What to Expect From Prefinished Flooring
A basic definition of prefinished flooring is when the boards that are to be installed already have finish on them. In fact, most companies put from 5-9 coats of finish on their prefinished wood.
Prefinished Hardwood floors are quite popular right now, because they have many advantages over the alternative, site-finished floors:
- During installation, you skip all the dusty mess that goes along with sanding
- The boards are already finished, so as soon as they are down you can walk on them. No waiting for the horrid-smelling finish to dry.
- Since the boards are finished in a factory and have 5-9 coats, the finish is very hard, smooth, and durable.
- Because sanding and finishing is skipped, a prefinished floor can be installed in half the time, saving you money on labor.
There are, however, a few disadvantages to prefinished floors:
- Borders, inlays, and other fancy flooring tricks are hard or impossible for the installer to do, because they usually require sanding.
- When boards are cut in the factory, the heights and thicknesses can vary by up to 1/32nd of an inch. Because of this, in order to avoid sharp edges, all prefinished boards are bevelled on all sides. This creates grooves between every board, and accentuates the seams (note: Some people like this look, but few like the feel on their bare feet).
- The wood is more expensive (although since you save money on labor, your ending price is usually very similar to the price of site-finished).
For most people, the only disadvantage to prefinished flooring is #2. Since the floor is not sanded after it is installed, there will be unevenness that the installer has no control over.
What to expect from the finished product.
Nail holes/heads. The installer should set all nails and fill all holes. As a result, there should be no visible nail heads or nail holes. However, if you kneel down and look closely, you should be able to find where the nail holes used to be, because no wood filler (or wood putty) can be a perfect match to a wood grain.
Also, there should only be a few nail holes in most floors. In fact, most of the time, a simple, square room can be installed without any nail holes at all. But keep in mind that many situations will require a board to be top-nailed, resulting in nail holes.
Cracks and Creases. Any time a board comes together with another board, it forms a crease. These creases are what make hardwood floors look how they do. On a prefinished floor, these creases are much more pronounced, because the edges of each board are beveled down at about a 45 degree angle. there is nothing the installer can do about these bevels, except to sand down the whole floor and refinish it, which negates the purpose of a prefinished floor, and is not the installers responsibility (In other words, you would have to pay extra for it (probably at least $2.50 per square foot extra)).
When you look at a hardwood floor, there are the creases that go along the length of the wood, and go all the way across the floor (with the grain), and there are small creases inbetween boards in the same row (against the grain). The smaller creases, as a general rule, should be fairly evenly distributed around the floor, with none coming within 6 or 8 inches of eachother. Seams that are close together, or clumped in one area, leaving another area somewhat seamless, are the signs of a poor installation job. They are not, however, a good enough reason to demand that your floor be ripped up and reinstalled at the installers expense. Usually in those cases, you’ve hired a very inexpensive installer, and you got what you payed for. If it is a big deal to you, you might talk about getting the floor redone at a discounted cost.
Any crease in a wood floor has a chance of becoming a crack, for various reasons. One may a milling imperfection in some of the boards (such as one board being slightly thinner than another).
Expansion and contraction may be another reason a crack might open up. In general, wood will expand in the summer and contract (shrink) in the winter. This causes gaps to open up between boards. It is not always good to fill these cracks, because when the boards expand again, it could push the filler out, or even buckle the wood. The best way to avoid these cracks is to keep the moisture level in your house constant. Where we live in Colorado, that means using a humidifier. In many other places, you may need a dehumidifier. There are many types of humidifiers and dehumidifiers out there, so before making a decision, you should shop around.
On the other hand, cracks that are caused by milling imperfections or installation mistakes/problems, should be filled by the installer (with the possible exception of smaller cracks if significant expansion is expected after the installation).
After installation, there should be (in most cases) no visible cracks when viewed semi-casually from a standing position (and without a magnifying glass, please).
Scratches, gouges and other surface problems should not be visible when the installer is done. If the board was damaged when it arrived at your house, the installer should not have installed it. If it happened after the installation, but the damage was caused by the installer, he/she is responsible to fill it, fix it, or replace the boards affected. If, however, the damage is caused by another contractor or worker, or any residents, guests or pets in the house, the installer is not responsible to fix it, and is perfectly within his/her rights to charge extra if you want it fixed (However, charging extra to fix one small scratch that he/she can fix in two minutes, may be considered a little rude).
Expansion Gaps. Because wood expands and contracts (due mostly to changing humidity and temperature), installers will leave expansion gaps between the wood and everything else (walls, other floors, etc.). In general, these gaps are between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch. This can create a problem sometimes on remodeling jobs, especially in kitchens.
Many houses do not have any trim (or baseboard) around the bottom of the cabinets in the kitchen. When wood floors are installed in these conditions, there will be a visible, ugly expansion gap left over. The homeowner should work with the installer to select (and pay for) a baseboard, trim, or caulk solution.
Baseboards. It is common for the installer to remove and reinstall baseboards when he is hired to install a floor (for a price that should be included in the estimate). This can sometimes cause problems with older baseboards. The installer is responsible for any damage done to the baseboards due to his/her own negligence or hurriedness. The installer is not responsible for any damage that already existed, or that occurred because of the brittle state of the baseboards or excessive fastening to the wall (ie too many nails and/or glue). Be prepared to deal with at least one broken peice of baseboard. Many times the damage can be fixed with a little painter’s caulk and a coat of paint, so don’t get too broken up about it.
In conclusion, please remember that it is a floor and it’s meant to be walked on. If you get down on your hands and knees and study the floor, you will find cracks, holes, scratches, and many other imperfections. When inspecting a floor, it should be done from a standing position in normal light. If you can see problems from that position, that is when you should point them out to the installer. People who refuse to pay because of common imperfections that are expected in wood floors are setting themselves up to be blacklisted or overcharged by other contractors in the future. Nobody wants to deal with an unreasonable customer.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Hi, quick question. Our townhouse has a pre-finished floor installed, and we’re coming up on the one-year anniversary (Dec. 15). The floorboards run lengthwise from the front to back of the townhouse. I’ve noticed that there is a ridge between two floorboards, seems to be centered on the seam, and it seems to run the entire length of the townhouse. It is not visible from a standing position, but if you slide your foot over it you’ll definitely feel it. I’ve noticed a creak in the floor at this ridge as well, at various points along it.
Is this something to be expected, or should I ask for a repair? If I should have it repaired, is is a case of the cure being worse than the sickness? Are they going to have to screw it down?
Thanks,
Jonathan
October 29th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Jonathan,
Do you know which way the joists are running? It’s possible that the subfloor is your problem… it could be a seam in the subfloor that is simply uneven. If that’s the case, then it could be a matter of cutting those two rows out (or maybe 4 or 5 rows), sanding the subfloor even, and then putting in new flooring. If the flooring is less than a year old, and they are able to get the same exact product, then it’s doable.
If it is the flooring, then it might be an expansion issue, and to fix it, they’d have to take out the two rows, and install two new ones after cutting one down to be thinner. Since it’s prefinished, this would mean they’d cut off the beveled edge, and have to re sand the bevel, and add finish so it doesn’t look funny.
Basically, if it’s hardly noticeable, it’s probably not worth fixing. It’s possible that it was the mistake of the installer, but after a year you’d be hardpressed to get even the good installers to come back and fix it for free. And if you sued… you’d probably lose. If it’s something the owner of the townhome is willing to fix, it might be worth it, but don’t hold your breath.
December 27th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Hello, I also have a quick question. We love the prefinished hardwood floor but have reason to believe it was installed in a hurried fashion and this has made me a little more critical. Although I am not using a microscope. I have noticed several gaps (end to end) where 90% of the floor is a tight joint. It was installed two weeks ago in dry weather and I do have a humidifier running on furnace, therefore my thought is the floor shouldn’t move in two weeks, get tighter this summer and next winter expect gaps. One gap can fit a credit card, and a half dozen others will easily accept a business card. I want to be reasonable. Thanks for any help.
December 27th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Hey Bob,
You are right that it shouldn’t have shrunk in only two weeks, and if it did, the cracks would normally be along the length of the boards, not at the ends. However, if the wood didn’t have a chance to acclimate in the first place, two weeks IS plenty of time for it to shrink, especially in dry weather. Did the installer(s) mention anything about acclimation (leaving the wood sitting in your house for a week or two before they install it)?
Either way, you should definitely contact the installer(s) and see what their reaction is. If it was us, we would offer to come over and put some wood putty in the cracks, and I assume that most installers would do the same. Give them a chance to offer to fix it first, don’t press them right away. Chances are they didn’t notice the cracks and would gladly fix it for you. However, if they insist that they didn’t do anything wrong, and don’t offer to fix it, a little pressure may do you some good. Just let them know (with no apologies) that you will not stand for a second rate floor, and that if they can’t fix a simple problem, they shouldn’t be in the flooring business. Also, before you call, check to see if they’re members of the Better Business Bureau. If they are, threatening a phone call to the BBB may be your most powerful move.
Basically, like I said, just talk to them like they’re reasonable humans, and they’ll probably come over first chance they have to rectify the situation. Most contractors are not out there to rip you off… they’re trying to make a living, and word of mouth is the best advertisement most of them will ever get.
If you can’t get them to fix the cracks, write me back, and I’ll walk you through how to fill the cracks yourself (it’s really not that difficult, you just need to buy the right kind of stuff).
-Steve
January 11th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Hi,
I have a light colored prefinished flooring in my house. In front of the refrigerator, I suppose from dropped ice, and in front of the back door, it is pretty dinged up. The house is only five years old. Can it be repaired, or does it have to be replaced? The dings are much darker than the floor and so they are quite obvious to me.
Thanks,
Julie
January 11th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Julie,
Yes! It is definitely repairable. However, depending on how bad and widespread the damage is, it might not me worth it for a couple reasons:
So depending on how many square feet of wood you have (meaning continuous feet… not including stairs, or any flooring that’s not directly connected to the bad floor), then it may or may not be worth refinishing it. But I would definitely suggest refinishing over replacing it.
January 26th, 2008 at 3:46 am
Hi,
I had a pre-finished wood floor installed at the end of October in my home. Despite a few installation “glitchs”, and having to wait for the t-molds to be put in place, I was happy. Around the beginning of December, I started to notice that there were “gaps” at some of the “ends” of the boards where they meet. I’ve called the company that I purchased the floor from, they have sent 3 people from the store out to look at the floor, and the original installer. The installer say’s that he did nothing wrong… the individuals that have come out from the store say they think it’s a “product” error. I’m getting the “run around” from everyone… no return phone calls, when I call them and ask to see what’s going on… it’s always one story after another… At first they told me that the floor would have to be replaced, and once I agreed with that, and told them that’s what I wanted… the stall tactics began. I’ve read various articles “online” and see that everyone say’s that a humidifier might work… they did do a moisture test on the floor when they came out to my house earlier this week, and the floor had NO moisture… the floor still looks nice, I’m happy with the “look”, and “finish”, but just not happy with some of the gaps (about 30-40%) in the flooring. Will a humidifer help? Should I still insist on replacing the floor? What would you recommend? I went “online” and have purchased one of the best humidifers that I could find, and plan on using that when it arrives in the next day or so… Thanks!
January 26th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
The first question I have is whether or not the gaps were there right after the installation was done. If not, and they opened up later, then did they give the wood a chance to acclimate (basically sit in your house for no less than 3 days before they installed it)? If they did, then where do you live? I live in Colorado, and because of the extremely dry climate, we ALWAYS recommend that customers use a humidifier to keep their home at around 35-45% humidity. During the winter, when you’re running the heater, it tends to dry out the air, and thus, the floor, causing it to shrink.
Now, one thing that bugs me about that explanation is that you said there were gaps at the ENDS of the boards. Do you mean that there were gaps between two boards in the same row? As in the short sides of the boards are pulling away from each other? The reason I ask is because wood doesn’t normally expand or contract very much that way… most gaps open up along the long sides of the boards.
If the gaps are along the long sides of the boards, chances are the installers really did nothing wrong, and once you get that humidifier and get the humidity level back up, those gaps will close right up.
Let me know,
-Steve
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Hello,
Where and what should I buy to fill the cracks in my prefinished floor? It is Brazilain Cherry.
Writing back for Bob above.
February 24th, 2008 at 12:51 am
David,
What you want is a product called “Wood Putty.” It never fully hardens, and won’t take any stain, so what you see is what you get. They have it available in several colors, and you can find it at Home depot, although you may get a better selection at a paint store like Kwal (plus, the people at a paint store are more likely to know the product better, since they have less products to know).
The way to apply it is get a glob on your finger and rub it down into the crack, making sure to go over it several times and really work it down in there. Then take a paper towel, and using quick motions, rub vigorously over the crack (this will remove all the excess and leave a finished look.
A trick, especially when applying wood putty to dents or holes in the wood, is to take a rag that has some “natural” wood stain (or sealer), and rub one swipe over the putty after you’ve wiped it with the paper towel. This will add a sheen to the putty, to make it better match the floor.
Let me know if you have any trouble, or if I wasn’t clear on using the putty.
-Steve
February 25th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
We are having prefinished brazilian cherry installed in our house. While the rooms are not all complete most have been down for over a week. We are noticing splits in the wood. These were not noticeable the first time I cleaned the floor. They seem to be multipling. We still have some more floors to finish and are concerned that this is a product problem, not an installation problem. We have a good installer but he mainly works with unfinished wood. Any recommendations on how to deal with this splitting problem. This is in the middle of the pieces, some on the edges.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Hi,
I have a house where the most of the first floor is prefinished wood. We have been in the house a little over a year and the floor has scratches all over it, dogs, kids etc. Is there a finish I can apply to the floor to reduce these scratches? Thanks in advance for your reply.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Kimberly,
Are you saying that individual boards are splitting, or that the boards are shrinking or pulling away from each other causing gaps?
Another important piece of information is how long the wood was left to acclimate inside your house. It should have been there for at least 72 hours. Also, do you know what the humidity level is in your house?
February 29th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Dave,
There are two answers to your question. The short one is: Absolutely not!
There are two ways to add finish to a floor (without sanding the finish off). The one that homeowners typically do is put down some product that claims to help protect hardwood floors. Basically, they’re all crap. All they do is gum up the sanders when someone comes to refinish your floor (which it sounds like you’ll need done in the next few years).
