Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Dirt and debris under polyurethane finish.

Hello,

I know this is a DIY forum but I'm hoping to get some feedback. We're at the end of a $20K hardwood floor install and tonight the installers just finished the 3rd coating of Bona Traffic.

When we returned home we noticed a lot of debris (probably 30 - 50 spots easily noticed) under the finish. It ranges from small sharp pieces that could easily snag stockings to carpet fibers. It's almost as if they didn't vacuum before doing the coat of traffic today and it is much worse that it was last night.

I'm worried that this will impact the durably of the finish and I was wondering what other people would expect from a "professional" installation.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you

They should correct this! It is paramount that the surface be thoroughly clean prior to applying the poly or any other coating.

Call them and discuss the situation with them. Report back here with the outcome!

I agree! They will likely need to sand down the last coat and reapply. Right now your check book is your biggest asset.

Is this new construction? was any other work being done besides the hardwood?

Thank you for the responses.

This is not a new construction; we have a ranch and decided to replace all of the flooring (other than the bathrooms) with hardwood. We've been living in the basement for the last two weeks and using the door out of the basement to go in and out so not to interfere with the install.

At this point I’m not happy at all; the owner of the company has not been involved even though I’ve called and emailed a few times over the last two weeks. It started with them leaving our kitchen island outside in the rain and now the debris under the finish. This morning I also noticed that there appear to be some waves un the boards under the baseboards and other areas were the baseboards were not repaired.

I’ve posted a couple of pictures just to make sure I’m not overreacting to any of this. These are just a couple of instances of the type of issues I'm talking about. It really seems to be a lack of attention to detail. http://thewolf.smugmug.com/gallery/6370031_NjCx4#402677769_2Dm3G

I checked with the BBB and referrals before hiring them but their install manager (the person we had been working with for the last two months to set everything up) left the company for another opportunity after the wood was already delivered but before the install started.

Thanks again

Gotta be careful with these companies. If they are getting in some sort of trouble, they just switch their company name and move on and no one would know.

Hopefully you haven't paid them in full? If not, DO NOT pay them until they correct the problem to your satisfaction. If you've paid by check, put a stop payment on it.

Take plenty of pictures and document everything!

Hopefully this doesn't turn out to be a court case.....

Keep us updated!

Thanks for all of the support.

I did quite a bit of checking when we got the quotes and one of the main reasons we went with them was the references and the fact that they have been in business under the same name and with the same owner since 1990 with 0 BBB complaints in the last 36 months.

We spoke with the owner today and he was apologetic; he’ll be by tomorrow for what was to be a “final” walkthrough but there’s no way we’re leaving it like this. We've only paid 50% so far.

I believe the big issue has been the loss of the previous install manager; this is their first big job (1800 Sq Feet of Teak) since he left and the owner has only been by once during the last two weeks. When we were working with the previous manager he said he would be by every couple of days to make sure things were progressing satisfactory.

Up until Friday things were looking good; a few issues but we figured they would clean those up as they finished. Then came yesterday and the final finish work and final two coats of traffic. It was when we returned home in the evening that we saw what they consider to be finished. I guess they wanted to get out early on Saturday :)

Since the hardwood floor guys are the only ones working all the blame for defects falls on them. The dips in floor are probably from improper sanding but it's difficult [if not impossible] to get a perfect job. Shoe moulding will bend with the contour of the floor and hide minor imperfections.

Minor damage to paint and trim is to be expected on a job like this. Who fixes it should be spelled out in the contract. It shouldn't be hard to fix - cutting out some old caulk [and recaulking] and touching up the paint will fix places like under the window, possibly the cracked baseboard.

As noted above, you final payment is your biggest bargaining chip. While I always wanted prompt payment from my customers, I wouldn't expect them to pay me until the job was right.

1800sqft of Teak? Very nice floor! I'm sure it's costed you an arm and a leg too, so make sure the owner gets it right. At least he is apologetic, lets cross our fingers he will follow up.

I definitely understand about the imperfections in the underlying flooring but I wasn't sure if this amount was normal.

As for the baseboards; we paid over $900 for the removal and reinstall of the baseboards so I would expect that they would look as good as they did before they started.