What? He is willing to send somebody else instead of himself? This is getting crazier by the minute. Make sure they are well read in hardwood installations, get some background info from them before anyone else comes out. They should have several years experience installing hardwood and years of inspecting them as well.

It sounds to me like the popping sounds are subfoor related. The way to determine that is to find a spot that is making an excessive amount of noise and remove 8-10 boards. If the subfloor is still popping, you have the culprit. Subfloor deflection can also cause fasteners to loosen over time and the fasteners could be causing the noises that you are hearing, providing the correct size staple was used and the spacing of the staples was correct. Regardless, the hardwood should not have been installed parallel to the joists without adding another layer of 1/2" plywood.

Status update:
The inspector pulled a few boards and remarked that the boards were installed with a combination of staples and cleats, and he remarked that this could be causing the problem... but we should wait for the full inspection report.

A week went by sent the boards were pulled, so I called the inspector and asked for a copy of the report. He said that it was policy to send the inspection report to the installer, so I should contact the installer for the report. The installer refused to send me the inspection report, claiming that it contains proprietary information.

I called the builder, who subcontracted out to the installer, and told them that they need to do something. They sent emails to the installer requesting the inspection report. It has been 6 months now, and no progress has been made.

If you are in the Washington area, buyer beware! Learn from my mistakes! My next step is going to be to bring in a third party inspector. The current inspector that I am working with is employed by the word manufacturer, and he is not accessible or helpful.

This is the craziest incident I have ever heard of. You cannot mix staples and cleats on the floor. So this "inspector" is an employee of the manufacturer? Or is he just a rep for the manufacturer I forgot. I'd get on the manufacturers case and also hire your own asap.

Go here and stay away from anyone who has anything to do with carpet care, cleaning or carpet inspections.

http://www.woodflooringinspectors.com/

There are 4 parties involved:
1. me
2. home builder (Camwest)
3. installer subcontractor: (Floor Craft)
4. the wood distributor: (Metro Floors)

The inspector is an employee of the wood distributor. Technically, the installer paid for the inspection, which is why the installer is now claiming that they own the inspection report and do not have to send me a copy of the report. My gut is telling me that the installer is at fault. Our home is within spec for humidity and temperature, the installer is saying that we just need to run a humidifier (which I am running), but the installer also refuses to let us see the results of the destructive inspection report.

Is it true that mixing staples and cleats on a hardwood floor can cause problems? I'd love to hear a second, third, and fourth opinion on this. I also believe that the installer did not properly acclimate the prefinished boards before installing them. Is proper acclimation really that important?

I did some web searching and found an answer to my own question: mixing staples and cleats is a hardwood flooring 101 "no-no", at least according to the NWFA:



The full NWFA article is here:
http://hardwoodfloorsmag.com/articles/a ... 6&zoneid=2

I love it when consumers dig and find answers for themselves. Good job!

Google makes it so easy these days, don't it?

The NWFA wants you to pay for this but if you dig enough it's found for free.

http://www.stonewoodfloors.org/files/NW ... _11_17.pdf

What does the article mean by causing "penalization"? I tried searching the web to figure out that penalization means when it comes to hardwood floors, but I haven't come up with anything.

panelization is when the floor moves in sections instead of individual board expansion/contraction.

usually forming a distinct pattern of excessively wide openings every certain distance.

usually occurs from subfloor shift/movement or waterbase finishes beng applied with no sealer(these are most common reasons0

This entire situation is spiraling out of control. I just got off of the phone with the builder and the installer (Floorcraft), and the installer claims that it is simply not true that you can't mix staples and cleats. He claims that the NWFA site is outdated. Since it isn't my area of expertise, I don't know if this is true, but I find it hard to believe that installation gotchas can change so quickly from being a hard fast rule "DO NOT MIX STAPLES AND CLEATS" to a "mixing staples and cleats is perfectly fine".

The installer is a dope. I wonder how many houses they did like that already. lol If I was the builder I would be po'd. They probably have two guys nailing, one row staples, next guy with a cleat nailer cus one of them is to cheap to guy buy a different nailer.

That said I do believe some things in the manual need updating, but this one is a proven fact.

Apparently when the boards were pulled, the inspector noted that cleats were used on one side of the boards and staples were used on the other side of the boards. He said that this would cause the stapled side to hold tighter than the cleat side, when the wood expands/contracts due to seasonal variation.