The second way is what is called a “maintenance coat.” It requires lightly sanding the surface of the finish (being careful not to sand through the finish) and applying a fresh coat of finish (either water-based or oil-based). Typically a professional is needed for this option, but if you have a friend in the business who can come show you how to do it, and you are particularly handy and a quick learner… you may be able to do it yourself.
However, it’s possible that neither of those options are right for you. If the scratches are light and just on the surface, then a maintenance coat may do the job. But it sounds to me like you need to get it completely refinished (for which we would charge about 3.75 per square foot).
March 1st, 2008 at 12:17 am
The boards are splitting, not shrinking. The wood was in the house at least 1 week. I live in Atlanta, very humid. Upon further inspection of wood, we are finding that there are small hairline cracks that you cannot really see unless you hold the board under the light at a certain angle. I guess once installed and under a little pressure, the cracks are becoming more apparant. having difficulty with the store we bought it from. They told us to hire a wood expert to look at it and then maybe they would do something. The problem is the cracks come days later and we don’t know what is going to happen long term
March 1st, 2008 at 12:30 am
Kimberly,
So basically the wood is falling apart. You don’t need a wood expert to tell you that you got a lousy product.
First of all, what store did you get the wood from? If it’s a huge company, they may throw lawyers at the problem and tuck you under the rug with the rest of the unsatisfied customers.
Secondly, since we’re 99% sure that it was the wood that was bad, there was probably some sheets of paper that came in every box of wood with a note about installer responsibility (the note might actually be on the box itself). The basic gist of it is that as soon as the installer installs the board, it’s his problem. The idea is that while installing a floor, you’re supposed to inspect each board before you install it. Then if more than 5% of the wood is bad, you can get a refund. So in case they may say that it’s the installer’s responsibility. And since you like the installer, it doesn’t sound like you want him to have to pay for it… but it may come down to either you or him.
If you can, let me know how everything turns out, and, as always, feel free to contact me with any more questions.
-Steve
March 18th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Steve,
We have prefinished Bruce Hardwood flooring in most of our lower level of the house. I installed a new unfinished floor in the family room of the house. We much prefer the finished look of the unfinished floor as we do not care for the bevels in the prefinished floor. Can I just sand the prefinished floor to match the floor I installed in the family room? I realize it will be alot of sanding.
March 18th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Derrick,
Absolutely! There are a few things to keep in mind though.
1. The finish on the prefinished wood is much harder and more durable than any finish you can apply, so it will be a little bit of a downgrade on the finish.
2. The finish on the prefinished wood contains aluminum oxide which is what sand paper is made out of. This means you will definitely go through a lot of sanding belts/discs. My suggestion is to find a place (you may have to look online) that will sell you sanding belts made with zirconium. They are harder than the aluminum oxide, and will make your life a lot easier.
I hope that help. Let me know if you have any other questions.
-Steve
March 31st, 2008 at 1:49 pm
We are in the process of installing prefinished 5/8″ solid hardwood floors using the glue-down method on a concrete slab. It is going well, though it is much more work than we thought it would be!
We are now debating whether to put it in the kitchen, due to the creases between boards discussed above. If something spilled on the floor, what would happen? I assume the liquid could go down between the boards. If we proceed with wood in the kitchen, should we fill those creases with the wood putty or something like paste wax? Or are we better off just doing something else entirely?
Thanks for your advice!
-Sarah
March 31st, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Sarah,
Actually, the “creases” do not go all the way down between the boards. It’s just a beveled edge. And all the beveled edges are finished too. So basically it would be no different than a site finished floor, as long as the installation is nice and tight. If there are actual creases (like from a warped board that you couldn’t quite get tight), you can fill them with wood putty (just ask at Home Depot or Lowes).
In conclusion: Yes, prefinished is fine in the kitchen, and no you don’t have to do anything special.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:19 am
We just had a floor installed (5″ Mullican Ridgecrest pre-finished) in an empty house being remodeled. The look is great, but there are numerous side joints with small splinters and cups/scallops that go down below the wood layer. We have two grand-daughters that are just starting to crawl. When we move in we feel we would feel NOT comfortable letting them onto that floor.
This seems very unacceptable to us, but we have never had a floor like this before so we don’t what is ‘normal’ or ‘expected’.
The same company is installing carpet (as I type). I called the Gen’l. Mgr. and he said he would go out and look at it, and he indicated that he gets a lot of ‘concerns’ from consumers about these issues.
So what should our expections have been? The sample we looked in the store sure was NOT like that! Grrrrr.
Thanks,
Steve
April 1st, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Steve,
Yeah, it sounds like that should either be fixed or filled. The splinters should be hammered down and the chips (If I’m understanding you right) should have wood putty put in them. If the damage is bad enough, maybe some of the boards should be replaced.
If they refuse to fix it the right way, you’re probably hosed. They have every right to get paid for the job, but they should also have a hard time finding work after you spread the word about how bad of a job they did. If you raise a big enough fuss, the general contractor may make them fix it or hire someone else to do it, and, if you complain loud enough and yet remain reasonable, he shouldn’t charge you any extra for that. He may even be able to hold some money back from the guys who screwed up.
All in all, you should be able to get that stuff fixed. Just keep on the guys, and if you think you need to… hover over the job site while they work. They’ll absolutely hate it, but at least you can point out problems before it’s too late.
I hope that helps,
-Steve
April 1st, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Hey Steve, thanks for the prompt reply. Good advice.
I actually don’t have a general. We contracted directly with a very will recommended and reputable local company, and hopefully after they come out and look at the ‘craftsmanship’ will make a recommendation on what to do next. My worst fear is that they will tell me that is ‘normal’, and then I want to make sure I take the right action. We don’t plan on moving into the house for another couple of months, so we still have plenty of time resolve the issue.
Thanks again,
Steve
April 1st, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Hi Steve,
Thanks so much for your help! I think it was the cracks between slightly warped/off boards we are worried about. Most of the boards are fitting very tight, but there are a few that are being difficult! The putty sounds like a great way to go. Thanks again for your response and for your informative article.
-Sarah
April 14th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Last week we had a professional put down a prefinished German Beech floor (select by Pollmeier). There are gaps between the boards and at the ends (both on the sides and the ends). The floor was in our house for several days before the install. The installer said that the milling of the boards is the reason for the gaps. How ‘tight’ should the boards fit? How big of a gap should there be between boards? I really do not like the look of the gaps, any suggestions on what to do next?
S
April 20th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Good question, Steven…
Ultimately, a hairline gap that is difficult to see from a standing position (if you’re not looking for it) is ok. The gaps that are easily visible from a standing position should be filled.
Now, not having seen the floor, I have to ask: are the gaps really gaps, or are they bevels? The difference is that bevels are necessary for prefinished floors, and the “gap” caused by bevels doesn’t actually go all the way down to the floor. Real gaps will look black, and if you stick a credit card down in there, it will go in about a 1/4 inch (which is where it will hit the tongue), and stand up by itself.
If you determine that it is the bevels that you are dissatisfied with, that is a known side-effect of prefinished floors, and there’s nothing that can be done short of sanding and refinishing the floor (which negates the purpose of prefinished).
If it is indeed gaps that go all the way down to the tongue, and are easily noticeable from a standing position, they should be fulled with “Wood Putty.” This is something you can do yourself (although if you’re upset enough by it, you could ask the company to come do it for you… it wouldn’t be completely out of the question), and would not cost much.
Let me know if you have any more questions, or if you want to know how to fill the gaps yourself.
-Steve
April 26th, 2008 at 7:06 am
I recently had my house renovated, and after much consideration, decided to purchase pre-finiished maple flooring for my kitchen. The flooring comes with a 50-year warranty, which sounded like a real plus. The result is very beautiful, and sweeps up nicely. In the 4 months since the flooring was installed, I have sponge-mopped the floor twice. On the first mopping, I noticed some of the boards along the micro-bevels were starting to delaminate. I contacted the company from which I purchased the flooring, and they asked me some questions, and asked me to send photos. I just heard back from them, with the response that because I had used *water* to clean the floor, the damage was not covered by the warranty!! After digging through their website (this is a Bellawood product), I found that “water and wood do not mix” according to them, and that one should only purchase their special soy-based cleaning kit. This was never made explicit when I made the purchase of over $1100. Water on any floor in small amounts (not a flood!) seems like normal and typical use. Should I contact the Better Business Bureau? Have you ever heard of anything like this?
April 27th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Karen,
Unfortunately, they’re absolutely right. The most water you should ever use on a wood floor is wiping it with a damp mop (not wet, and definitely not sponge mopping). Anything beyond damp can definitely damage the floor.
You are kinda right in that someone should have mentioned not using water. We always try to let our customers know how to take care of their floors. However, it’s not the responsibility of the installer to make sure you know what you can do to the floor, and I am certain that we have forgotten to mention that detail on several occasions. If the homeowner has any questions about caring for the floor, or the limits of the warranties, it is their responsibility to ask the installer, or read the fine print on the documentation they were given.
I know this is not what you wanted to hear, and I really wish I had some better news for you. But the best anyone can do for you at this point (besides offering to redo your floor for free out of the kindness of their hearts), is to tell you how to take care of your floor from here on in.
-Steve
June 26th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Dear Steve,
We are contractors for 25 years and have a flawless reputation, until we installed pre-finished floors for a friend. One of the installers got glue on the boards that don’t come up and when a rug was put down after installation, it faded out the whole area under the rug. This is Bellawood installed on concrete. It is the most wretched installation we have ever come across and my husband is losing sleep over this. What would you do? There were absolutely no warnings about the floor fading under area rugs, the glue is another story. Should we try to re-finish or replace this horrible wood? Thanks so much.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Hello:
I have just had prefinished floors installed. Unfortunately, the installers were not very careful with the glue and there has been quite a bit of clean up after the installation. Now we are left with mineral spirits haze! What is the best method to get rid of this haze?
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Hi Steve,
My husband and I are about to have pre-finished Maple hardwood (3/4″) by Mirage installed. Does the hardwood need to sit in our room for a couple of days before being installed?
October 22nd, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Michelle,
Yes. Yes it does. If it doesn’t. then there’s still a chance nothing will go wrong, but it’s better safe than sorry.
October 22nd, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Can they remain in the boxes that they were delivered in or do they have to be taken out and laid out side by side? That would be a lot of wood to arrange.
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:42 pm
They should be fine in the boxes unless they are wrapped in plastic or will be in the house for less than a week. In either of those cases (or if you just want to play it safe), simply tear off both ends of each of the boxes and you’ll be golden.
October 23rd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Steve,
I have found a company that is selling tigerwood 3/4″ x5″ for a deep discount. The floor doesn’t have a problem with the finish, but there are some issues with the milling on the T&G ends which could create a gap that is anywhere from 1/8″-1/16″ off. The company suggested, if this bothered me, I could cut the ends off and butt them together with no problems. Should I consider wood putty to fill these gaps or do you think cutting it off would be the better option? Or should I move on to another flooring? Thanks!
October 23rd, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Leslee,
I definitely would not use a product that forced me to put filler in between the ends of every single board. Wood putty makes that spot a little harder to clean, and a little more vulnerable to moisture.
Now if you cut off the tongues (you wouldn’t want to cut off the ends because then you would be cutting off the microbevel, and you want to avoid that whenever possible) there is the very real possibility that some of the boards wont match up erfectly at the ends and you would have a lot of unevenness in the floor. Now again, if this was every 20th board, it wouldn’t be a deal breaker, but if it’s every board… it may not be worth it.
The only way I would personally install that floor is if it was possible to cut a little bit off the tongues so that they fit, but are not completely gone. If that is a possibility, and you are prepared to add several hours of labor in order to get this deep discount, then I would say go for it. To me, it may not even be worth the discount for the extra work it would take.
And as for the options of having a gap or removing the T&G, sure you would have the discount up front, but your floor would show it for the rest of your life. In the world of hardwood flooring, it’s usually not worth a discount if it means that the floor would not be done right. A solid wood floor will last over 100 years before it’s time to rip it up and replace it. This kind of issue would be there for all 100 years.
That’s my 0.0155 Euros worth.
-Steve
November 28th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Hi Steve!
We purchased a home recently that needed flooring as the carpeting was stained and wrinkled. We bought several mismatched cases of prefinished hardwoods sold by our local surplus warehouse. The flooring looks great, but there’s one problem: there’s barely enough of each style. They come in 2 different widths and 2 different thicknesses and about 8 different colors!! It took us over a day just to sort it.
I guess we have over a hundred cases total, but it was clearance at 20 cents a square foot and online this company sells it for 7 bucks a square foot. We figured we could put one style in one room, so that each room is different. I’m putting Cabernet Oak in my master bedroom but am worried I will run out. Before I start this project; what happens if I run out of it? Can I use a lighter style–same thickness and width–and refinish the floor to match it? Someone suggested just putting a different color where the bed will go, but I wanted to be sure I could refinish it and stain it to match later when I need to sell the home. Or should I try to find more through a different distributor? I am assuming most of these styles are discountinued which is why my vendor had them in the first place.
Thanks so much. We are on a budget, trying to make it work!!
December 5th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Kate:
I’m working on a reply… I’m just a little busy. Here’s a really short answer:
Also, I have more questions:
December 5th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
wow, thanks for the quick reply!
OK, it’s Capella prefinished hardwood, which is available in two thicknesses and two widths. What we have comes in two thicknesses and two widths. The thinner, they recommend to put down with glue and the thicker, with nails or staples. I researched the company and they seemed to have a decent product.
What we got comes in various shades of oak, and there are a few maples. I was thinking, put the different color oaks together but cover the mismatched pieces with a rug or my bed. When it’s time to refinish, refinish it and stain mismatched bedroom floor one color. I would use the same wood grain, thickness and width in one room. It would just be red oak next to cabernet oak, if you get my drift. The cabernet is darker than the red. All of the available floor is the type you nail or staple down, though we do have a few cases of the thinner, glue down floor we were thinking of using in a closet or bath. There is carpet in the great room, so the thin floors would come off of that room. So there wouldn’t be any transition from thick wood floor to thin, if you know what I mean..
