Greetings,

I am installing Mohawk 1/2" engineered Hickory. The planks range in length from 18" to 48" and are 3" in width.


I have hand nailed the first 3 rows (I plan on power nailing the rest) and noticed that there is a slight height differential where the 3" ends meet. However, the long seams are smooth across the joint. I thought it might be my floor, but I have placed underlayment down and everything seems to be level.

I want to think that its a bend/bow in the plank and that the short joints magnify this while the longer joint smooth it out. I say this is because I took 2 pieces and placed them on a counter top and I can replicate the same situation.

Any suggestions on how to remedy this is greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance

The remedy, is to return the wood!!! DO NOT INSTALL IT!!!

Milling issues!

Floorguy, first off, thanks for the quick response.

With that said, I was hopeing not to hear what you said considering I have 600 SQ FT of the stuff. I was hopeing that once I power nailed it, it would drive the edges together better.

Just to be sure, are you suggesting that there should be zero...nadda difference in height anywhere ? An example of my problem would be if I slide a dollar bill across the 3" joint it stops the bill.

Thanks again

ALL factory finished flooring will have some degree of over wood and under wood. It's the nature of the product. However, the trick is to know when it's too much. Perry, is there an industry standard?

Square edge .012

You have 3 rows installed. What is the endjoints in that part doing?

There are some floors out there that are lippless!! But you have to pay for it.

I have never worked with Mohawk wood, so I have no experience, like what is constantly seen with other brands I seem to always work with.


All I can say is take your time and cull boards according to endjoint thickness and milling, or file a claim.

That .012 That is in inches I guess, or mm? So 1/8 of an inch would be .125 and the .012 would be one tenth of that 1/8"? Yes? No? Or 1/100th of an inch? Is that right?

Talked to the company that I bought the floor from. And from Mohawk, there is a 0.016" (1/64) allowable error on height from board to board on the flooring I purchased. Then throw in any imperfections from the floor...it can be worst or better for that matter.

I guess due diligence will be used when selecting boards for the high traffic areas. I figure, if need be, I can place them on my countertop and use a depth micrometer to measure the difference. Can we say tedious?

And here I am thinking it would be smooth as a baby's behind. Silly me forgot that everything has a tolerance. If anything its a lesson learned.

One question though...would it be a no-no to slip a little of the felt paper underneath the plank to raise the height a lttle bit?

.016 thousands, Manufacturers specs over ride industry standards.

With a .016, you can see, the flooring you purchased is not of high quality.

Sure, .016" IMO is a crazy #, but to this point I have not seen evidence of it being this far out of wack...yet. Not sure what qualifies as poor quality, but for what its worth I paid $6 and somthing a SQ/FT. The finish has a 30 yr warranty.

generaly speaking ;; if one side protrudes above the other side, the thickness of a business card, it is within industry standards.
Each manufacturer may have different standards than allowed by the HPFA/ANSI documents for Engineered Flooring.

Don't use felt to reaise the ends. Lay the floor and enjoy it as long as the end joints don't look too bad...

Sound advice. The floor looks beautiful and the occasional slight edge differential throughout the floor is negligible.