New oak hw floors downstairs and up. Floor already had to be refinished once, since it wasn't sanded properly and there were numerous circle marks before the first attempt at a dark walnut finish. Now the floor has been sanded and refinished again, swirl marks are mostly gone and floor overall looks better but there are other issues now and we have only been in the house about a month.

In at least four seperate spots downstairs I noticed light streaks, on closer inspection they are actually splits in the wood, at least thats what I am calling them. The HW contrator came out and he is calling it raised grain that he thinks he can fix without replacing boards etc. I am not so convinced and am looking for opinions i guess at this point.

There are other issues with the floor, such as a spot or two that still isn't sanded properly, lots of bubbles and stuff stuck in poly etc. IMO i think the floor needs to be done again, but obviously since we have already moved in the contractor doesn't seem to keen on that idea. I suppose because someone would have to move all my stuff out first, and then of course the cost of finishing the floor for a third time.

Thoughts? Are these really just raised grain or splits. These vary in length but some spots are over a foot wide, others much smaller, all can catch my finger nail if i fun it width wide across the board. Can these be successfully repaired without having to refinish the floor?

Sounds like new construction, where the flooring finishing contractor, doesn't have full control of the home.

Or is in a big hurry, because it was quoted bottom dollar, little profit to get the work.

Yes I agree, done too fast and probably with little Proffit but can the floor be fixed without replacing boards and refinishing? At this point I don't see how spot repairs will help much.

Splits or fractures in boards are nothing like raised grain.One can't be mistaken for the other. One reason boards might fracture is when the floor is installed , gains a lot of moisture and swells.The swelling might be noticed in the form of cupping or crowning of the boards (sometimes called bowing)

IF the floor gains moisture and swells, the pressure created can cause some boards to crack , usually along the open grain lines. If this is the case, you either need to rectify the moisture or temperature issue or replace boards.You can also use krazy glue (CA glue) to bind the fractures but it wont make them disappear .

Swelling pressure and cracks... No that is not the case when you understand the structure of wood.

The crack was always there. With a crack each side of the crack is basically another board. As with edge compression or cupping it acts like each side cups.

I see cracking as multifaceted. Sometimes the cracks are micro fractures that were always there like you said and sometimes cracks happen from abuse of the wood .

I've been involved with instrument building for about 10 years now and have seen ebony fret boards dry out and crack that had no cracks previously and sometimes an ebony board will twist and take the backing neck wood right with it.

IF you break your arm, it doesn't mean the bone always had a fracture in it.It means you subjected your arm to more pressure than it could take and the weakest area of the affected bone gave way.

Either way, the homeowner is being dealt with in an odd way.And raised grain and cracks are two very different things.