In our sons room, we were planning to use two styles, they are both red oaks but one is slightly lighter than the other. We have seen DIY websites were they stagger two colors just so and it actually looks nice. The difference in shades is pretty light, so we hoped we could get away with this.
. And it’s a wood subfloor. Our carpet guy, who we trust and have used before, said he installs the prefinished wood floor with a stapler and has offered to help us get started and will be available if we get stuck. He recommended we put tar paper down first to help with moisture in the event of any problems, so that the floor does not warp.
One thing I’m working on: I called Dalton Carpet and asked them to request samples from Capella. They have a style online that looks like what I have, but who can tell from the computer so I wanted to be safe. I”m hoping they’ll match. If they do, I was going to just order additional cases. It will still be cheaper than getting all of it at 7 bucks a square foot. What do you think?
Thanks again,
K
December 5th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Alright, I’ll do my best to offer my opinions and advice…
Sounds good. As for the two different widths… if you have some that are the same color you can mix widths. We periodically install some floors with 3in and 5in boards in a “random” pattern (3-5-3-3-5-3-5-5-3-5-3-3-5-3-5-5…) and it looks pretty good. So that’s something to consider. That pattern I mentioned uses the same amount of linear feet of each thickness (so it uses 5 square feet of 5 inch for every 3 square feet of 3 inch). If you had a different ratio (maybe you had the same square footage of each) I’d be happy to help you figure out a pattern that would work mathematically and aesthetically.
I’m guessing that the “Cabernet” is simply read oak with a different color stain, in which case once you refinish the floor, it should match perfectly.
That sounds good. Separate the thick and thin by carpet… Just so long as you don’t think you’ll ever replace that carpet with wood.
If the shades are too close, it could look like you were trying to match and missed… which could look ugly. However, I bet that it would look pretty cool to have different shades mixed just so if the colors “went” together… though I wouldn’t know what would look best (maybe the same way we mix widths… some pattern that looks random… but I’m a flooring guy, not an interior designer).
Your carpet guy is right on. We use tar paper (15 pound) whenever we can. Just roll it out in rolls and butt them right up to each other, then cover the seams with tape, and you’re good to go. However, one thing to keep in mind is that the last 4 or so rows before a wall (11 inches with a bostitch stapler) will need to be glued, because the stapler won’t fit there. So you’ll need to remove the paper from anywhere you need to glue (we don’t put finish nails through the top of the wood when dealing with prefinished wood, as the wood putty never quite hides it properly and it tends to look sketchy).
I think you may have actually gotten a good deal from a discount place. We always steer clear of places like that because can you imagine a professional flooring installer trying to explain to a customer that when the wood arrived it was 2 different colors… and we can’t take it back?! But in your case, I think it may work out
Another thing to remember is that maple will never match oak no matter how many times you sand, stain, finish or tint it. So if you have to live with something that’s mismatched now, make sure it’s the same kind of wood, so it can match later after it’s been refinished.
Yet another thing (I just keep going, don’t I?) is that prefinished wood is typically done with 5-9 coats of finish! And that finish contains aluminum oxide, which is what sand paper is made out of. This means 2 things. First, it means that the finish will last longer than any finish applied on-site (some products come with as high as a 25 year wear warranty). Second, sanding is much more time consuming and expensive, since it’s like you’re sanding sandpaper. They do make Zirconium sanding belts that work great, but for sanding around the edges, you still have to use the old fashioned aluminum oxide sandpaper… and lots of it.
Let me know if you have any more questions. Hopefully I won’t be so crazy-busy and will actually answer in less than a week :/
-Steve
December 14th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Steve,
I am reading Kimberly’s problem with boards splitting, and I have the same problem, to the point where splinters of wood are coming out of the middle of the board. A Mohawk rep came out and inspected, and reporting to the company that there is nothing wrong with the floor, but scratches were seen. I do know the difference between scratches and splits. What an insult! The retailer is not helping alot, although he did send a professional installer out to replace some of the worse boards, but more are surfacing all of the time. I use a wood cleaning product, and this floor is on a main level, not over concrete. I picked prefinished hardwood because I liked the look, not the retailer says this is why he recommends engineered because this can happen. They did not tell me this at the purchase–keep in mind I bought all my flooring from this retailer for new construction. Any other suggestions to get some help?
December 16th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Hi Steve,
Thanks for this great Q&A site. I think I may have the same problem as Kimberely. A month ago I had prefinished oak installed. Now I am noticing, in particular in one room, the boards actually splitting, some down the middle and some near the edges of the boards.
I’m trying to figure out if it is a moisture issue – it was installed in rainy, humid weather and we had drywalling going on in the room most affected after it was installed, which I read can cause moisture – so some websites say use a dehumidifier. But now it is winter and thefore the air is dryer.
Then I also read that if the floor is right above a furnace pipe (which it is and the floor in this particular room is 1/2 foot lower than the rest of the house) the furnace can “cook” the floor and cause it to shrink, in which case it is not a moisture problem but a dryness problem.
I am very confused and very eager to stop any more splitting! Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks so much,
Sally
December 19th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I contracted with Mr. Floor in Skokie for an unfinished brazilian cherry floor. They have been installing a pre-finished floor and stated that if I did not like it they would sand it but they’re sure I’ll like it. I do not like it – I grew up with older oak floors which do not have micro-bevels. For the square footage and cost I want the flush look of a site-finished floor. The Mr. Floor salesman thinks I’m unreasonable and I am ruining a BR-111 floor. He swears it will separate with the seasons and look horrible. From what I’ve read I can circumvent that with a humidifier in winter but it is not a look that would horrify me as the classic homes carry those blemishes as character. It also implies that they install so poorly that they are guaranteeing a site finished floor will be inferior. Any thoughts greatly appreciated. Also, the contract “specifically” states un-finished floor to be finished on site so to my mind they are in breach of contract.
December 20th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Frannie,
Well, I’m gonna start by being the devil’s (being Mr. Floor) advocate. They are right in saying that a site finished floor would be inferior. The finish that is on a prefinished floor is usually 5-9 coats thick, and has aluminum oxide in it,which is what sandpaper is made out of. Plus, it was done in a factory so it is perfectly smooth. A site finished floor will get 2-4 coats (don’t settle for 2… demand 3), and that’s just sealer and poly-urethane. Prefinished floors often come with a 25 year wear warranty, and site finished floors typically last 10 years.
All that said, the main drawback t a prefinished floor is the microbevels, and that’s just personal taste. If that’s a deal breaker for you, they should never have decided to give you the prefinished floor. Basically, it’s usually easier to make more money on a prefinished floor, and since most people like them, they were betting that you would too. And they bet a lot. Now for them to sand it, they have to sand off aluminum oxide… it’s like sanding sandpaper! Basically, they made a huge wager, the odds were in their favor, and they lost. They’re gonna be reluctant as all get-out to sand your floor.
My advice is this: Stick to your guns. Do not back down. You asked for a site-finished floor, and they said they’d give you one. Then they tried with all their might to convince you that a prefinished floor was better, and you still want site-finished. You need to go at this with the attitude that you are getting a site-finished floor… period. And you are paying what you agreed upon in the contract.
Have you paid them anything yet? If you’ve paid them in full, then the worst case scenario is that you may have to threaten or actually take legal action. If you’ve only paid 50% for materials, then the worst case scenario is that you get a prefinished floor for 50% off… then maybe the rest would pay for someone else to come sand it. What I’m saying is that if they didn’t deliver what is in the contract, you are not obligated to pay them.
I should mention that contracts have nothing to do with quality. If you think their job was sub-par, but they did what you wanted them to, then it’s illegal to withold payment, and they could actually put a lien on your house. But that doesn’t sound like the case here. If the contract says site finished, then they darn-well better sand and finish your floor.
Now that I’ve confirmed your rights in the matter, let me give you some more advice. While you want to be firm, you don’t want to piss off the guys that will actually do the work. If it’s a larger company, then be firm with the higher-ups and execs that never do the manual labor, but be really nice to the guys coming out to your house. Use lines like “I know it’s not your fault,” and “I’m sorry you have to rearrange your schedule like this,” and “I wish I had just said ‘no’ to the idea of installing prefinished wood first,” etc…
Let me know how it turns out!
-Steve
December 27th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Hi Steve,
We purchased a new home 11 months ago with Mannington prefinished engineered hickory plank flooring throughout the main floor – living, dining, bedroom, kitchen areas – which is above our walkout basement.
The floors look great but we’ve noticed that they do not resist water at all. We’re paranoid about wiping any water off the floor as soon as we see it and only used approved wood flooring cleaners. Unfortunately, we’re noticing areas of ‘raised grain’ in many areas throughout the home. Even slight water spills cause a raised grain problem if not caught within minutes. In our kitchen slight drops of water from doing dishes will cause raised grain very quickly. By our dishwasher is very noticable. Again, we’re not speaking about large amounts of water; quite often it’ll be a ‘smear’ of water or drops. Not puddles or pooling…
My questions are…
Shouldn’t engineered floors be more durable than this? Everywhere I read manufacturers and installers are saying that today’s hardwood finishes are good for throughout the home, even the kitchen so long as there is not abuse. Our last home has solid hardwood any we never encountered these problems. We’ve been so cautious but still we’re having this problem…
Could this be that these floors do not have adequate finish protectant?
What do you suggest? Thank you for this forum.
December 28th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Grant,
It seems to me that you’re right about the inadequate finish. I can’t imagine a new floor doing that, but you said it was a new home, which makes it more believable. The “new construction” flooring competition is fierce, and you only make half as much as an installer. So generally, wood floors that were put in with the house are done so with inferior quality, and they tend to leave no corner uncut.
Not having seen the floor, that’s the best I can tell you though.
-Steve
December 28th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
thanks Steve. Can you give me an idea in your experience of how long water would need to stay on a normal pre-finished floor to cause this crackling of the grain or ‘raised grain’ problem? Again, i’m not speaking of a flood, only small spills etc…
I’d be happy to send you a pic. thanks again for your great advice.
December 29th, 2008 at 12:27 am
I would think it would take a few hours for that kind of thing to happen, and then only on a seam. To go right through the finish I would guess would take close to a day… maybe longer.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I love the way bamboo flooring looks, but I have read that most of the prefinished engineered bamboo flooring on the market scratches really easily. Can you apply extra finish to prefinished flooring to make it more durable? Is the aluminum oxide finish that they use compatible with any other finish that you could put over it, or would in not adhere well?
January 7th, 2009 at 9:39 am
I purchased a home that has a prefinished oak wood floor that had been in place for several years. The flooring is very thin (5/16inch or 3/8inch). After about two years I realized that in the living room where the wall has a large window, a few boards are bowed up badly due to water from a flood several years earlier. To make a long storty short, I worked on the drainage in the yard so that can not happen again. Now to fix the floor. I found new flooring that appears to match very well the finish and size but by a different manufacturer. I have noticed that against that particular wall the wood is stained a bit from the water. I would like to pull out the wood and replace it with what I found. Will it be ok? I am noticing otherwise very little change in the finish of the floor even though it is several years old, so I think the new wood will match well and be unnoticable. I believe that the hard prefinish has prevented a lot of wear and that the new boards might not be noticable. Do you have any advise on this that I might be missing? Thanks! -Lucien
February 27th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Steve,
2 years ago we built a new home and purchased Brazilian cherry pre finished hardwood floors. we started to see cracks immediately. the wood was acclimated to our house for several weeks before installation. we called the place where we had bought the wood and they came out and agreed to refinish the floors. we were reluctant but agreed. immediately after they finished the cracks returned worse than ever. the polyurethane that was put as a sealer looks horrible and is dull in places and shiny in places. we have again called the place where we bought the floors and the re finisher they tell us they have never seen this happen and it has to be a problem with our house. they said that they thought it was due to floor movement. what is your opinion on this? we have tile through out the house and there are no cracks in any of it.
February 28th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Kim,
As far as the cracks, I assume you mean gaps between boards? If that is the case, what sort of climate do you live in? If the humidity changes throughout the year (which it usually does) and you don’t have a humidifier to keep the humidity constant year-round, you will see gaps open and close (sometimes they stay open or closed for a long period of time) as conditions change (ie. in the winter when the heater is running, that tends to dry out the air in the house… normal air conditioners also tend to remove moisture).
About the finish being dull in some places and shiny in others, that definitely sounds like it’s their problem. It sounds like an issue with not having mixed (shaken) the eurethene enough before putting it down. It’s possible that a maintenance coat (a light sanding followed by a new coat of PROPERLY MIXED eurethene) may clear it up, but sometimes the shinyness from one coat will show through a few other coats. Just tell them you talked with another floorer that said they probably didn’t mix the eurethene as well as they needed to (if at all).
One thing to remember throughout this is that color (not so much sheen, but the sheen may be affected too) is affected a great deal by surroundings. How the light hits the floor in different places, even the color of the walls and furniture can make the floor look different. So make sure you’re accounting for differences in light and surroundings. Also, floors are to be inspected from a standing position in normal light. You’ll find a lot of imperfections when you get down on your knees and use the reflection of direct sunlight to examine every square inch. If you’re keeping all that in mind, and you’re still not satisfied, hound them until they do something to fix it (unless they come up with a real reason why it’s out of their control). If they’re a decent company, then they should stand behind their work, but if you’re unreasonable, they should warn every tradesman in town about you. Just a balance to keep in mind
-Steve
February 28th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
steve,
i failed to mention that we live in Chattanooga Tn. i also failed to mention that when they refinished the floors they filled the gaps with a filler. it appears the gaps have continued to get wider and the filler is loosing its bond and coming up everywhere. the floors were put down in Sept. and not refinished until Oct the following year. so we saw a full year of moisture change and the gaps never closed up. the gaps or spaces are a 1/8 inch wide in some places. when the floors were refinished the moisture content of the wood was 9%.
thanks,
kim
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:25 am
Hi Steve,
Some great info on here! We have just had prefinished jarrah installed and I would like to increase the gloss of the floor. We also have a slight hazing in some areas from the turps clean up of the glue. What can I use to bring out that extra shine and remove the haze?
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:52 am
Well, with a prefinished floor, there’s really no good way to increase the gloss beyond the factory finish. If it’s just the haze though, there is a pretty good cleaning product that will not leave any residue behind. It’s by a company called BONA, which is a swedish company that only makes hardwood flooring stuff (from the tools to sand paper to cleaning supplies). The product is a spray cleaner that you spray over the floor and wipe off with a microfiber pad. Here in Colorado, they sell the spray at King Soopers (Kroger), and Bed Bath and Beyond sells the cleaning kits (which includes a soft dust mop attachment and a microfiber pad, both of which can be thrown in the washer).
