I recently posted about problems with our Mohawk Hollendale Hickory Charcoal flooring. We just got our inspection report back and are denied our claim. I've pasted the majority of the report below.

Do we have a leg to stand on to fight this? I will note that while the inspection states that "Uninstalled planks were examined and there were no checks observed consistent with the appearance of checks across the installed flooring. The uninstalled planks were sent to the manufacturer for testing" we definitely have uninstalled planks at our house and there are definite checks on them. It seems like the inspector decided not to send in those pieces for testing.


Observations & Applicable Field Tests:

* The home is over a full basement. From the basement, it was observed the floor joists were spaced 19.2" on-center, and the subfloor was 23/32" OSB subfloor. The planks were installed perpendicular to the floor joists. A Delmhorst pin meter with a range of 6% to 40% determined a moisture content of the floor joists from 6% to 6.9%. It was also observed there was a humidifier installed on the furnace and set on 40%. The humidifier was installed before they moved into the home.

* The 3/8" x 5" hand-scraped random-length pre-finished engineered Tech Wood product was installed on the first floor of the home. The areas of installation were a 4' x 9' hallway, and 8' x 10' foyer, a 5' x 5' bath which were a continuous run. The family room was carpet and on the other side of the family room was a 13' x 18' kitchen, a 10' x 14' dining area, and a 4' x 4' rear hallway.

* The planks were observed from a standing position and checks down the length of the boards were observed since the checks were open and this exposed unfinished wood.

* The planks were examined both visually and under a 7x loupe at floor level and open checks were observed on the planks, but most of the checking was at the apex of the hand scraped areas. The checks were open checks which exposed the raw wood, 2" to 5" in length, randomly located across 60% of the installation.

* Air temperature of the installation area tested 65* F, and relative humidity tested 53%. A Lingomat SDM non-invasive moisture meter set on the comparative scale determined moisture from 7.1% to 8.9% at a depth of 1/4" on random planks. Using a Delmhorst pin meter the moisture content readings were 8.1% to 8.1% across random planks. The Delmhorst pin meter also determined a moisture content of the wood shoe molding at from 7.3% to 8.0%.

* It was determined the planks were installed with fasteners. Five-board wide sets of planks each five-feet in length were sectioned off in the kitchen area, and earth magnets were used to determine a fastener spacing from 2" to 4" along the length of the planks and 1" to 4" from the end joints. Individual planks measured 5," and ten-board wide sets of the planks measured 50".

* A floor register was removed, and it was observed the planks were installed over the OSB subfloor, and no moisture retarder was observed.

* A molding tool and measuring devices were determined expansion spacing of 1/8" and greater at perimeter wall lines, around the kitchen island, and under the kitchen toe kicks.

* A straight edge and taper gauge were used to determine a flatness level of less than 1/8" in 6' across the installation.

* Uninstalled planks were examined and there were no checks observed consistent with the appearance of checks across the installed flooring. The uninstalled planks were sent to the manufacturer for testing.


Analysis and Conclusion:

* The checks are consistent with lathe checks which develop in rotary peeled or sliced face veneers. As the knife separates veneer from the log, the separated sheet of wood is laid flat where stresses can occur in the region near the knife edge. If the strength of the wood is exceeded, this stress is relieved by separations or checks of the wood fiber parallel to the gain.

* Lathe checks may become apparent or transfer to the surface with the failure to maintain the ambient interior conditions specified by the manufacturer for the life of the product through all seasons. The lathe checks may telegraph through to the finished surface of the wood causing the less elastic finishes to display the linear cracks in the surface of the finish application precisely in the same location as the underlying anomaly.

It looks like there is not a glaring problem with either the product or installation.
That doesn't mean that you should be happy with what you have.
It seems that your floor salesman should not have sold you this product if you purchased the flooring from a local company. I other areas of the country this flooring may work fine.
I would recommend applying a coat of finish to seal the little gaps that have occurred. This may mean that you no longer have a finish warrantee, but will help with trying to keep the floor clean in the future. The coat may help with the color difference where there are deep cracks, also.