We just installed a new hardwood floor. It is prefinished hickory, 3/4" solid. Now that we have taken a hard look at the floor, there are about 4 boards that I wish were never installed. One has checking from the manufacture process, one has a split right on the edge that creates a small gap between the boards and one has a really bad split along the grain.

Of course one option is to replace the boards but I'm worried that this will just look bad in a different way.

I suspect the other option is to get someone to repair the board and make it look as good as possible yet still have better functionality (like filling in the split edge will eliminate a gap that will otherwise collect dirt etc.). But who does this work well? Once upon a time I had furniture delivered and they dropped it. They sent a guy out and said if he couldn't fix it, they would replace it. He did fix it and I couldn't even see the repair. Are there people who do this with floors? Is it an acceptable alternative to replacing the boards?

Live and learn, a friend of mine had a floor laid and inspected/selected each board. I wish I would have done that. We have two boxes left over so it's not like we didn't have enough that we could have not used these boards.

Any help and comments would be appreciated. Recommendations for a person or company in S.E. Michigan would also be appreciated.

Thank you - Jerry

any experienced installer can make those repairs easily enough..do your due diligence and git er done

Simple fix if you have the right person. Repairs are pretty common and they should be comfortable if they are hesitant find someone else. The down side is repair work is expensive if its done right by the right person. I would expect a minimum trip charge in the 200.00 range to have three boards pulled and replaced.