April 9th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
I have prefinished floors, and the refinisher is going to use Miniwax Oilbased products. Is that a good product?
Also, the prefinished floor is stained like a natural wood stain and I want to change the color to something a little darker. Can I do that? Will it look ok?
Also, what are some things I should watch out for when these refinish the floors next week?
April 10th, 2009 at 9:16 am
I don’t know either way on Miniwax, as we have never used it. We only use Bona… which I think is the best (It’s the largest flooring company in the world if I have my facts straight, and all they do is wood flooring). But as far as changing the color, you can do whatever you want! Just know that the darker you go, the more potential there is for problems like the lightness of the old stain showing through around some edges or on corners where it’s hard to get sanders. But if you go with a nutmeg or cutmeg (50% nutmeg, 50% natural), that shouldn’t be much of an issue.
April 25th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Can you expain the difference to me between wood filler and wood putty. I would think that if I use wood putty, and walk on the floors for any length of time, the putty will get picked up by foot traffic and get everywhere…..
April 27th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Lisa,
Wood filler is wetter and more fluid, but eventually dries completely. It is sandable and takes stain like wood.
Wood putty starts the consistency of clay, and never completely dries (though it does harden slightly). Wood putty does not take stain, and cannot be sanded.
Wood filler is used before the floor is sanded and finished, while putty is used on prefinished floors, or to fill small holes or cracks on an existing floor. Wood putty will not come out of the wood and make a mess unless you deliberately dig it our with a knife or something (and even then, the “mess” would be minimal). Normal foot traffic would have no effect on wood putty. Also, putty has one advantage over wood filler in that it never hardens. Therefore, when the wood expands and contracts, the putty will be less likely to crack or show gaps.
I hope that helps.
-Steve
May 15th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
I had a prefinished floor installed in my kitchen and family room within the past week. I noticed right away that some of the boards had splits running through them, and others seem to have been “crushed” at the edges, leaving “splinter bubbles.” While these bubbles have not popped through yet, they look like with a little wear that they will and that a large number of boards will then have feathered, splintered edges. Both the splits and the bubbles are noticable just standing and looking at the floor. Indeed, the bubbles appear as little lumps in the floor and are obvious even from a distance. I have never had this kind of flooring before and don’t really know if these are real problems (either with the wood or with the installation) or rather what should expected with this kind of product. Any advice you might give would be appreciated.
May 17th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
We just finished a engineering inspection of a house that we are buying. During the inspection we flipped the area rug up that was beneathe the dining room table to discover that it is darker than the un-covered area. The home faces south and has floor to ceiling windows The house is only 8 years old. My question is, can we refinish the floor so that it matches and how long can we expect the floor color to to stand up to the southern exposure
May 19th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Margaret,
Sorry about the delay, I’ve been busy with moving. All of those things you mentioned seem to be things that are the installers fault. Many (if not all of them) are defects in the actual product (not the installer’s fault), but since the installer put it down, he gave it his seal of approval, making it his fault.
-Steve
May 19th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Paul,
That is perfectly normal. When you refinish it, it will be the same color throughout (but only if you refinish all of it and sand down to the wood). And yes, it will fade again. Here are some tips on keeping the fading from being noticeable:
– Put shades on the windows (easy, but not always practical)
– Move rugs a little every time you clean (This will cause the darker spot to kind of fade in to the lighter spot, making the line less noticeable)
– Remove rugs for the summer (This is what my mom has been doing. It helps the house feel cooler, as well as giving several months for the color to even out)
Floors will always change color due to sunlight. In Colorado springs, where I live and work, the fading you described can happen in a single year due to the intensity of the sun. The best you can do is try to even out the sun exposure to the floor in such a way that the difference is gradual enough that it is hardly noticed (if at all)
-Steve
May 20th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Steve — thanks for the information. When I confronted our contractor with what you said, he stated that unless the crack /split/splintering actually goes through the piece of wood it is considered merely a blemish and that the installer will not be obligated to fix it. He concedes that some of the cracks are of this nature and should be replaced but he insists that (1) the bubbles/blisters I described to you are cosmetic only and should be expected with this type of product; and (2) cracks that do not run all the way through the piece are not subject to replacement. This does not sound right to me. Any suggestions? BTW, the same installer is supposed to be refinishing some existing hardwood floors in our home. I am inclined to cancel the job, but perhaps this is all legit. Thoughts?
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:35 am
We have had Armstrong prefinished hardwood installed in a new addition to our home. The installer laid the flooring paralel to the floor joist instead of perpendicular to the joists as the instructions indicated. The problem we are experiencing is that when we walk on the flooring it creaks and pops like we are walking on bubblewrap. Could this problem be the result of the direction the flooring was installed or is their another problem with this flooring?
June 1st, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Does anyone have a suggestion for how to even up the color on brazilian cherry hard wood floors besides just opening the blinds? We put in Thomasville brazilian cherry hardwood floors and the wood that was exposed darkened considerably but not under the rugs or furniture. Is there a way to help speed up the darkening of the floor that was under the rug? There was no disclaimer on the packages telling me this would happen or I would not have put the rugs down! Please – if anyone has a suggestion on how to get the floor color to even out, I would sure appreciate it! Thank you!
July 11th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Hi, My husband and I have just had prefinished hard wood floors laid inour hall and in our new addition ( Mater bedroom). Immediatly after the installation I noticed that there are some gaps between some of the boards. Every board does not touch the board beside it. Most do but there are some definate gaps. The floor also seems higher down the middle. The crew that is building my addition installed the floors and are planning to go under the house to try to fix the levelness of the floor. I am more concerned about the gaps. The house is 41 years old and I am not sure if the gaps are due to my sub floor or due to poor installation. Should I ask them to fill the gaps or replace the boards. They also have a few gauges that they are going to have to fix. They damaged a few pieces when doing some other work. I just want to do what is considered normal. Are gaps normal? Does everyone have some or are all boards suppose to touch?
Misty
July 12th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Misty,
Gaps are fairly normal, but mostly avoidable, especially on the ends of boards. If they are small gaps (less than 1/32 of an inch) then you are not out of line to have them fill them… that’s common practice. If there are a couple larger gaps, have them fill them too, but if there are a lot of larger gaps, I would either ask them to replace all the boards that have gaps or replace the floor, OR (And I think this is the best option) ask them for enough of a discount that you can pay someone else to redo the floor (Since there’s no guarantee they will do any better the second time).
The best way to approach them about the problem (again, only if there are a lot of gaps larger than 1/32 of an inch (and fyi, with 5-15 large gaps I’d ask to replace those boards, but with more I’d ask to replace the floor)), is to say that those gaps are not normal according to other floorers, and that you’d like to work with them on how to get it fixed… see which options they give you. If they apologize and try to make it right, give them a chance to do that. But if they drag their feet and try to give you the runaround, it might be best to work the other angle of “just give me my money back so I can have someone do this who will do it right.”
-Steve
July 12th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
In your article, and your responses to the questions, I am sometime confused by what you refer to as creases along the lenght of the board, small creases against the grain, cracks and gaps.
We had Kempas Select pre-finished solid hardwood floor bought from Lumber Liquidators installed over cork and felt underlayment on the main floor of the house over the basement by an installer who charged us not more than $2.00/sq.ft. during the winter of 2005. The all over look finish of the floor is dark red such that a scratch shows as a white line on it. I tried to sand it down lightly with a green pot scrubber. It did not work. Now, that area shows when viewed against light. What can I do to remove or diminish the loof of those white lines and the sanded area.
Also, there are gaps between floor boards where dirt usually deposits which the vacuum cleaner can not get out. So, usually I dig them out with the sharp edge of a knife that I run through the lenght of the gap between the floor boards. I thought those gaps were intended to be there for the expansion and contraction of the wood. Those gaps do not close even during summer. I can run my credit card through those gaps. Are these gaps a result of poor installation?
July 28th, 2009 at 12:45 am
I just had prefinished maple flooring installed. They seemed easily scratched by a chair and etc. Can I put another top clear coat on top of the prefinished flooring?
August 15th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Hi Steve,
We have just laid a Bruce pre-finished oak floor in our bathroom; my other half wants to add a sealant layer(s) to make it more durable. (And yes, we know wood isn’t recommended for baths.) I’m not sure if he realizes the difference between a prefinished floor finish and site-finished. The floor is laid so we are stuck with it; what do you recommend? Wait a few year and then refinish?
September 14th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Hi Steve,
We just had prefinished oak floors installed. Somerset brand. I hadn’t noticed until I went to clean up from the installers that several of the boards have wavy lines or dime size dots on them that do not come off with cleaning. they seem to be underneath the top coat. Is this normal? Unfortunately, a lot of these are in walk through areas that will not be covered up by a rug.
October 16th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
We juse had bruce hardwood floors installed and when we walked on them initially there was a bit of a crunching noise. The more we walk on it the less prevalent it is. 2 days later it is pretty much gone. Is this due to a bedding in period? Is this common?
December 11th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I just had bruce prefinished brazilian cherry installed and then had minor repairs done to my home. The floor finished was scraped and left a 5″ mark. It is only visual and is not deep or even felt to the touch. Is there anything i can use to just revise the shine in that area?
December 27th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
We had pre-finished (aluminum oxide) brazilian cherry flooring installed less than a week ago (kitchen area/great room – high traffic, children/dog) and noticed visible surface scratches within days. Is there a simple/safe way to buff out and recoat the affected surface areas? Could a quality wax product be applied over the factory finish if we maintain it properly?
April 18th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Hi Steve,
I have prefinished hardwood floors throughout my home. It’s about 9 years old. Recently I bought a steam mop and began using it on the hardwood floors as stated. I know notice a haze all over the hardwood floors. What could the problem be and how can I resolve it.
May 17th, 2010 at 8:49 am
I I had a small fire that resulted in damage to the finish–but not
the
stain or the wood–on my engineered wood floor. The damage is white
scratches from plaster, concrete.etc., getting ground in while the firemen were doing their job.
The floor is engineered, pre-finished Lauzon International American cherry truffle lengths. Lauzon’s current finish is called Polynium Plus with Titanium, or polymerized Titanium, but I don’t know what the
finish was in 2006, when I purchase the wood.
Is there some process, other than a total sanding and refinishing, to get rid of the white scratches?
thanks for your help
Judith
June 26th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Hi Bob,
I have a condo with a raised living room one step down to hallway that measures 72″ x 9″ with one rounded end and another stepping down to the kitche 38″x 9″. The look I want is light natural maple for the living room and the 2 steps but i am being told that for the steps I have to use the same 3″ planks im using in the room with a bullnosing that would square off the rounded ends. Is there some way I can get a prefinished plank with a rounded end instead?
July 21st, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Hi,
My husband is a general contractor with a flawless reputation. The homeower decided to go with a pre-engineered floor because of warranty. This floor was put down in a new addtion added to the home that is on piers in Louisiana (humidity). The installer we hired as a sub installed the floor and within two days the floor began to expand. I believe then he trimmed around the edges next to the wall. A week or so later different areas of the floor began to buckle. The installer came back and replaced the buckled areas. Homeowners were satisfied. A month later shoe mold was installed and everything seemed fine. When returning to the job approximately 2 weeks after the installation of the shoe mold. Homeowner had 200 pieces of sticking tape where she did not like the gaps. Explained to the homeowner that is the floor she picked and where she is seeing gaps is where the tongue is fitting in the groove. I believe she is also now not happy with the gaps she sees at the ends of each plank. Now 3 months later hot and humid Louisiana the floor is buckling horribly. It is bad. Homeowners are wanting us to foot the bill for the floor and don’t want it. We believe that this is a moisture problem coming from the plumber whom the homeowner hired and wanted trenches dug under this addition (on Piers) to finish his plumbing. We believe that these trenches are holding water under the subfloor along with the heat and humidty and making the floors buckle horribly. How do we prove this. Attorneys are now involved ,and we have tried to make these people happy. We tried to tell the homeowner that digging the trenches would not be a good idea for the reason of holding water. This was way before the thought of the flooring. This was before the addition was even framed. Homeowner wanted to do what the plumber wanted. Since the floors, everything else has just snowballed, of course now everything is wrong when it was built strictly per blueprints, but the floor is the main concern. Does moisture in the house become the contractors problem??
July 27th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
We had Bruce oak flooring installed a week ago. I was not aware that there are different finish options and I think ours is semi-gloss which I do not like at all. I would have chosen matte or satin finish if I had been aware of the finish options. Is there a way to make the floor less glossy?
Thank you very much.
Bahar
October 5th, 2010 at 8:37 am
I am installing Bruce lifetime prefinished 3/4″ x 3.25″ red oak flooring. I’m having a LOT of trouble installing without leaving gaps between boards. I’ve installed 5/8″ bamboo before and did not have the same problems. The problem seems to be that the boards, especially the longer ones, are not perfectly straight and do not have perfect edges. Even though they are bevelled, some gaps show. They are small, but they are there.
I guess this is expected with the 3/4″ solid oak flooring. But before I lay down 700 sq ft of it I would like to be sure that my flooring isn’t defective and I’m not doing something wrong.
It seems to me that this is a disadvantage of the prefinished solid flooring over the unfinished flooring.
October 5th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Buddy,
What are you using to fasten it? Bruce tends to be a little more warped than some of the others, but not so much that you can’t bring it in with a floor stapler (the kind you hit with a mallet). Just don’t be afraid to wail on it. In 5 years we’ve had two used bostitch staplers, and sometimes I hold it down with my foot so I can swing the mallet over my head with both hands in order to bring in a stubborn board.
If it’s not just warping ant the edges are actually cut poorly, then that’s a problem that shouldn’t exist, and you should talk to the people you bought the wood from. If you need, maybe you could look on Angie’s list for a well-rated installer and offer to hire them for an hour or two to look at the flooring and/or talk to the people you got the wood from with you. That way you have some experience backing you up.
But if wailing on the floor with a stapler fixes the problem, then you’re probably fine just doing that.
October 8th, 2010 at 8:17 am
Thanks Steve!
