Background: A local flooring company installed unfinished white oak flooring for three rooms. The flooring was delivered and installation begun immediatelyy. It was glued to concrete with glue with vapor barrier so that there would be a smoother transition to adjacent tile floors. The flooring must be the least expensive grade – many, many cracks in the flooring, a few holes, a great deal of color variation and some very uneven heights. Stain & Finish : They used Minwax water based white wash pickling stain and Minwax Polycrylic satin finish - now that we have access to the cans, it looks like neither are recommended for floors. Note: We wanted to get these floors completed before we moved in the house. We were living out of the state and the floors were to be completed while we were in the area; the installer got behind and could not complete the work while we were there. A neighbor let them in to complete the work.

The problem: The installer has announced the floors “perfect”.
1. The floor is uneven. You can feel that some boards are higher than others. There are bumps in a few places. The trim carpenter who is going to reinstall the 6”baseboards says the edges were not sanded and will make the baseboard installation very difficult as the flooring is wavy at the edges.
2. The floor feels gritty when you run your hand across it – from not being sanded properly or not being cleaned after sanding?
3. There are cracks and holes that have not been filled. The installer tried to “fix” them after the polycrylic was put on by using Elmers Probond wood filler and a Minwax filler. You can see smears every place it was used. There are many places that have had no fill.

The installer has agreed to meet. What do we do? What products or processes should have been used? What should be done to correct it? It looks to us like the only way to get it right is to sand it down and start over??? So much for getting it all done before we moved in. Yikes! Photos posted here [img][https://picasaweb.google.com/112975261388403766625/Desktop?authkey=Gv1sRgCIuKq8yNwaL4nQE&feat=email#slideshow/5601059274895960946[img]

the process that should have been used was.."better selection..."...


for a white....any white stain of choice...i prefer Bona..
finishes..basic coating street shoe system..

never polycrylic..junk..and cant go over white anyway..will turn it yellow.

select grade Red oak flooring ideal..although white can be used, but will alter color..sometimes show seom greenish undertones..

was it solid?? glued over concrete?//i smell trouble..

references should have been checked..credentials etc..especially for white..not for the amateur.

lastly....

when selecting a low bidder, it is wise to add something for the risk you run, and should you do so,
you could have afforded someone better......John Ruskin

sounds like job needs to be redone...completely

Totally agree with James, should have done some more homework, time for a do-over. May be able to use existing floor but it will need to be filled sanded and refinished.

I agree it sounds like things could have been done differently. But you probably should have done some more homework.