the grading of the floor purchased I think you have some legit complaints but some also acceptable boards. On your second issue if they mess up the repair then they can rip up the whole thing and replace it, but they must first be given the chance before it comes out of their pockets. I've replace more boards then that because of cracking with no issues in less then half a day. including my driving time.

a few of them are nasty looking, but i guess it really comes down to what you were sold or told you were sold..
the grading etc..
is this lumber liquidators?... you need to give more info on manufacturer and line...

Thanks again for your thoughts. They're appreciated.

JamesTRD: I don't have our invoice in front of me, but the manufacturer was Erickson's, and they said it was a first-grade, (or No. 1?) oak wood. I'm sure I'm getting that wrong in some fashion, but hopefully it make sense to you. Not Lumber Liquidators.

Jeff Burstein: I don't mind giving them a chance to fix them. But it's 25-30 planks, and just worried that because it's tongue-and-groove, that just gluing in that many replacements leaves too many planks unconnected.

Having crazy mineral streaks and dark boards is normal if the floor is graded as a common #1 .If the floor is graded as select + better or clear, those boards should never have been boxed.

So yes, the grade you were sold dictates if those boards are bunk or acceptable. As for replacement compromising the strength of the floor, it is possible but if your home is environmentally controlled, it shouldn't be a problem. IF your home experiences lots of temp and moisture variance, it might be a problem.

looks and sounds to me you were sold a #1 common floor, which the color variation you see is typical and expected. If they slid in #1 and the contract says select and better then you have a real issue. Good installers dont install off grade boards, once they are installed they become the installers responsibility. Btw Ericsons is a distributor not a manufacture.