You are right, I can pull in the warped boards with the stapler. This is working well for me. The longer they are the more likely they are warped some.
My remaining problem is that many of the boards are straight except for the ends. Its like the cut trails off at the end and one side of the edge is narrower – i.e, not perfectly square. (Like what happens to the ends of a piece of wood if I’m not careful when ripping it with a radial arm saw.) Maybe 25% of the boards are like this. When I put one down I get a narrow triangular gap about an inch or two long. If I pull it in with the stapler, or if the not square part is on the other side, I get the gap when I overlap it with the next board.
I’ve been putting those boards aside for now, but every once in a while one creeps in because its on the far side and I don’t see it until I’m laying the next row. You can definitely see the gaps when standing up. Other than this, the floor is going in very nice and tight.
Is this a common thing people have to deal with?
October 8th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Buddy,
Yeah, small gaps are fairly common, and once you’ve sanded the floor once, you can go around with a putty knife and some wood filler (the sandable kind that takes stain). Just get the filler down in the cracks and make it smooth-ish on top, then when you sand again, the gaps will be filled perfectly.
It is unusual to have that many boards with thin ends. Continue to set them aside so you can get some more wood or some money back from whomever you bought it from.
-Steve
October 27th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Steve,
I used screws to anchor the first row along a wall that will end up under cabinets.
(I have a hard time keeping the first row from moving when I use nails.)
Should I go back and remove the screws now that I’m done with that section?
I’m worried that they will prevent the boards from expanding in that direction, even
though I have an expansion gap between the first row and the wall.
-buddy
October 27th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Buddy,
First of all, props on your ingenuity! I don’t know if I would have thought of that.
I really can’t say for sure that the screws will or will not be a problem with expansion, but it’s better safe than sorry, right? I would just pop a few nails in those boards (if you haven’t already), and remove the screws.
This suggestion is based on my assumption that all the boards with screws, as well as the next row, will be completely covered by cabinets, never to see the light of day again.
-Steve
November 5th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Steve, thanks for all of your help!
I’m thinking of putting tile around the french door entrance.
It seems like that would prevent expansion.
Won’t that be a problem?
If I do put it in, is it better to put a wood border around the tile
(i.e., box it in), or butt the wood up to the tile, or is it just personal preference?
|| and = is wood, X is tile.
||||||
====
||XXXD
||XXXO
||XXXO Deck
||XXXR
====
|||||||
|||||||
Or
||||||
||||||
||XXXD
||XXXO Deck
||XXXO
||XXXR
|||||||
|||||||
-buddy
November 7th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Buddy,
The wood border will definitely look better. Expansion won’t be a problem if you leave a gap. What we do is leave a gap the same size as the grout that goes inbetween the tiles, then use a sanded caulk (designed to look like grout) to fill the gap. You don’t want to use grout inbetween the wood and tile because it will crack and break and come out and you’ll have to redo it all the time. We use a brand called “Accucolor”.
The border is just preference, but becomes more necessary if the tile is lower than the wood. If it is, your border pieces can be cut on an angle to transition down to the tile. If you tried to do that without a border, you’d have to try to cut the angle on all of the ends of all the boards and if it’s not perfect (which it won’t be) it will look like crap. But if the tile and wood will be flush, it’s just preference (though I think more people prefer the border, and it’s easier to make it look finished that way).
-Steve
November 21st, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Ok so here is my issue I have a solid stranded bamboo (pre finished) that was just installed….Along all of the walls the last two board where you can not nail on the tounge the installer did not pre drill the holes and air nailed directly in to the face of the board this has left unsightly pock marks that are raised up and look like little volcanoes is there any thing that can be done to fix this…..I have complained and they are will to rip these boards out and redo…the problem is I don’t think they are capable and will make things worse. It is every board along every wall.
November 21st, 2010 at 6:45 pm
ps sorry for the spelling typing on phone
November 21st, 2010 at 8:17 pm
Well, your best bet may be to let it go. If it really bugs you, push for a discount and hire someone else to come in and do that part. Top-nailing a prefinished floor is just amateur, but if push comes to shove in a court of law, there’s nothing you can do.
The proper way to finish off the last few rows on a prefinished floor (or even site finished) is to glue and shim, and the last thing you want to do is push slightly incompetent installers to do something they have even less experience at. Find a company that will redo the trouble spots and normally uses the gluing technique. A small company where the owner will do the work is probably the best, so you may have to start asking around to get a name, but if all else fails, you might find a bigger company that will do it.
Like I said, try to push for a discount. Tell them that you want it redone, but would rather that they give you some money back so you can have someone else come in. If it was us doing the work and a customer wanted us to redo something that we thought we did right, we would suggest that we give them some money and they have someone else do it for them. We try to avoid redoing a job well done because if we couldn’t satisfy them the first time around, chances are they’ll still have issues when we’re done. So who knows, they may go for it.
Again, your first question to a potential company to redo those sections should be “How do you handle the final rows against a wall on a prefinished floor,” and their answer should be that they glue it.
December 1st, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Hey Steve, I am having a 3/4″ solid pre-finished floor installed in my home. While looking VERY closely at the finish I have noticed that there are round marks on quite a few boards. There is no way these are natural imperfections. They are equally spaced and look like it was done by possibly a suction cup??? during the finishing process. I called the flooring manufacturer and they said it was my responsibility to check the floor for imperfections before installation. Isn’t it their responsibility to make sure that sub-standard flooring doesn’t leave the factory!! What should I do?
December 1st, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Well, they’re right. Once you’ve installed the floor, they are no longer liable. That is the standard across the industry. I’ve never seen what I think you’re describing, and without seeing it myself I can’t really give you any advice on covering it up or fixing it.
Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful,
-Steve
December 1st, 2010 at 8:56 pm
Back again not only have they face nailed every side wall (still not fixed) but after moving in a getting settled in different lighting conditions we can see bumps(dimples along every board where they use staples to fasten the flooring down …Is this something that is fixable?
Or do I need to have the whole floor replaced to fix this? Its pretty unsightly in the right lighting .Again its solid stranded bamboo
I have a ton of pics if your interested
December 2nd, 2010 at 12:32 am
Henery,
I’m no lawyer… so I don’t need pics. But yeah, it needs to be redone. I know it’s a huge inconvenience, and that sucks. If it’s a larger company that you have good word on, you can ask them to sent out a different crew to fix it maybe… either way, I’d pursue getting my money back or getting it redone.
Quick note: They are fully in their rights to keep your money. You payed for them to install a floor, not do it well. How well they do it will only affect future sales (or lack thereof). So although you wouldn’t win your money back in court, if they care at all about their business, they will try to work with you.
December 4th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Well after sending the salesman and owner a bunch of pictures of the other problems …they couldnt beleive it and they have proposed
3 options….1 rip out and redo the whole floor 2 sand and refinish or 3 give me a settlement to aceept as is…….This was an awesome responce and i couldnt of been happier…I want to lean toward the rip out and redo but have some reservations …but they promised to put there top guys on it….How hard and messey is a tear out? Also thank you for answering all of my posts its really helped a lot
December 22nd, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Just wanted to say thank you very much! I have been researching flooring and contractors for several months and I finally made a decision to go with a local, reputable flooring company and I got a type wood I had never heard of since it was on sale. It is called Cuchi wood. The installers went on and on about how hard the wood was as they were installing it and I think it is gorgeous! I had some initial service issues with the company which caused my trust in them to waiver and when they were finished installing the floor, I pointed out some gaps (I could see them standing) and they filled them with wood filler. I was not aware that this was an ok practice and began to wonder if they were just blowing smoke thinking I didn’t know any better. I also have some finishing concerns (moulding) that I plan to address with them. They are sending someone out to address my concerns next week.
Anyway, finding your column has helped me know what to expect with my new floor. I now feel better prepared to talk to them when they come to address my concerns. Thank you so much!
December 25th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
I love the look of our prefinished floor…still looks good after several years. My problem is how to clean between the boards as it always looks dusty. Is their a vacuum cleaner that will do this job in one sweep. I am having to use the upholstery attachment and literally sit on the floor and vacuum each crease.
Thanks for any suggestions.
January 12th, 2011 at 9:41 pm
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your help so far. I’m almost done. The tile by the door is finished and
the wood border worked great.
I’m transitioning to a spot in the house (the end of a hallway that T’s out into two other rooms) that is slightly lower (its an addition). After ripping up the 1/2″ particle board underlayment, I need to add 1/4 or 3/8 plywood over the subfloor to get it the same height as the underlayment coming in.
What is the best material to use to hold the staples?
Since the subfloor is OSB I want to get as much holding power from this rather
thin underlayment that I’m adding as possible. Its a small section (roughly 4×8) so I’m not worried about the cost. I don’t want to add more than 3/8″ because there are 3 doors at the end of the hallway in the addition and one door in the hallway right before the addition and it would be a pain to change the floor height here.
Would regular plywood be best? Oak hardwood plywood? Luan? Something else?
(I’m using 3/4″ pre-finished 3 1/4″ oak flooring running lengthwise down the hallway – parallel to the hallway walls.)
-buddy
January 12th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
Buddy,
Basically you’re not going to get any holding power from the underlayment. But if you were, plywood would be the best, and oak plywood would be minutely better (I mean MINUTELY… it might not even be measurable). I would suggest just getting regular plywood, stapling it down like crazy and maybe adding glue… but not if you think you’ll EVER have to rip it up again.
The best thing you can do to hold the wood down is to ensure you’re using 2″ staples. Normally there’s not much difference between 1 1/2″ and 2″ because the last 3/8″ of the longer staples just sticks out the bottom of the subfloor. If you’re using an underlayment, then all 2″ will be holding onto something.
I hope that helps, and I hope you enjoy your floor when it’s all done!
-Steve
Ps. Now that I think of it, using oak plywood would (again slightly) increase the chance of your staples curling under and not penetrating down into the subfloor. For that reason, regular (pine) plywood is probably your best bet
January 29th, 2011 at 8:11 am
We are thinking of prefinished wood floors but my husband wants to poly the floor after installation because he wants the entire floor sealed. He is concerned about spills and such. your thoughts please. Thanks.
January 29th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
Rhoda,
You can’t and shouldn’t put poly over a prefinished floor. Even on a site-finished floor, when the wood expands and contracts, cracks will open up and water can get down in there. Basically you’ll be dealing with gaps either way you look at it, and switching from prefinished to site finished won’t solve the issue.
That said, let’s say a child spills a glass of water and there are gaps. As long as you wipe it up right away (within a minute or two), the amount of water that seeps down will be small, and the water damage will be minimal or non-existent.
February 12th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
Hi Steve,
Thanks for this great column! I recently moved into a new home completed in December. I had Appalachian Prestige Maple Dark prefinsihed floors installed. I have noticed the floor boards are wavy in the light coming from the windows. It looks like the top layer of the floor in sections along each board is slightly raised. It is only notiable in the glare of the light when looking lenghwise alongt the flooring.
Is this normal with prefinsihed dark maple floors? Should there be wave like sections along each board? It looks like this may have happended during installation. Could the raised sections be were the nailer was used? It does not look right to me. WHat do you think?
Thanks for your help!
Bradford
February 12th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Steve,
I should have mentioned the raised wavey sections are along the long edges in each floor board where the two prefinsihed boards join together. It is not wavey in any other part of the floor board. Only along the edges, perhaps where the nailer was used.
Thanks,
Bradford
March 7th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
Hi Steve,
I have recently installed Novo bamboo flooring. The finish seems to have a haze over it and it shows absolutely every foot print from slippers and indoor sandals to socks or barefoot. The floor never looks clean, and although it appears a bit nicer at night, once the sun shines on it I wish I never took out the carpeting. The box also states that only a bamboo floor cleaner be used to clean it, but have never been able to find such a product, even at the store I purchased the floor from. They sold me a hardwood floor cleaner, and I have tied others as well, with the same results, a dull dirty looking floor.
The box states that it is finished in aluminum oxide, which other hardwood is finished with, so when I clean it, am I not cleaning the aluminum oxide finish, and therefore why would I need a bamboo cleaner?
I feel like I will have to refinish the floor to get it to look clean, the oak steps I had installed were finished on site with a urethane and they look marvellous.
Thank You
Rowan
Toronto
March 7th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Rowan,
You should try Bona Hardwood Floor cleaner (available at King Soopers (if you have those) and “Bed Bath and Beyond” I think). Bona is the largest flooring company in the world and their cleaner does not leave any residue on the floor. However, if you’ve tried a lot of cleaners, you might have used some of the wrong stuff and the cleaners might be the reason the floor was dull. Did you notice that it was dull before you ever cleaned it? Did the installers clean it? You should never clean a wood floor with any product that will leave anything behind. Murphy’s Oil Soap is a definite no-no.
-Steve
March 10th, 2011 at 10:24 am
We purchased prefinished Red Oak hardwood flooring for our home remodel. We have encountered a number of problems, and we’ve had this type of flooring before but never problems like this.
They nailed the flooring, but didn’t cover the nail holes. The floor has places where the finish is off on the edges and has what appears to be broken off edges, even though it has been covered with a heavy duty felt type paper to protect it. It has not had any heavy traffic on it. In addition, the info on the boxes did not match up to the invoice as it was a different name and the lots were from 4 months apart. They have sent two different crews and the first one covered some of the nail holes with wrong color and they just stand out more prevalent. We have a lot of nail holes and this is concerning, but the finish is of even more concern. My husband fears that we didn’t get the product that we purchased. They told us it was ” industry standard ” not to fill nail holes and that it was typical for a new floor to have all of these places with the finish off. We’ve had at least four other floors put down and never had this problem. What can you suggest? We had our entire house done in hardwood, and I’m just sick as it is all over our house even where no traffic has even walked. Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
March 20th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Hi Steve, We had Bruce 3/4 prefinished hardwood oak installed 10 yrs ago .. Under two large area rugs we have a perfect lighter footprint of the rug . We are a little freaked out… is there an easy fix for this fading or do we have to have the entire 1st floor sanded and refinished any reply is much appreciated…. TYVM John & Lorrie lennox
March 30th, 2011 at 1:32 am
Hi Steve, I just bought 3/8″ by 3″ Brazillan Koa from Lumber Liquidators. They recommended acclimating the wood for 10 days. Reading online, I understand that this wood is difficult to “dry.” Living in Denver, what do I need to do in respect to acclimating the wood as well as maintaining a “normal” moisture content.
