Or... Alot of guys dont toenail the spline , and if it's a little loose fitting...

That small crown could be from a high girder running through the center of the house...... or more likely... the installers did not use scraps of flooring as back-ups for the starting row. It is possible to staple the tongue edge and cause the back (grooved side) to cock up ever so slightly. Using the actual wood joinery for back ups will ensure the start row lays flat. If its cocked up, using splines won't bring it down without some help with another scrap of wood turned over and a dead blow mallet.

Exactly Jerry, Even if there's no subfloor crown that seam can hinge up easily if the installers didn't use "back up scraps" to seat the slip tongue properly.

In addition yes, there could be a high girder or joist. If that's the case it's too bad the installers didn't simply hit it with opencoat.

Thanks everyone for the information! My installation is warrantied for a year...so maybe i'll go back to lumber liquidators and tell them to fix it =) ...I'm thinking they didn't use back up scraps to seat the slip tongue properly after changing directions.

That explains a little.... LL does not supply slip tongue for any of the bamboo it sells. It's not a problem for an installer to run some sliptongue through the tablesaw, but if he mills it too tight or loose, it causes problems. Sliptongue should be an exact fit.

Doh! Maybe they won't fix it then since they don't supply them...I heard they always somehow find a way to void the warranty if there is a problem. Just my luck...

It sounds to me like an installation issue. Should have nothing to do with whether they supply slip tongue for their product or not.

I would try to level the sub floor with some 16 grit paper on the edger, but you can't do much more usually.

Ok good. We'll see what they say tomorrow =)

I have concluded that the gap in the floor is too large for wood putty, and would just be an eyesore. It should be fixed the right way.

So the new argument for the gap in the floor, is that it was caused by the floor not being level. This is complete and utter @#$@#$. So now the fact that the installer didn't compact the planks properly and left a gap in my floor, is somehow my fault because we didn't level the floor. The gap was there since day one of the install. It was not caused by expansion or the floors shifting on their own. This is clearly carelessness on the installer’s part.

My installation is warrantied for a year, but apparently since we decided not to level the floor, any complaint I have goes out the window and is blamed on not leveling the floors. Thanks LL and Home Service Store, thanks a lot. If anyone does plan on doing installations with them...I hope i've save you the trouble with this thread =)

that's why I say always go with a local installer, then at least you know who to yell at. sometimes, there is nothing you can do to a floor. Not saying that is the case with your floor, but sometimes....

The installers are local. They just have a different way of doing business .

That drives me crazy. It gives the business a bad name.
I'm sorry you and others have to deal with that.

IF it was explained to you that your subfloor had a problem, and that problem could pose a problem for the installation, and the installer/s recommended it be repaired, and you declined because you either did not believe them or you did not want to pay for the subfloor repairs, and then instructed the installer/s to proceed anyway and "do your best" with the situation, and now there is a problem because you did not want to pay to fix it, how would that be the installer/s fault?

I have run across this scenario more than a few times, and now, when I do, the customer signs a waiver and assumes all responsibility. Or better yet, pays me to correct the problem.

Our company WILL NOT install over sub-floor problems. If the estimator is able to see the subfloor during measurement, he evaluates and prices repairs at that time. If issues are concealed by carpeting, our installers report to me on removal and I then contact the purchaser with a cost to repair. (9 out of 10 times the home-owners are agreeable, since we merely charge out at cost for this. If they decline the opportunity to pay for a minor repair, I instruct the installers to fix it anyway. If it requires structural work (removing sub-floor, planing joists, etc.) I pull the crew.

It was explained that our subfloor had a problem...but the installer said that we probably do not want to do it because it would be more money than we want to spend. He also said, that it would be more aesthetic than anything, but won't be a real problem. After hearing that, I was convinced that it was ok to proceed with the installation. If I heard otherwise, like him saying that "you will get gaps in your floors if we mess up", then I would have opted for the leveling.

FYI - I did sign a waiver, and that's where all my problems are coming from now. It really is crap, because it wasn't explained to me well. To me, it was just an excuse for the installer not having to come back out here again, and so there was a way for him to get out of the warranty if something went wrong, which it did.

And there is no doubt in my mind, if I did do the leveling, that he still would have found a way to void the warranty or not fix what's wrong. This really seems like more of an issue with the installer...and not how things should actually be done.