Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - opinions please..newly refinished hardwood and not happy

We just had the hardwood flooring in our living room refinished. We hired a contractor and it took him three days. He sanded it down and put on three coats of poly. We went out of town during this and were quite disappointed when we returned. Consistently over much of the flooring there are what looks like "tiger stripes", which were not there before. I'm guessing they are the result of the sander. If I run my hand over it I can't really feel the bump, but then again it has 3 coats of poly over it. But they stand out, particularly in low lighting. Is this typical results I should expect? We don't have any contract that we signed, only a bill laying on our table when we returned. The company has a website, a really basic and cheesy one that states something along the lines of "we stand behind our work" but it offers no details on what that means. We have not called the contractor yet, as it was last friday that we got home to find our disappointment. What recourse do I have, as we are not satisfied with the job and we think it was a half hearted effort which left our floors all marked up. Not sure where to go with this, but I damn sure don't want to send this guy a check for the full amount he charged us. I was thinking of bringing in another flooring contractor to give us his opinion on the job, before we call the contractor who did the job. I'm afraid he'll throw some BS excuses at us like "well your flooring is not level, etc." Any ideas?

Wags,

What you described to me sounds like this>...

The floor sanding company either skipped a grit in the DRUM sanding process (like went from 36 grit to 80 grit) or he simply went TOO fast during DRUM sanding and did not get the previous lines out left behind during the previous (more course) grits. The other thing that may have happened is that the operator of the Buffer did not sufficiently "screen - final blending" the floor and left behind drum lines that normally would have been removed by proper buffing/screening.

My suggestion to you is to bring another flooring company (I would call someone from a county over) and ask them to provide you with a WRITTEN estimate stating what they feel is wrong with the final look of your floor. This may be hard to do, as most of the flooring guys out there do not like to stick their neck out on a target. But, if you can get a SIMPLE estimate from someone else, at the least you will have numbers showing what it will take to make it right.

My first suggestion though, is to CALL and talk directly to the owner of the Flooring company that you hired. You hired him/her for a reason - you must have liked his initial approach or something, right? Well, give him a shout... tell him you would like him to come over, as you have some questions for him. Point the problem(s) out and see what his response is. DO NOT DISCUSS it over the PHONE! Get him to come over and then discuss it. Do not pay him either! It may be as simple as the owner had a worker that rushing through the sanding process! And he will fix the problem (only fixable by resanding the entire floor, from what you are telling me).
If this does not work, go the Better Business Bureau and report the issue. Hopefully you chose someone that is a member of the Better Business Bureau! You may have to fight this in court, so get three estimates for back up! A lawyer is not necessary in most of these cases!

Take some digital pictures and upload them to a site like photobucket and then post the link here, that will help me to diagnose the problem for you too.

Sorry, but it does sound as though a complete resand is needed, but I will hold back my FINAL opinion until I see some pictures.

Greg - Retired Hardwood Floor Installer/Refinisher
Maine

Don't talk to us!!! This is a warranty craftsmanship issue you have with your contractor.

I can't see the floor to tell you anything typing on this keyboard.

I am interested as I have a DIY hardwood refinish horror story and can feel your pain.