Second question, I laid a plywood subfloor down and not sure if I should glue or nail it down. I have installed 3/4″ floors with nail but never 3/8″. Which is better? I am really fearful of cupping, etc.
Oh yeah, does the darking of the wood reach a peak. For example, if I the covered portions of the floor stay lighter, will they ever “catch up” to the rest of the floor once the furniture is moved or rearranged? Your wisdom would be wonderful!!
March 30th, 2011 at 1:36 am
Hi Steve, I just bought 3/8″ by 3″ Brazillan Koa from Lumber Liquidators. They recommended acclimating the wood for 10 days. Reading online, I understand that this wood is difficult to “dry.” Living in Denver, what do I need to do in respect to acclimating the wood as well as maintaining a “normal” moisture content.
Second question, I laid a plywood subfloor down and not sure if I should glue or nail it down. I have installed 3/4″ floors with nails but never 3/8″. Which is better? I am really fearful of cupping, etc.
Oh yeah, does the darkening of the wood reach a peak. For example, if the covered portions of the floor stay lighter, will they ever “catch up” to the rest of the floor once the furniture is moved or rearranged? Your wisdom would be wonderful!!
March 30th, 2011 at 11:25 pm
Chad,
As far as acclimating, you can never leave it too long. We’re down in Colorado Springs and we had a customer that ordered Brazillian Teak, and he took all the wood out of the bundles and laid them out in a criss-cross pattern all over his house to allow air to move through them. That’s an extreme example, but you basically want the wood’s moisture content to equal that of your house. 10 days sounds decent, but I would maybe wait 14, and if the product is in boxes, cut off the ends of the boxes (and cut open the plastic if there’s plastic in there) so air can pass through.
I would still nail it down if possible. Glue is a lot harder to deal with. You want a stapler called a “floor runner.” I’m not sure if that’s the technical name, but I’ve never heard it called anything else. If you’re really uncertain, we could probably rent you ours, as long as you could come up with some type of collateral (we’re not set up to take Credit cards for deposits).
I think that eventually light spots would catch up, but it’s best to move rugs and things around as much as possible to avoid unsightly issues.
Last thing… Lumber Liquidators is the only company we utterly refuse to do business with. Normally, we don’t care where our customer gets their wood, whether it’s through us or another store, we’d install it either way. But we will not install a product from lumber liquidators because they don’t stand behind their product. I know several people who have gotten a product from them and had no problems at all, but I also know a few who had problems, and LL won’t do a thing about it. If there’s an issue with your purchase, they could care less. So here’s hoping it all turns out ok.
March 31st, 2011 at 1:31 am
Hey Steve,
What size staple for the 3/8″ Koa? Rough PSI? and every six inches?
Thanks!!
April 14th, 2011 at 1:40 am
Hey Steve, everything (material) turned out good. Bought an extra box anyway. Went with a 1 1/2 nail. No one around had a stapler. Thanks for your time and info!!
April 20th, 2011 at 7:15 am
I just had Bruce pre-fab hardwoods put in my house. WHen completed a dusty residue was completely covering the floor and left that way…Is this normal? I know my house is dirty but can’t imagine that it was that bad. The laborers swept the dust and dirt from removal of existing floor and carpet instead of vacuuming. Again, is this normal.
April 20th, 2011 at 10:05 am
In a word, yes. Ultimately, you paid them to put in a floor, not clean your house. Installing a floor is a messy business, so it’s normal to have that much dust.
That said, we always clean the floor before we leave because we want our customers to be satisfied and tell their friends about us.
Bottom line: I wouldn’t call them back to clean up, but I wouldn’t call them back next time I needed work done either.
April 20th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Thanks for the advice. Any recommendations on how to clean and products to use?
April 20th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Here’s what we recommend:
http://hardwoodcafe.com/about-hardwood-floors/care.ph p
April 25th, 2011 at 1:02 am
Hello, I have pre-finished floors – dark finish. I notice that the edge of one board (coming against another board) is slightly cracked, such as the edge is splitting, so you see a part of the edge of the board, about 1 inches in length, somewhat lifting (the thin layer on the surface). Should I leave it or have it repaired, or fill the edge to prevent any moisture from seeping into the splitting surface? Sorry if this sounds confusing.
May 14th, 2011 at 7:48 am
Hi Steve, I’m purchasing an arts and crafts bungalow that has recently been updated. The owner chose to update the flooring with pre-finished oak. To my eye the floor looks too new and doesn’t have that nice sheen to it that most of the 20s era bungalow floors have. I was wondering if it was possible to varnish ontop of the alluminum oxide to give it a glossier finish also maybe with a coat of antique color to give it the original look or would i have to get the floors sanded down.
July 24th, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Hi Steve:
I just had prefinished oak hardwood installed. The installer used silicone to fill the cracks and nailheads. You can see spots everywhere he used the silicone. When I tried to remove the silicone from the floor with goo gone, there was still a haze and you can still readily see the spots. How can we remove this silicone from the floor and retain the shine?
July 27th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
Hi Stevish, I just had Prefinished hardwoods installed, 3/4″ X 3″, ~ 1000 sq. ft. Oil based wood putty, COLOR PUTTY CO., Monroe, WI, was used numerous places between long side joints and the 3″ end-to-end abutted joints. There are shiny areas, maybe 50 of varying lengths and and varying degrees of sheen, at these joints from the wood putty. The sheen at these joints in visible when the light angle is just so. They all bother me, but at least 10 are constantly in my vision as I walk my normal patterns in the house.
The subcontractor/installer tried to rub them out with Bona, fine steel wool, mineral spirits and one other product. Nothing changed and I was afraid he would make it worse.
The general contractor told me that those were normal shiny marks from the putty and that they would disappear in a couple months. Is that true? Do you have any advice or wisdom on the sheen caused by wood putty?
Thanks for your information and your time, Bobbi
July 31st, 2011 at 8:22 pm
We just installed prefinished Mullican Hickory Saddle hardwood floors in our home. On the edges we did put nails through the wood and are looking for the best way to fill them in. Is wood putty the way to go and if so do you need to put anything else over it to ‘finish’ it?
Thanks!
August 1st, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Margie,
All I can think of to get rid of the silicone is rubbing hard with your finger or scraping with your fingernail. He most definitely should NOT have used silicone!
August 1st, 2011 at 1:24 pm
Bobbi,
I can’t say that I’ve ever seen wood putty be shinier than the rest of the finish… it’s usually the opposite. If it really bugs you, I’d try to scrape it out of the grooves as much as possible with something made out of plastic (like a credit card or dish scraper… anything that fits down into the microbevels).
The fault here is not so much in the putty, but that so much of it was needed. The better the installer (and the more time he/she takes), the less gaps and cracks will need to be filled. All in all though, this is one of the disadvantages of prefinished flooring… mistakes are harder to cover up.
I wish I had better news… sorry.
August 1st, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Jess,
Wood putty is the best thing. You don’t need to put anything over it, but some guys take a rag with a “natural” wood stain (or sealer) and do a quick pass over it, then lightly wipe it off with a dry rag. They say it helps match the sheen.
The best solution is not to top nail a prefinished floor, though that’s something that took us 2 or 3 years to learn how to fully avoid.
August 1st, 2011 at 2:51 pm
Hi again,
Thanks, but the problem is not in the grooves, but on the wood itself next to a joint. The grooves are fine now – it is brand new. However, in multiple places where the wood putty was rubbed too hard, 40-50 areas, the wood is shiny/glossy on each side of the joint. In certain light it is noticeable in all the spots. In other lighting conditions it is not noticeable.
If anyone knows, or has experienced this problem, let me know if you were ever able to remove the glossy areas or if I just have to live with them. The general contractor says they will dissipate in 6 weeks or so. I am skeptical. (I took an extra piece of flooring and rubbed the putty on the surface of the flooring in one spot. That is how I know how I know the cause. I told installer and general contractor.)
Thanks, Bobbi
August 1st, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Bobbi,
I suppose you’re going to have to wait and see then… I would have suggested the Bona cleaner or mineral spirits myself. If he already tried those, then I’d cross my fingers and hope it dulls with time and being walked on.
August 2nd, 2011 at 10:21 am
Thank You, Bobbi
August 17th, 2011 at 11:54 am
I am having new floor installed, new construction 3/4″ prefinished product but the ends are not grooved. It doesn’t look very good and I have a lot of flooring sticking up, like walking on nails when you are barefoot. Any options? I am thinking of having contractor tear it out..it is a product they spec’d for the job.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:57 am
Stevish,
Our home is 4 yrs old and has site finished 5″ hickory 3/4″ T&G hardwood floors, (we purchased home from originals owners). We live in the NC mountains where humidity is just here. It is never hot enough in the summer for AC, windows are open unless it starts to rain. We have a humidifier on our heat pump and we run a dehumidifier in the spring and summer, also keep the little boxes with dehumidifier packs in them in garage and in basement.
The house has a finished basement, main floor above grade and a second level, all levels have the hardwood. The kitchen and dining area is one large room open to the great room by a 10′ wide arch. The kitchen had tiles that I wanted to replace, the dining had the mentioned hardwood. We removed the tiles and used Mohawk 5″ Natural Hickory 3/4″. Once down, where it met the older hardwood there was a significant difference in color, so we decided to replace the old with the Mohawk on the dining side too. That way we would have a uniform look with a transition running between the great room and dining. The kitchen part was laid in Dec., the dining part in May, now PROBLEMS big time. The kitchen area was acclimated for 7 days inside (heat on in Dec) prior to installation with boxes opened, the dining was acclimated for over 2 wks with wood out of boxes and stacked in various areas inside (spring in mtns, open windows at times).
After the kitchen was installed we would hear very loud, almost firecracker loud pops, especially at night, then it progressed to day. One plank produced a Bubble on the surface. About the time we laid the dining side, we started noticing “splits /creases” running lengthwise in some boards, then on the edges some “cut” areas 1-4″ long which are actually splits. Now the dining side is doing it too. Now we have cupping. Both areas have the black roof tar paper and 3/4-1″ was left around the room with baseboards and shoe molding to cover. This whole area is over a garage. The floors have been cleaned with a spray bottle of well known hardwood cleaner, just as the rest of my house has since we moved in 1.5 yrs ago.
Mohawk sent an “independent” (right!) adjuster out and he said the house had too much humidity they will do nothing. Mohawk should place a notice to all consumers : I YOU LIVE IN A STATE THAT HAS HUMIDITY DO NOT PURCHASE! So that would leave all their sales restricted to AZ, MT, WY and CO!
So my question is: why has the other 2700 SF not done the same thing? And if moisture is a problem, why has the living area and bedroom in the basement not been affected too? Spending $2300.00 for the flooring plus installation and tear out, I am not a happy camper. Any suggestions? I have pictures if needed. Thank you!
August 18th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Just got a call from the rep of the place we bought the flooring, so seems the manufacturer IS going to replace our floor! So Stevish, you can delete my comments. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!
August 19th, 2011 at 1:18 am
Hi Steve–
We just had well-made carbonized strand bamboo floors installed. The boxes sat in the house for 3 weeks before installation, but it is only now after installation that I find out I should have opened all the boxes. My installer told me I didn’t need to, but the manufacturer told me today that I should have. The floors came from Portland and I live in Castle Rock. This is a re-installation because our original floors had a manufacturing defect. It’s been a nightmare and now I’m afraid that these floors will shrink a lot, leaving a lot of gaps between boards (which will make me crazy). It is a floating floor–will the boards all shrink together and only pull away at the walls, or will the boards pull away from each other? And how much will they shrink? We do have a humidifier for the winter, so our humidity should stay between 40% and 50% year round inside. I’m looking for some reassurance that my 2000 sq ft of flooring isn’t going to be a mess. I do not believe the contractor did a humidity test before installing–He did tell me that he’s never seen floors wrapped up so tight before and that he expects the floors to shrink. Thoughts?
Thank you!
Jodi
August 27th, 2011 at 9:39 am
Steve,
11 years ago, my husband and I glued down Mannington prefinished natural oak tavern grade flooring in our home. We have enjoyed them, but began to notice a couple of years ago that the finish was wearing down. I blame myself for damp mopping with a Lysol disinfecting cleaner once /month for a few years, but that is all that has been used on them. In a high traffic area, the finish has worn off to the wood and looks dark and is rough to touch of course the area is a strip that runs from our kitchen into the living room, about 7ft x 1 1/2ft that is worn to the bare wood in places. Because of natural finish, it is light and the places where it is worn of course are dark (because of dirt and debris I suspect?). We were in a bind financially when we noticed this problem and now we are able to take care of it. We do have a box of the original wood left for repairs. How would you recommend we refinish and get our floor looking nice again? I don’t expect perfection, but would love to be able to restore them. One flooring installer/refininer told us that the dark areas would still show through, but would still look fine. Another told us he would touch them since he couldn’t guarantee they would come out nice, being that the top layer of the floors was thin(not much there to sand). Another told us not to do anything but “screen them.” It’s the dark/worn areas that we are concerned about. Could we refinish these ourselves or should we use a professional? We’re talking a lot of flooring to refinish, a living room/hallway/entrance and dining room that all flows together. Thank you for any help/advice!
September 9th, 2011 at 10:32 am
Steve: We installed pre-finished Liptus about 5 years ago. It is a gorgeous wood and we’ve gotten many compliments on it. However, after 5 years of kids, dog, etc., as well as routine cleaning, I’m disappointed the wood no longer shines like it used to. With the exception of a couple of spots, it doesn’t need to be refinished; the color is great and we don’t have an abundance of bad scratches.
What would you recommend for restoring a little lustre? Thanks for your help!
September 16th, 2011 at 10:20 am
I want to install hardwood floors. I live in sarasota, fl., a sub-tropical climate. Of course I have air conditioning, but in late fall winter, we often don’t use. What kind of flooring should I choose, prefinished hardwood or enginerred hardwood—I don’t want laminate–
September 19th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
We had pre-finished hardwoods installed in a 4 x29 hallway today. There are over 80 places, basically any place the nailer was used that have split sides and finish that is buckled and gone from the edge of the flooring strips. In addition both sides of the hallway flooring are nailed straight down and not just the outside strip of wood on both sides about 3 pieces out from each wall is nailed down. This is not at all what I was expecting. The installer said he could sand and poly those spots on a pre-finished floor and that was to be expected. Looks and feels terrible. The splintered areas are going to catch. In addition he wants to use unfinished instead of pre-finished transition pieces, I asked for transitions, to the bedrooms and it’ll never match.
