I hired an experienced installer to put in 525 s.f. of 1/2 in. x 3 in. pre-finished Brazilian cherry light (moabi) in 2 upstairs bedrooms. The product is Bellawood from Lumber Liquidators at $5.00 per s.f.

When the installer came to measure, he took a piece of the wood with him saying he needed to test his staplers/nailers/fasteners on the wood before starting the work.

When he came to do the installation, he said he had not had a chance to do any testing but he would figure it out.

Well, the floor is now installed and the entire surface is covered with dimples (bumps). Everywhere a staple was put in there is a visible bump at the edge of the board. The bumps are not raised enough to be felt and are not visble when looking straight down. But they but are VERY visible, and hideous looking, when the looking at the floor from an angle especially in bright light. Both rooms have large windows and get a lot of sun.

When I informed the installer about the dimples (I wasn't there when he finished) he got angry at me and said he wasn't coming back.

I believe a new installation COMPLETELY covered with dimpling is defective and totally unacceptable workmanship.

Do any pros have any advice on how this floor can be repaired or is replacement the only option?

Also, any thoughts on how I should deal with the installer?

Appreciated

I tried to upload pictures here but no luck. Here's a link to my thread about this problem on another website where I as able to post the pics (post #13):

http://www.diychatroom.com/f5/dimples-n ... post803837

Sounds like he may have used staples or cleats too large. Hard to say without seeing it. Any idea what he fastened the flooring with? Can you post a pic??

The floor was put down with staples. I don't know the size.

Click on the link in my first post above and go to post #13 in the thread to see pictures.

guy used 16 gauge staples that are made for 3/4" floors. You can nail 1/2 solid with 16 gauge but not on most eng. Should have used a 18g cleat/staple. That floor is toast, you better talk to your lawyer. What a mess.

Kevin,
The boards are solid wood, 1/2 inch thick; not engineered.
Thanks for the info.

then he was leaning the nailer forward or had the wrong adapter plate. either way it's where the fastener is separating the board from improper staple alignment.

Yes, he definitely ruined that floor. Unbelievable that he just kept going...wow!

LL's installation requirements have much to be said for. Course the installer should have known 16 ga is to heavy for 1/2 inch. But LL is very very vague about which to use. And I think it is written that way for a reason.

I ran into this on a ½", I tried to used the big gun on.

Just one small bedroom that I finished later in the afternoon.
The next morning as I came up the stairs, the floor through the doorway was at eye level and the light from the morning sun, made my heart skip several beats and I broke out in a cold sweat.

I fixed it!

What I did was take a small block of scrap flooring and laid it on the pimple. I beat it with my hammer and gone!!!!!

Took about an hour and a half to get the one room fixed.

Some staplers will dimple the edge. They make a shoe to stop this.
Let me guess was the installers price on the low side?

Primatech(pro level stapler) will not do this.

Seems to me the finish would get damaged. After all, the dimples probably stretched it a tad (microscopically). I wonder what it will look like in a few years?

Read my mind Ken. Just didn't want to cause Perry sleepless nights Those dimple spots gotta come back in one form or another.....

Nope! Water based finish is not brittle like oil.

No different than using a block to tighten gaps.


I would have heard about it by now and that was 4 years ago, with a Mullican engineered.

I just didn't have faith in my Senco 1" stapler in a ½" board. After beating the pimples, I used the Senco stapler for the rest of the project, without any problems.