Hello. I am new to the forum and I hope I am posting my question in the right place.
Couple of weeks after installing my new engineered floor the wood started to develop several strange patches that are very different in color and texture than the original look of the floor. This seems to happen mainly in the areas where the finish is darker.
The floor is an engineered oak floor hand scraped and distressed and finished with hardwax oil.
It was installed by a professional on the suggested subfloor. We did not use any product to clean and we are not yet living in the house.
I have sent some photos to the manufacturer company and they reassured me that this is a "normal stage in the floor ageing process built into the base coloring and that will continue to cure over the next months". However I am worrying that this issue will remain unchanged if not worsening further. In my opinion both color and texture of those areas do not look like aged wood but rather like a defect in the finish.
Could this matter depend on manufacturing problems/defects rather than being a step in the ageing process of the wood.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

You can view some pictures of the floor on the following links:
http://i45.tinypic.com/153pwmc.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2zjf41l.jpg

The filled knots are normal for the grade used in distressed floors but whats up with those patch jobs where the grain is going the opposite direction?

Ya what the heck is that? And while filled knots are an acceptable process for this type of floor, I dont see much hope of that filler ever blending in.

Hi. Thanks for your replies.
I am not sure I understood well. Do you mean the repair patch (little piece of wood with different grain)? That was added on purpose from the manufacturer to give the floor an aged look. But my concern is more for those knots that are losing color and texture in a way that doesn't look at all natural. In many areas it looks like brown plastic! And unfortunately some of these knots are wide 4/5 cm and they rather look like areas where the finish have come off.
If I understand well from your post the filler should blend at some point in a naturally aged look. I also doubt this is going to happen and I am seriously worried that knots are going to keep this odd and artificial look.

Not trying to be rude but those patches would be more of a concern to me than the bondo they used for the knots. Those patches make it look like a hack job instead of an aged look. Please let me know who that manufacturer is so I can stay away from them.

Try a permenant brown marker on that bondo.

Stephen, I understand that you don't sympathize with the repair patches look and I am not going to argue it . However my matter is the strange look of those filled knots that are becoming different in color and texture.
I am not a floor expert but I wouldn't expect something like that to happen in a new floor.
I am trying to understand if I should carry on with a complain to the manufacturer company or I should just accept their explanation. At the end of the day there was no mention that something like that could happen at the time when we bought the floor.
I will have a look at the permanent marker option but I really think that it should be up to them to fix this problem, though I might be overreacting.

I think they probably used a reclaimed wood for their product, explaining the patches. The knot holes fine their filled that is the product you bought, as for the finish if they say it is part of the aging process then give it a couple of months as long as you have it in writing that it will even out. or you could try rubbing some more wax into some inconspicuous areas and see how it looks.

Personally I think it's a great looking floor! The knots wouldn't bother me at all, infact, I like them. Seriously I like the look. I like the character of the floor, it's unique, enjoy it !
Designers out here would jump all over a floor that looks like that. I think you should take some of these comments with a grain of salt

Thanks for all your responses.
I don't dislike the look of the floor. At the end of the day this is the floor I bought. My only problem was that I expected those knots to stay darker as they originally were. I thought that this could be caused by a mistake in the finishing process or some other kind of manufacturing defect. It is good to know that different people look at it in different ways and that not everybody consider it an actual problem. One of the points of my question was also to understand if it is normal that a floor changes in a such a way 1 month after purchase. If this is the case my common sense says that it should be evident in the samples they sent me before purchasing it.

Being that it is a prefinished floor one would think that bondo would stay that color, thats your main issue correct? And thats a great question cus I don't see how it could either if the stain is under the top coat.

On the other hand, if those little patches start to come out then you should have no problem matching the bondo.

Have not experienced a floor changing this way a month after purchase. If this is common for the product, it should have been brought to your attention. IMO, you have legitimate concerns. It's like the floor has a mind of it's own, not related to the sample you purchased from . Not to be negative, but it does make you wonder what changes will happen down the road. Or how the current or future changes will effect the floor cosmetically and functionally. I would document everything, and keep the Manuf. on the hook.

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I am about to send a complain to the manufacturer and see what they have got to say this time. I hope to have some good news soon.

Hello again. Well, manufacturer has replied that there is nothing wrong with the floor. They say that the floor has not changed at all and that the areas where the the brown filler is now showing have always been like that. Now I am confused. I don't think I am going crazy. Those filled knots were darker as they actually are in other parts of the floor. In the samples that I viewed before purchase there was no sign of the brown filler.Also IMO they don't look that pretty to be part of the floor's distressed style. There are also other areas where the finish is slightly discoloring but they look ok. I mean the light discoloration looks like a natural effect. I am finding very hard to convince myself that there is nothing wrong with this floor. But what to do?

Did the manuf. look at the floor ???
That's a pretty bold statement without taking a look at it

The boards with the patches should have been separated and used wherever they could at the end walls and cutting the patched area off.
Installation responsibility to separate visual problems.