September 28th, 2011 at 8:42 am
I am going through a remodel right now. The contractor guys came on Monday and put in the Meadowbrook Brazillian Cherry 1/2*5 Eng flooring. I was worried because I could see where glue was squeezing up through the floor while they were putting in the boards on Monday. The guy was pretty confident that there would be no problem removing excess glue.
Last night we were checking out the new floor after they finished putting in the base board and rubbing down the floor with paint thinner and left.
There are smudges where it looks like they tried to clean glue up from the floor. The smudges are still there. They are not wiping away.
What can I do about this? I just want the smooth look of the wood that I originally had.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
I have prefinished oak flooring in the kitchen and great room.
The house is about 10 years old. During this period the area by the patio door and windows have faded because of the sun. I live in SC.
How do you refinish prefinished oak flooring?
September 28th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
I have prefinished oak flooring in the great room and the kitchen.
The house is about 10 years old. The floor at the patio door and windows have faded. I live in SC.
How do you refinish prefinished floors?
October 6th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
Hi! I have a question about the lacquer finish. The 5in maple planks I recently bought have uneven finish: some areas are shinier, some less shiny. Even from plank to plank there are differences in shine. The differences are not always visible; it depends on the angle one looks from at the plank.
Is this common in wood? It came like this from the factory & because it is so spread out I don’t know what to do.
A friend says it is because of wood porosity, but I have seen in many other places the wood in very good condition, without such variations. Should I return the wood?
Thank you!
October 8th, 2011 at 9:10 am
Steve: I did the ‘unthinkable’… waxed a prefinished brazillian wood floor….!!
My floors are only 5 months old. I have two small dogs and need to wipe them clean constantly. I use Bruce floor cleaner. But I noticed the floor is dull….
So I purchased Organge glo products. They have a 4-1 that is a wax product used only once a month and a daily clearner… I used the 4-1 but when I went to wipe it up a few days later with the Orange Glo daily cleaner, it streaked and looked horrible!!! The only way to get rid of those streaks was to again use the 4-1 orange glo which is suggested to use only 1 a month!
Is my beautiful floor ruined!!!???
Help me Steve please!!!
Thank you kindly.
Doris in Florida
October 12th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Hi Steve, Could you please help me? I have a beautiful pre-finished hardwood floor that was installed about 4 years ago (Brazilian Mesquite from LUmber Liquidators). I have no complaints about the floor.
Being from the Midwest, all my wood floors were stained and varnished so there were never any spaces between the planks to worry about. Now with this prefinished wood, there are spaces where water can seep in and damage the floor.
My only question is “can I cover the floor with some type of protective finish?” My goal is to preventative maintenance as I will be renting my house soon. I am concerned that renters might knock over a glass of water or pop or even just walk in water when it storms outside.
I called Lumber Liquidators but they do not recommend covering the floor as it will not allow for expansion/contraction. I find that a little hard to believe as wood floors are covered in varnish all the time (traditional, non-prefinished method) and buckling does not occur.
The Home Depot told me that I could apply “Minwax Water Based Polycrylic” in this case.
So is there some way that I can “seal” the spaces in between the planks without ruining or yellowing the finish or causing damage (buckling) to this floor?
Thank you very much, Gen
November 3rd, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Hello, I just had my first room done yesterday with prefinished red oak from Lumber Liquidators. I noticed that the installer used putty in many of the end to end creases…my feeling is if it was installed properly not that much putty would need to be used. The installer says he uses it because it makes the floor look better. Is he not getting the end to end pieces close enough & should he really need to use that much putty? I am paying a lot for new flooring & want the best job possible. I don’t know if I should let this guy do anymore of it. He is blaming it on possibly the quality of the product I got.
Thank you for your help,
Lila
November 7th, 2011 at 6:19 pm
Hi can you please give me the definition of polished hardwood floors v’s pre-finished?
Is pre-finished hardwood floors a form of polished or a different product alltogether?
Thanks
Carla
November 8th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
Carla,
I’m not sure what polished hardwood floors are… Prefinished means that the boards have been sanded and finished (with an aluminum oxide finish) BEFORE they were installed.
November 18th, 2011 at 8:07 pm
Hi we are currently building and our builders laid shaw engineered floors. Afterwards they covered them with plastic and finished the rest of the construction. When they removed the plastic we notice at least 50 nicks and chips in the floors. They ended up using a mini wax pen and wax to fix the chips. I don’t feel that this repair will last since those chips are only stained and not sealed. I would like them to put some type of finish on top of all the wood to leave an even seal so the floors will be able to handle day to day traffic of a family of 5. What is your thouhts on the manner.
November 19th, 2011 at 9:17 am
We had new Bruce prefinished white oak floors installed several days ago. The installer used some wood putty called “Color Putty” to cover some of the nail holes and smooth out some of the cracks and gaps. Does this putty ever dry or harden? Using a Swiffer continues to bring up some of the putty. When we walk around in white socks, there are putty stains on them. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.
November 30th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Hello Stevish,
we have recently bought a birch pre finished hardwood. we have not installed it yet but while trying to scratch with finger nail it easily scratches. how can we make it more resistant to scratches?
can we apply extra coats of poly urethane to make it more resistant?
because it appears that the finish coatings is not of enough thickness
Thanks
December 5th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Dear Floorman -
We had maple pre-finished hardwood floors installed about a year and a half ago throughout our kitchen, entry, hall and family room.
The wood was acclimated in the area of installation for about 2 weeks.
The kitchen and entry was installed (the underlay was wood laying diagonal to the new subflooring and showed the earth beneath) over new subflooring – plywood panels screwed into the subflooring – and the rest over existing subflooring or plywood panels.
Now there are about 20+ areas where there is definiate splitting occuring – noticeable from about 5′ above. They appear at the ends, some paralell to each other, some are much longer – 10-12″.
The installer said, “All wood floors crack.”
After calling/emailing the manufacturer “The Garrison Collection”, they sent an inspector out. The installer and the inspector looked at each crack. The installer was unfamiliar with some of the terms and had not done what the inspector had asked about prior to installation, ie leveling, checking for moisture, etc. Upon completion of the inspection, along with taking several pictures of the cracks – some 1-2″ others 10-12″ even some side-by-side – and pictures of the discoloration on some of the boards, he reported that it’s due to moisture.
The house is dry and sandy underneath – we saw that when they had to install new supports for the load-bearing beams. Other homes adjacent to ours do NOT have any cracking problems with their hardwood, laminate, engineered wood, etc. floors.
Our home was built in the 50′s and the original hardwood flooring in one bedroom is without any deformations whatever – even with 4 girls sleeping, dancing, dropping innumerable objects, etc. Also, another room that had hardwood flooring installed 15 yrs. ago is without blemish or cracking – after 2 girls sleeping, dancing, you get the picture. (And yes, we had 6 children working their feet in this home.)
I don’t feel his inspection was unbiased and don’t know where to turn to have a “real” inspector give us an unbiased option. Please advise. Thank you for all and any consideration you may be able to give us.
December 7th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
please help me i have just moved into a flat with a wood floor down and it is really very cool but you can see where people have walked over it (the people who had the flat befor me) i want to make it so that it looks nice and polished like the rest of the floor. i no nothing about wood floors , so how do i make it all better what do i put on it so if anyone can please tell me i would be so very greatful ,thanks for reading my message.
December 12th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
I finished 5 rooms of oak floors with tung oil 10 years ago. Easy to do and maintain. Cleaned with damp mop (bit of water with a few drops of melaleuca – tea tree oil). Now I’m looking to have unfinished flooring installed in house I just bought. What is your experience with oil finishes, any tips or recommendations? I’m looking for a “green” or alternative finish instead of polyurethane. Thanks & Merry Christmas!
December 15th, 2011 at 9:50 am
We just had pre-finished hardwood floors installed in our living room. The contractor who installed the floor recommended we use Butcher’s Bowling Alley wax [we could only find Tremont (carnauba)paste wax] on the floors soon for various reasons including – fills in the the natural cracks in the wood, adds an extra “tough” layer to the floor, and adds shine. But more recently I have been told NOT to wax pre-finished floors.
Is it ok to wax my pre-finished hardwood floors?
January 5th, 2012 at 10:09 pm
I have installed several refinished wood floors. I have recently finished a job about 4weeks ago. The floor upstairs is fine but the kitchen and eat in dining room is a 5 inch wood floor from lumber liquidators and the joints looked great 3 weeks ago when I went back to put transitions in the bedrooms. Now in the kitchen and eat in dining area the joints are separating and I would say 1/8 th inch in some areas. The homeowner wants me to pull it up and re lay it at my expense. This is quite a bit of labor approximately 240 sq ft. We already had to install the shoe moulding and caulk and paint it as part of the job when we only contracted the floor install. Please give me some advice please
January 15th, 2012 at 10:16 pm
Hello,
I just installed an Armstrong Premier Performance pre-finished Walnut floor.
I found out that the urethane has aluminum oxide, and it scratches very easily with white lines because of the AO.
How can I fix that?
Thanks!
RW
January 24th, 2012 at 11:31 am
I just had pre-finished wood flooring installed and I’m finding a lot of splinters throughout. We found most of them when I dust mop and the fibers get caught on the splinters and also by walking with socks on. Most of them are on the edges, but I have also found splinters in the middle of the boards. Should I be concerned or should this not suppose to happen. I have put masking tape on each one for the contractor to see. What turned out to be a couple, is now 30-40 and growing. I’m afraid that the splinters will break off and I’m left with all these boards with pieces of wood missing.
Thank you. Marie
January 25th, 2012 at 7:33 am
We are currently having a Mohawk 5″, pre-finished, American walnut, 3/4″, solid floor installed. I am noticing a great deal of short boards (2-3″). When choosing a floor, my wife and I could not decide between the pre-finished and job-site floor, but ultimately decided on the pre-finished, because of durability. One concern was whether a pre-finished floor had more short boards. I asked the owner of the flooring store if I should expect more short boards in the pre-finished floor and he said “no”. Now, I am not sure he is telling me the truth. I asked him about it again the other day and he said that American walnut trees don’t grow straight, so there are rarely long board in either pre-finished or job site. The installer however, said the opposite, stating that they always stick the short boards in the pre-finished floors. He opened a box with my wife present to show her that only one board in the entire box was long. What is the truth? Should I have expected more shorts in pre-finished? Does walnut typically have more shorts, pre-finished or job site? What about other wood species? Thank you!
February 2nd, 2012 at 9:22 am
Hello,
I just had wood floor installed in 4 rooms of my home. I paid for new baseboards to be installed (approx 3$ / linear foot for labor – I bought the boards myself)). As I went to inspect the finished product, I noticed that the tops of the baseboards were not caulked. There is a small gap (maybe 1/16 of and inch. Some places 1/8) running most of the length of the walls. The contractor tells me caulking isn’t included in the price–I’d have to do it myself.
Now, I’ve had floors done before and the contractor caulked the baseboards without me asking and without an extra charge. Did I get lucky the first time or am I getting ripped off now?
February 2nd, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Stevish,
We installed a floating engineered hardwood floor (brazilian cherry) several weeks back and notice one seam a foot in length separating. I chaulk it up to not perfectly level and I didn’t notice it when installing. It’s in the middle of the floor and I really don’t want to tear this up. Is there a puddy, glue or epoxy I can put in the seam and color match?
February 2nd, 2012 at 6:55 pm
P Murphy,
Well, it’s hit and miss with that one. I think that technically that’d be considered the painter’s job in new construction, but since you kind of do everything during a remodel, some customers expect it. I wouldn’t call it “going the extra mile,” but maybe it’s like “going the extra 5 or six feet.” It’s still extra, but was it really that hard? So it’s nothing to get worked up over, just remember that that is a contractor who will not be going above and beyond for you, so maybe not someone you’d wanna hire again.
February 2nd, 2012 at 7:42 pm
Chris, you’ll want to look for “Minwax” wood putty. It comes in many colors, and you should be able to find one that matches.
February 9th, 2012 at 11:14 am
Stevish,
Installed floating 3/8″ engineered hardwood flooring. The boards run the same way as the floor joists on underlayment pad & OSB. I see slight movement when walked on. Can I put something inbetween the joists to reduce movement from underneath or do I have to pull up the floor and lay an additional layer of subfloor? If I can do the first- what’s the distance in one floor joist? put between every floor joist?
thanks!
February 13th, 2012 at 10:48 pm
Hello. My husband and I insalled the Thomasville Brazilian Cherry in our home 3 years ago. I try really hard to keep them clean, although it is extremely hard with a toddler and German Shepherd. The grooves between the boards always look like crap and the Bona floor cleaner does not always seem to clean too well. Is there a way I can somehow “deep clean” them inbetween using the Bona hardwood cleaner? My friend mentioned that I could clean with a damp cloth using a vinegar and water combo. Is this true? i am always afraid of what to do as I do not want to mess with the wood and cause issues. ANy recommendations on how to clean, what cleaner, what brand broom and vacuum can be used would be fantastic. Thanks so much in advance!
February 15th, 2012 at 11:23 am
Great information! Thanks for sharing. People ask us all the time if we do floors. I think we will just let the floor people do that!
February 23rd, 2012 at 10:25 pm
Great Site,
hopefully a couple simple questions. I have Bella prefinished wood in the living room that runs up to tile in the kitchen. I’m doing a remodel and knocking walls out and am going to lay wood through out the soon to be large room, tearing out the tile and putting in matching wood. Should I lay prefinished in the kitchen? The issue I have is that the Bella in the living room needs to be refinished and I want to make sure everything matches as far as color. Should I lay the prefinish down and then refinish it all together? I know that sounds crazy, but any difference in color is going to grind on me. Should I lay unfinished wood in the kitchen, refinish the living room and then coat. Not quite sure what to do.
