Hello everybody,
I finally finished installing the hardwood on the 1st level of my home & had them finished this week. I installed 3/4" solid Brazilian Cherry, 3" width. I had them finished by a guy that my neighbor has used on a few different jobs. My neighbor has an eye for detail & is anal like myself. It appears the guy did a pretty good job but I have a few questions. What type of imperfections are normal in a site finished floor? I know that I can't expect a perfect finish but there are some swirl marks that are visible in certain lights.

Also, in my hallway leading from my foyer to the kitchen the floor is choppy. It looks like he used his edger to sand this area & it maybe jumped around some or he wasn't holding it level & dug into the floor? I'm not 100% sure. I installed flush mounted registers which he finished without removing the grills & now they're stuck in place. This I am definitely going to have him correct since I need to be able to remove them for cleaning.

Another thing that kind of bothers me is I had a few small gaps from bad milling which I thought would be trowell filled but he left them untouched. I can see them because I know they're there but I don't think anybody else will notice. Still it kind of annoys me but I don't think it needs correcting.

Overall I think they look awesome & I'm not bashing the guys work. I'm just more curious as what is normal & what is abnormal. He only charged $1.75/ sq ft which I thought was cheap to sand, fill, & put 3 coats of oil based poly on.

Thoughts?
Thanks everyone
Jimmy

$1.75 is a darn good price if you ask me. I have made the finishing the flush mount vents in place mistake once and I learned never to do that again. I learned why polyurethane is classified as an adhesive. I got them all out without breaking them by first cutting the space between the vent and the frame with a razor knife as best I could.

I then used a C clamp which works like a caulking gun. See the picture for the type of clamp I used



I then put two scrap pieces of flooring on each side of the vent and one that made a bridge across the hole. Putting the rod of the clamp through the holes in the vent and slowing working the clamp backwards it forced the vent inserts out without breaking them. They kinda popped out.

I impressed the general contractor who was sure I was going to break them getting them out.

A little bit of color putty the same color as the flooring can do wonders for the small gaps in the flooring that bug you. You can usually find it in the stain section of most hardware stores.

Some small swirls that are nit easily noticeable are acceptable, if the hallway area is lumpy looking and really noticeable that may be something you need to have him resand if it is bothering you. The price was more than reasonable.

All the information I see here I'd agree with all the input you have received. The grills must be fixed probably just an oversight until he coated over the first one then your contractor knew there was an uh oh. Which would have been alot easier to fix after the first coat instead of the third and final. If the swirling is not to obnoxious I wouldn't sweat it as the upside tells me you probably have excellent adhesion and on your 1st screen and recoat mention your disapproval of swirling to your contractor and he can significantly reduce the marks. The hallway is a tough call without seeing it or photos of the layout in many instances some contractors will use an edger but most are very proficient with them and the finished product would usually only be noticeable by a trained eye. If your less than good with the hallways outcome you should try to have it fixed bc if your unhappy now in a month you will be angry. Price sounds very reasonable especially if he provided the seal and finish.