We had new hardwood floors installed in the living room and hallway a few months ago. The wood sat in the apartment for a week before install. The final coat was applied at the end of January. Since the final coat, we've been getting ragged splits between the planks. The specifics of the floor are:

- 3/4" plywood over concrete slab
- 3 1/4" 1st grade clear maple shot & glued
- sealed with Pacific Strong sealer
- 2 or 3 coats of water-based matte polyurethane

Is this unusual? Could it be a mistake/problem with the install? Our contract (with gc) says: "Seller is not responsible for movement of wood flooring once installed." Do we have any recourse? The ragged splits do not look so great. Thanks.

Warranties don't start until it is installed to industry or manufacturers standards. Any judge will tell you that.



Maple over concrete... Yee ha.

What was installed between the plywood and concrete? was the plywood fastened down or is it floating?

If it was fastened to the concrete and had a moisture barrier, what did they do about the holes the fasteners made in the moisture barrier?



Oh ya... Waterbased on a Maple = Panelization, if the finishers are not careful!

Perry,

What the heck is panelization ??? I probably know but don't use that 5 dollar word.
Thanks,

How wide are the splits? Maple is more dense than some other woods and tends to expand/contract a little more. Gaps during the winter months are common with Maple and often get more attention becuase they show more with the light color. These cracks typically disapear during the humid summer months. I'm sure you will find all this explained in past threads. An acceptable crack is up to the width of a dime.

Panelization can happen with water base finishes because it is also a very good glue. Instead of each board moving, a whole panel of wood will move. I've never had it happen and hundreds of thousands of feet of maple have water base over them, but who can tell from here...

The one thing I see that I don't recall being a standard praactice is the glue under the boards. I think thats forbidden in the NWFA manual, unless something has changed recently.