February 25th, 2012 at 10:37 pm
Daniel,
Sand the existing wood, then get a pro (or the closest thing you have to it) to look at it and tell you what kind of unfinished wood will match. If the new wood will butt up against the old wood, you’ll need to remove the last board from most of the rows of the old floor and “Lace in” the new wood so there’s not a ton of seams right in a row. This is very time consuming (and can be tricky to do without damaging the surrounding boards), but the end result is worth it.
It’s never worthwhile to get prefinished wood and then refinish it. Not only is that extra money out the window, but it’ll also cause you more heartache and use up more paper when you try to sand off the aluminum oxide finish.
February 27th, 2012 at 5:02 pm
We are installing strand woven bamboo on wood subfloor on a 2nd floor. The installer recommended that we glue down a 1/2 inch cork underlayment and then glue the bamboo on top to keep the noise down from downstairs.
Is that a common application to put down cork for sound reduction?
Should we use the thickness as suggested or a 1/4 inch should be enough?
Do people always glue down cork or could they be nailed down? I figured that if the bamboo is that glued on top of the cork and one day we need to change the flooring, the cork and bamboo could easily come out?
February 28th, 2012 at 11:18 am
Hi Steve, thanks for all of the great information on your site!
We just moved into our new construction home about a week ago. First thing we did upon closing was head to the house to clean. When dusting the prefinished maple floors, the duster was catching in a few spots. We discovered that it must be catching on splintered edges on the boards. When any type of fabric (duster, furniture protector) slides across the floor, it catches on these splintered edges and tears a little piece of wood off.
Any idea what could be causing this or how to prevent it from continuing to happen?
Thank you
March 20th, 2012 at 12:37 am
We have a prefinished 3/4 solid wood floor installed a month ago… There are gaps that are 3/16 in many spots. You can see the tounge.. The floor looks good except for that.. I am sure in did not get aclimated.. The floor was delivered and set in the garage for 3 weeks and then installed over radiant hot water heat that is stapled up under sub floor… The installers knew all of this before instalition.. This is in a new house. My general contractor hired the floor guys.. They have been paid in full but my general contractor has not… What do I do….
April 21st, 2012 at 9:29 am
I plan to put in prefinished Brazilian redwood in the Master bedroom to match what is already there in the living areas. (The previous owner had updated the living areas). Can you tell me how long this type of wood needs to acclimate in the house (in California)? Does it matter where the warehouse is from where the wood is coming (Florida vs Oregon etc).
I see a lot of info and products that are Brazilian Cherry, but not so much Brazilian Redwood. Can you tell me anything about this product?
Thanks,
Sandy
April 23rd, 2012 at 7:39 pm
Hi There. We had pre-finished hardwood floors installed about a year ago and just recently we have noticed what look like air bubbles in various sections throughout the house. These bubbles were not in the planks when installed. Do you know wht it could be from?
May 6th, 2012 at 11:28 am
Hello Stevish,
First, great information on your site. Thanks for taking the time to answer questions for everyone.
I believe I found the answer to my question in one of your previous replies. I wish I would have read your site before having the prefinished hardwood floors installed. (Brazilian Cherry Prefinished Natural 3/4″ x 5″).
“Top-nailing a prefinished floor is just amateur, but if push comes to shove in a court of law, there’s nothing you can do.
The proper way to finish off the last few rows on a prefinished floor (or even site finished) is to glue and shim, and the last thing you want to do is push slightly incompetent installers to do something they have even less experience at.”
I thought we had the best installer in the area, we did ask for a lot of references! They still top-nailed the last two rows! If I had read your site I would have known to ask how they would finish off the last rows — answer GLUE & SHIM!
THANKS AGAIN!
Vann
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:33 pm
Hello Stevish,
Would you please offer advice on how to repair a gouge/chip/argh, I don’t know what to call it. Yesterday while installing a Bella Mahogany floor, there was an incident with a faulty nailer that left an already installed board a couple of courses back with a nasty gouge. The cut goes through the finish coats into the wood and has left a jagged, raised, splintery bit in the middle of the board.
It doesn’t appear that the raised bit can be perfectly refit into the gouge, but even if it could be glued back down, how would we seal the finish? My incredibly handy husband and father are contemplating cutting off the raised piece, lightly sanding the area, and filling the hole with putty in a hopefully matching color, but we are still left with how to finish it.
Please help. Cathy
July 13th, 2012 at 10:42 pm
I have what I assume is prefinished hardwoods (house was built in 2005 in a subdivision by a contractor). We have lived here for almost three years and the floor looks a little dull, plus with a 4 year old and her toys on the floor (a little car with hard plastic wheels she would ride on and slide the car sideways, along with doll strollers with hard plastic wheels etc), the top surface has many, many scratches. I am going to try the Bona cleaner to clean the wood but would you suggest using the Bona Floor Polish? I’m thinking low gloss? I have read some negative reviews about the polish and wanted your expertise.
August 5th, 2012 at 6:07 pm
I just had an engineered wood floor with aluminum oxide finish installed. The installers have cleaned some of it. They are cleaning it with mineral spirits. I am concerned, I don’t know if it is safe to use mineral spirits on this floor. Some of the areas they have cleaned have a whitish haze. Is this from the mineral spirits, the adhesive or what? This is urgent they are coming back tomorrow to clean the rest of the floor; I’m afraid to let them clean anymore with the mineral spirits. He told me after the mineral spirits they were going to clean the whole floor with Pledge floor cleaner. I told him absolutely not. I know Pledge has wax in it and at least I know enough to know you aren’t supposed to put a wax product on aluminum oxide. What is safe to clean this floor with? Urgent, help, please!
August 22nd, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Great advice on this site! It has been very helpful. My question is this:
I have 15 year old pre-finished oak flooring on the main level of my home. This main level is an open floor plan and all runs together/one continous floor. I had recent water damage to about half of the main level flooring. The contractor/insurance company tore out the wet half. They are not able to match/find the same prefinished wood. The insurance company wants leave in the original prefinished area, add regular/unfinished oak to the area they tore out, and then sand all and finish all together. Any comments or concerns on that plan? I vote for ripping it all out and starting over but the insurance company thinks that is too costly. Please offer any advice you may have on this topic. Thank You!!
August 24th, 2012 at 12:42 am
Hi Stevish,
We just built a new home and had Mohawk Engineered Hardwood in Raschiato Eucalyptus Saddle installed throughout the first floor. We have been in our home for less than two months and the color is fading over most of the first floor. Some of the boards are still the original color, but most are turning lighter with each day that passes. We are using the recommended Mohawk floor cleaner, so I’m not sure what the problem could be. Should we contact the builder or Mohawk to address the issue? Any ideas on what would cause the discoloration so quickly?
September 12th, 2012 at 6:44 pm
The problem with pre-finished is that it must be perfect. However…when it is manufactured in china and then sent to Tennessee then shipped to your local it has passed and sat at a few different locations since it was actually milled in china. You have to buy wood milled locally for it to not shrink or expand. Also you must follow the guidelines set by nhwfa if and only if it was milled, bought and delivered in your same climate area. For example if it was manufactured in china then delivered to Tennessee and then arrived in Montana…you are screwed. It will not be the same dimension as it was when it left china by the time it arrives and sits in a dry climate like Montana. It is purely put this way. Wood is a sponge if it arrives wet…it will shrink. If it arrives dry it will most likely expand. Either is bad. Hate to say it but the best result is to get local wood and have it site finished.. If anyhting goes wrong with a site finished floor you can most likely fix it….probably 90% of the time. Pre-finished you can not fix most of the common issues when installing floors.
September 19th, 2012 at 1:42 pm
I am looking to get pre-finished hardwood floors put in the entire living area of the first floor of our home. There are so many different brands out there. I was wondering if one brand is better than another. Also we have a large Newfoundland dog. I was told that the pre-finished would hold up better than having my existing floors sanded and finished. (the floors we have now are not in the best of shape because wall to wall carpeting was installed so many times)
September 19th, 2012 at 7:09 pm
Jean,
Well, We really like Kentwood flooring because the milling is excellent, so the boards fit together well with less gaps caused by warpage (because the boards are generally straighter). Aside from that, most brands are similar in durability and such (except bellawood… just stay away from lumber liquidators!)
You heard right about your dog, the finish on prefinished wood is way harder than the stuff put on on-site. You also might look into getting a harder wood than oak. Here is a link to a hardness chart on our website that may be of value.
September 28th, 2012 at 7:24 am
Hello,
I had wood flooring installed in one room 1 yr ago & another room 6 months ago. It is 5 inch wide red oak…in both rooms the flooring in some of the creases/joints (length side) seems to be buckling up. I kept looking at it & then took a ruler & sure enough it is slightly higher on the seams/edges. It seems to be slightly more pronounced in the room done 1 year ago. What is causing this, humidity in the house? Will it go away when it gets dryer this winter in the house? Was the wood not totally dry when I had it installed? In the next rooms I do should I buy the wood & let it sit in the house for six months before installing? Thank you, for any advice you can give me!!!Lila
September 29th, 2012 at 6:57 am
Lila,
Well, 5 inch boards are more susceptible to warping like that. When the boards warp like that it’s called “cupping,” and it generally means that the bottoms of the boards are wetter than the tops. The most obvious reason would be that the humidity in the house is going down. There could be other reasons, and it is conceivable (if you live in a dry climate) that the wood didn’t get completely acclimated. Do you have a whole-house humidifier or dehumidifier? The best way to prevent warping is to keep the house at a constant humidity level. Even if the problem was acclimation, a consistent humidity level will usually even them out over time.
-Stephen
October 14th, 2012 at 10:50 pm
The contractor just finished. He installed Prefinished Bellawood oak in the whole house.
My question is: How many scratches and dents are acceptable in one room??
I mean, the floor looks great, but I can see so many scratches and dents standing up, and If I get on my knees it is worse. There is a dent that cover 10 planks. It is not deep, but i can see it. Can he fix these problems? Can you replace a plank after has been installed? I’m concerned. Thanks
October 15th, 2012 at 6:40 am
Maria,
You can place individual planks, and there should be no scratches or dents visible from a standing position when the installer is done. However, since he was installing bellawood (a lumber liquidators product), he could cut corners in other ways, and I’d be willing to bet you got a pretty good deal, and this may be a case where you get what you pay for.
But I would definitely put some pressure on the contractor to fix his own mistakes (just be 100% sure they are HIS mistakes and didn’t happen when the furniture was moved back in or something), and see where that gets you. Legally you can’t make him fix it, because I’m betting you didn’t have a contract that included the stipulation that there would be no scratches or dents. If you refuse to pay, he can put a mechanic’s lean on your house, meaning you’d have to pay him before you could sell the house.
Good luck. Be respectful but firm. If the guy cares about his word-of-mouth advertising, he will work with you.
October 15th, 2012 at 11:59 am
Thanks for the reply.
Of course I don’t have any contract for scratches and dents. But I think they were not really careful with their tools and machines. They installed the machines and worked inside the house all the time. ( Can I call this “His mistake?) The huge dent is when they moved the refrigerator from one room to another. He said he shouldn’t have moved the appliances (Refrigerator, stove and dishwasher). But at the beginning he had no problem helping to move heavy furniture. I refused. I moved everything to the basement by myself, taking care of the walls and the furniture, leaving just the appliances in the kitchen. (Is this my mistake? Should I have moved the appliances by myself? The contract didn’t say anything about moving appliances.
Now the second floor came wonderful. The first floor, made me cry.
Is there a way to reinstall the bad area, like redo half of the room again?
I don’t mind the cost $, I just want to be happy. Unfortunately, all the problem is in an area of the house that I can’t cover with a rug, and I’ll see it everyday.
I Just talk to him, he is not willing to fix anything. He said : this is the problem of working with prefinished wood, he prefers to work with natural wood. Too late to hear that!
Thanks, your help gives me peace.
October 15th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Maria,
Yeah, it is possible to just replace the problem boards, but it sounds like you need to fire your current contractor. Any installer worth his salt can leave without damaging his own floor. I would look for another contractor to replace just the damaged boards. Mark each one you want replaced, then call someone for a free estimate.
Good luck!
January 15th, 2013 at 7:11 pm
Dear Stevish,
We purchased Harris Traditions maple wood pre-engineered flooring. The place we purchased it is installing it. When we came home, we noticed there were some surface/finish problems on some of the wood that had been installed. It is most noticeable in the hallway, where the light shines more directly on the wood. The problem is that there are areas where the varnish is rough, and you can se and feel that the surface is not smooth. It is not on every board, but it is apparent on a good number of floor boards in the hallway. The guys installing say they did not see these problems with the finish when they were installing. When I pointed it out to them, then they saw it. The flooring rep came by and said he does not consider these to be imperfections in the finish. He said that the flooring has a 25 year warranty and if problems arise with the wear and tear due to the varnish, it will be replaced at no cost to us (including the installation). He said he stands by the quality of the flooring and what has been put in our house. He also said (because not all the flooring has been installed), that he will swap out any boards we feel have problems before the remaining flooring is installed. This seems a bit inconsistent to me – since the problems we would be swapping out are the same problems that exist with flooring that has already been installed.
So my question is how to address this – do we go ahead and accept what has been installed, based on the rep saying it can be addressed by the warranty later if the finish doesn’t hold up well in the areas where we have noticed these imperfections?
Thanks you for your response.
March 1st, 2013 at 3:51 am
Thanks Steve, great page! Very educational.
March 8th, 2013 at 4:20 pm
We are going to install hardwood floors in our condo, which get loads of sunlight. We know that all hardwood will change color over time, and are looking for guidance as to which might change less. We’ve ruled out Tigerwood (which we loved) because I read that it’s very susceptible to sunlight. What about birch, cherry, maple or others? Do you have any recommendations?
May 14th, 2013 at 8:56 pm
Can exercise equipment coexist with hardwood floors?
We are thinking of installing hardwood floors in our condo, but also want to put an elliptical trainer in one room. Can the floor be protected from abrasion with some sort of mat or pad?
May 15th, 2013 at 6:55 am
PJS,
Definitely! I would suggest rubber feet (not plastic) on the equipment. Otherwise, a rug with a nice backing would work just fine. The vibration itself won’t hurt the floor, it’s the sliding with dirt or sand underneath plastic feet or something. Rubber, felt and rugs are all soft enough that even if dirt gets under them, it will get ground up into them instead of down into the floor.