Remember, if it is serious enough to warrant a wavier, then it is serious enough to look into further. When doing maintenance coats, 99% of the time they turn out just fine. I explain this to customers and why this is the case. 100% of the time they take the chance, but sooner or later someone feels they got burnt. Is this my fault?

I still cant get my head around the idea that the installer would knowingly install this floor with a built in gap down the middle of the room.
If he worked for me, he wouldn't be working for me, if you get my drift.
Where is the pride of workmanship? It cant be all about the money, and I am sure that had the problem been accurately described to the OP he/she would have been amenable to corrective measures.


Ssince this is now an existant problem, and there is no solution forthcoming from the installer, I recommend that the OP hire a professional installer to do whatever it takes to make it right.

He will be coming back today to fix it the best they can, and install the t-molding.

But they specifically said, that they would not be ripping up more planks just to fix a gap in the floor...which really pisses me off. If I have someone else come in, and not the original installer to fix the problem, I void my warranty. Awesome. Apparently I have to let them try to fix it because of the "right to repair" clause.

Tell me honestly, what would you guys prefer:
1. Filling in the gap with wood putty (which is over 1/16th of an inch, and is noticeable from a standing position).
2. Or fix it the correct way, and compact the planks together with the rubber the mallet, the way it should have been done in the first place
According to the national flooring association (I'm not sure of the exact name), that has to be fixed, and not with wood putty. It's a no brainer that it was done wrong.

You signed the waiver but it seems that the potential problems were not explained to you properly. However taking them to task with a lawyer will cost you and you may not win anyway. That said courts usually favor the consumer in these situations if not properly educatied and potential issues brought to your attention. There's a reason prefinished manufactures make matching putty and many of them have a clause in the installation part saying that it is normal to use putty for gaps and is or will not be an issue with the performance of the flooring.

I'd say relieve yourself of the stress and get an area rug.

He's probably going to beat me up when he comes tonight lol.

I would let the installer do his thing. Once they attempt the repair their married to it. If you dont like the way it looks, call them back out. I would drive them crazy. If they say "that's all we can do". Log down the whole experience, hire a reputable company to repair the floor, take them to court.
It sounds like you signed the waiver under misrepresentation.
Your worried about the warranty...What warranty?

There's limits to putty.

Well guys, I have had to fill entire floors full of gaps because the house sat empty for a year or two while on the market and the heat was off and somehow, the solid wood floors shrank. Now, these are not floors I installed but I did the work for the realtor. I went in and applied a latex filler, like Woodwise Wood Patch, in the appropriate color into the cracks, a little area at a time. As the patch started to set up, I would go back a wipe off the excess with a damp cloth. Sorta like grouting tile. After the entire floor was done, I'd then buff and recoat. It looked a million times better and 90% of the gaps/cracks disappeared to the eye. This is an accepted NOFMA/NWFA practice for gaps in wood floors.

So, while the OP is not happy he has one row of a gap, I'm sure a good installer/finisher could make this gap nearly disappear using the right product. And floor finish could be applied to the filler to protect it. A 1/16" gap, while annoying, is not HUGE. I've seen worse and fixed them. I do not think this is so bad it requires legal action. The OP kinda put himself in a bind by signing the waiver. The argument that "I didn't understand what I was signing" would rarely fly in any legal battle. You would need to prove you were either mentally incompetent or under duress, neither of which is the case here. In my waiver, the signer states they acknowledge there is a problem, and they accept all the consequences of choosing not to have the problem repaired. It's kinda hard to say "I didn't understand what I was signing" with my waivers.

Case in point. I was contracted to install glue down engineered, plank floors over concrete. There was still carpet and pad down as the builder had not removed them yet, so I could not inspect the slab. In my contract, any slab repairs were extra.