NWFA Technical Bulletin C200 states Squeaky/Loose Floors ("Popping")
Cause:
• Movement of the wood flooring system, subfloor system or underfloor supports.
NWFA states OSB exposure 1 16" joists = nominal 3/4" thickness
NWFA states OSB exposure 1 16" up to 19" joists = nominal 3/4" glued and mechanically fastened.
NWFA states OSB exposure 1 Over 19.2" 1" glued and mechanically fastened or two layers of subfloor.
Research by Virginia Tech Institute states once OSB gets wet and dries the holding power is dramatically reduced. Moisture and OSB are a bad mix. Most installers have a dim view of osb as a nailing surface for hardwood floors. Yes code allows it BUT it also allows FHA carpet which Bob Shaw of Shaw Industries has stated that it is good for 6 months. You figure it out as regards code. Code is the bare minimum allowed.
Installing hardwood parallel to the flooring joists is a clear violation of all manufacturing guide lines that I have ever seen or heard about. This is a first for me!

• Improper nailing and nailing position.
• Cracked tongues. ½” staples will act like a wood chisel and split tongues.
• Mixing cleats and staples is a definite no no.
• Flooring installed with an excessively high moisture content or over a subfloor with excessive moisture. See comment above regarding osb and moisture.
• Foudation settlement or subfloor movement.
• Improper subfloor materials that will not hold nails. See Comment above osb.

Additionally I have inspected floors that are not securely fastened to the subfloor i.e. gaps between the subfloor and the hardwood. Easily detected by tapping with a hammer and listening for hollow sounding areas compared to areas that do not. Generally next to walls etc will produce sounds associated with no gapping between the subfloor and the hardwood. When they pulled those boards they should have used a taper guage and measured the distance between the hardwood and osb. I’m guessing it it substantial.
All you OSB advocates out there take some osb and nail some hardwood and then inspect the backside and note the amount of blowouts due to the voids in osb.

Most Manufacturer’s state 35% to 55% and NWFA states 30% to 50% so this inspector saying 36% is incorrect only shows ignorance of his own mfg guidelines besides the issue appears to be subfloor movement not abnormal gapping.
It has been stated that too many inspectors, which certification they possess who knows, want to throw installers under the bus however this installer needs to to a few NWFA classes and get certified if he wants to continue in this business. Go to www.nwfacp.org and get a nwfa certified inspector his report you can take to court as a expert witness and IF you feel he hasn’t given a proper report can contact the NWFA for a review as to the correctness of the report. Though the builders one year warranty may be up his responsibility has not in a court of law if he contracted the installer and then stonewalled you for a solution..
Hope this helps!

This reminds me of a past experience. One of my builders decided to try a cheaper brand of osb instead of advantec,which he has used for years.We installed about 200 sf and had a mishap with the nailer. When we went to pull the damaged board out to replace it,we found that we could almost pull it by hand!!So i tried another one,it popped right up,very easily.At this point I decided to stop the installation,and asess the situation.I put a 2" screw in the osb,and pulled it right out with a claw hammer.

We stopped right there,and got the builder in the home to give him a first hand view of the situation.This guy actually takes pride in the houses he puts on the market.He agreed that it would not be wise to continue,especially after I advised him that I cannot warranty a floor that's installed on a faulty subfloor.We ended up installing 3/8" plywood and the engineered Oak.

My point is-If they end up pulling some of your flooring out,insist on a fastener/resistance test on the subfloor.If it's the cheap crap some of these guys use nowdays,that's probably alot of the problem.Also,if it's parallel to the joists,there will be more movement,settling,which does work the fasteners loose.

Those staples should be at least 1-1/2" long,I use 2",and placed no further than 10" apart.Short boards,if present,need 1 at each end,no matter how short they are.

Low humidity has most likely caused the flooring to shrink.That happens alot,but it shouldn't be to the extent that the boards are moving or coming loose.

Did anyone ever check to see if it rained during the period of time the OSB was exposed? Why are you still letting them get away with this? It's a bad installation and I bet the builder didn't want the installer to tell you ya needed another layer of underlayment because of the cost. So now the installer is going to get blamed. I've walked away from installs like that before.