Engineered Hardwood Installation Defects

Jim Elliott had some engineered hardwood installed at his home in Encinitas, CA. However, the installers were rookies. Let Jim tell you why:

"We just had engineered hardwood flooring installed in our living room and dining room by a contractor.  I wasn't available to make an examination of the floor until after they had left our house.

When I was finally able to do a thorough evaluation, I discovered several areas where the edges between the boards were chipped (see photo for example) from the use of a rubber hammer during installation.

You can see the splintered edge right in the center of the flooring. What IDIOTS the installers were! Photo credit: Jim Elliot

Is it unreasonable to expect these areas to be repaired as I think it will require re-installation of a significant proportion of the flooring and possibly removal/reinstallation of the baseboards.  I know that if I had installed the flooring, I would not have accepted this damage during installation, but I didn't have the time to meet my wife's time-frame."

Here's my answer.

Jim, it's NOT unreasonable to ask for this floor to be reinstalled. It's a shame the installers made these unnecessary mistakes. I would NOT pay for the install and I'd call the owner or manager of the store where you bought it to complain.

With SOLID hardwood, you can use a rubber mallet to get pieces tight. You can't do that with the thin veneer hardwoods as you can see.

The installers should have used a scrap piece of flooring that interlocked with the piece they were installing. The mallet would hit the scrap piece and spread out the force of the blow along a 1-foot length instead of just the small area where the mallet smashes into the wood.

One would think after the FIRST damaged piece the installers would have stopped and rethought what they were doing.

You might also ask your wife to be more patient in the future.