After I get there to prep and start installing, I check out the slabs flatness and it's out of spec. I call the homeowner and say, "The slab is not flat enough. There will be problems." She says, "What kind?" I reply, "You will probably get some hollow sounding areas." She asks, " But the floor will not fall apart or come up and buckle or warp will it? " I say," No, not unless you get a bad leak." She says she can live with that and there is no money to repair the slab and to do the best I can. I say ok, but you'll need to sign my waiver stating that. I scrape the slab clean and install the floor, doing the best I can. After the adhesive is dry, I find about a dozen small hollow spots. There is no deflection and the only way these hollows can be detected is by tapping the floor. Now, she could have gone nuts over this. But because I explained the situation well and had her sign the waiver, she made the informed decision not to have the slab repairs done. Some of you may say, well, I would have gone ahead and made the repairs. My reply, I'm not working for a homeowner for free. These repairs would easily have taken at least one whole day, probably more. And consisted of grinding and patching this slab. I just do not do that for nothing. And after the flooring is paid floor and delivered and the old floors torn out, is anyone saying you would walk off the job and leave the contractor and homeowner without a floor? That makes no sense either.

This is what I have a problem with. How can an installer knowingly do something like this ???

Money isnt everything, and I'm sure the installer made plenty. How long would it have taken to hit the hump with an edger ? I am constantly doing extra little things that do not even need to be brought up to the customer, so the jobs right. Trying to sqeez the customer and then having him sign a release is rediculous. If the customer knew he was going to have a gap in the middle of the floor...Yah, I'm sure he would have signed. Am I missing something here?? Takes very little time and it's RIGHT. We all know about how much business you lose from one disatisfied customer, was it worth it ?? Here the installer lost referrals, he has a headache, the homeowner is not happy and will spread the word. And for WHAT. Sand the DAMN HUMP. The homeowner will see the small extra attention and be happy, and spread the word. Dont be petty and squeez the customer and create this situation.
Ofcoarse a subfloor that has numerous issues that is out of spec is a labor intensive extra.

I hate to be sour grapes here but...Yah, let the installer squeez his putty into the gap down the middle of the floor, a Bamboo floor on top of it, which will look like crap, collect dirt, and fall apart over time, which is the result of a hump down the middle of the floor(that the installer could have fixed in 15 minutes),which most likely is showing a peak as well Then call a professional to tear it up and do it right.

Right on, Howard. I am not saying we should rebuild a homeowners house for them, but if there is an hour or two of extra work involved to do our job right, surely that can be absorbed by us if the customer doesnt want to pay for it.
My personal thoughts are that the house I am working in is not going to be the last one I do, I want to do "Susie's" friends houses too, and if she's happy, and I come up sort a hundred bucks on labour who's the winner?

Just to be clear, I agree with this work ethic and I have done this many times. And much more when the budget and time permitted. In my example, I was under a time constraint and the customer had already beat me up over the labor.

I have ran the edger with 16g paper over more than one floor for free, no big deal. I have also seen joists that had to be cut out but the homeowner did not want to pay the price, not my problem. I have cut joists out and repaired the floor too, for a fee. A lot of carpet companies around here install pre-finished floors but don't sand and finish. The carpet installers get a cheap $100 gun, miter saw and a table saw and ta-da, they are now hardwood floor installers. Ask them to use a wall-jack and they have no idea what you are talking about. They use a screw driver and nail it down with 18ga brads.

Well first off if a waiver does not specifically state the consequences of the action the the owner is signing off on then yes he does have a case. Waivers need to be site specific, not some generalized form and in this case that needs to state there may be a hump and gaps!

I hate to say it but at times I verbally tell people this and do not even have them sign anything. But I am on concrete most of the time and if it's an issue I can't take care of by grinding and floating it's going to cost thousands not a hundred bucks or an hours worth of work.

Stephen, instead of a waiver one could just turn it around on a client vs. guideline issue.

Customer wanted their floor to looked cupped , so I did what was necessary to accommodate a cupped floor.

Customer wanted a hump in their new floor, so I did what they paid me to do.

(Just funnin, but seriously something to consider. )

If push comes to shove, correct the problem or turn it down at the beginning.

Easier said than done sometimes. The "problem" may not be noticeable until after the old flooring is removed. You have already won the contract and now, the customer has no floor as you just tore it out. Now you notice how uneven the subfloor is and figure at least a day's worth of labor plus materials. And the job was scheduled to be done in three days as there are other trades behind you. You go to the customer and she states, " I have no more money to effect these repairs. And you said you would be done in three days! " What you gonna' do ? Walk ? I don't think so. You're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. What would you do ?