All,
I had some maple flooring put down in a living room and after the installers left I noced that there is one board that the corner appears to be recessed by about 1/4 inch. Just the once corner. I called the installer and they say its a milling issue and not uncommon. I kind of feel like if there was a problem with the board they shouldnt have used it. Is that reasonable? The guy was kind of testy and said they would have to rip up a bunch of the floor to repair it. Is this just normal ? Should I push it and make them correct it?

Well I am going to assume that this is a pre-finished floor. A single (or multiple) board can easily be removed from your floor without damage to adjoining boards, and without any visible trace of this work being done.

Yes, prefinished. they are trying to tell me they need to rip up a lot of the floor. So can I ask how 1 can be removed so i can come back at them with that? Thanks so much for the quick response.

The generally accepted practice is to run two longitudinal cuts along the boards. One about a 1/2 inch or so from the groove edge, and another about 1/4 inch from the tongue edge. This can be done with a Skil saw or preferably a FEIN supercut or multi-master. This can also been done with a router and proper set up jig. Any competent installer can do it this way or with a method of their own devising.
Then a long diagonal cut is made bisecting the centre part of the board, and using a hammer and chisel, the pieces are easily removed. There is a little more to it than that, but the key is to isolate the board and remove the cut pieces.
The new board is then cut to length, cutting the tongue end off and the bottom of the groove along the length and the groove end of the board.
Fastening the board in place can be done in a variety of ways, but care must be taken to NOT face nail the board in place.
My own method is to use a urethane glue which will do the permanent holding, and supplimented with a few spots of hot glue for immediate bonding while the urethane glue sets up.
Make sense? If not, I will try to explain in greater detail.

Seems to make sense, is there any concern with glueing it down? Seems to be counter intuitive to have one board glued with others nailed.

Using a urethane glue will not interfere with the floors ability to respond to humidity fluctuations.

I assume you agree that I shouldnt accept that this kind of thing is normal?

Well, assuming you are not exaggerating about the 1/4 inch drop in the one board, it seems incredible that it wouldnt have been noticed as it was being installed, at which time it should have been culled from the installation.

Things have gotten worse, they eventually came out to repair this, cut out the one board, and damaged the board next to it in the process. They didnt have any extra stock to fit there so they put a piece I happen to have from another install as a "temporary) fix and said they would be back. It been 2 weeks of not really being able to get anywhere with them and I am beyond upset. How can I find someone skilled to fix this? What should it cost me? I am going to keep trying to get the original installed but I feel I am being ignored and want this job done right.
OF COURSE this couldnt be like under my couch, its right in the path we walk several times a day and the ill fitting board really isnt safe.

Tell them your going to call someone else to fix it and send them the bill. I can't believe they don't have enough wood left over to fix a simple repair like that. There's ways to do it if you don't have an exact fit.

If your in Tucson gimmie a call, I'll fix it.

I am in massachusetts or I would absolutely take you up on it. Anyone know anyone good up here in the northeast?

I'm here in Massachusetts. Do you know the brand and style of the wood used?

Cool, where in Mass are you?
Its prefinished maple, not sure I can determine the brand

I don't know if you got my message I sent you. I put my phone number in it. I live in Westborough, but travel all over.

edited by admin: no phone numbers

I tried again but it doesn't look like it's going through.

edited by admin: no phone numbers