"I've Been Installing Floors For 40 Years..."

...and nobody is going to start telling me how to do it."

When Hardwoodinstaller.com sold product over the internet we had our occasional product problem inquiries, but not as many as I actually thought we would. Perhaps it had something to do with the amount of information provided throughout our site that had customers becoming the watchdog when their floors were being installed.

Anyway, it was late October 2006 and we had a product problem called in from a customer in Maryland. He had purchased 1,800 square feet of BR111 Amendoim 5 1/2" solid plank, a large quantity by any measure. Considering I don't fly I made the trip up I-95 to visit with the customer.

Sure there are manufacturing problems, everyone goes through it. Upon my arrival it was obvious there was a problem with some boards having an out of tolerance milling problem Poor hardwood staggering on the ends. But the installer, who claimed to have forty years experience in the business installed part the floor anyway because the builder wanted the kitchen area done first so they could install the kitchen cabinets.

Sorry for the picture quality, but anyone would get the idea as I did. This is the first thing I saw when walking into the home. The job was stopped for two reasons. The kitchen area was done and now there was a problem. Who in their right mind installs a floor like this? It had been stopped 10 days before I arrived. It was also obvious nobody cared about protecting the floor. Fortunately there was very little traffic in the kitchen and the cabinet installers did a good job of not scratching or dinging the floor.

Adding more problems to a possible solution, the floor was stapled and glued because it Defective hardwood installed was a wide plank and the home was on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay. Wider planks have a tendency to show cupping more than smaller widths in this type of environment. Upon arrival I asked that we get together with the installer. Two days later a meeting with the so called experienced installer was meaningless and did not last for more than two minutes.

Material that had already been laid were bunched in areas with smaller pieces, end joints were inches from one another. His reply was "they were straighter." Then I pointed out other pieces that were obviously defective yet installed anyway and out it came..."I've been installing floors for 40 years and nobody is going to start teaching me how to do it. And if you keep it up I'm walking off this job..."

That's all I needed. I was not going any further. What was the outcome? I called in the help of Rick Scott (floormedic.com) who was a great source when I had an installer referral program on the site back in earlier days. Two of his guys and myself spent two Short pieces bunched in areas days going through every single piece of uninstalled hardwood checking measurements on every board. Finally we had what we felt was satisfactory material and removed the defective from the job site.

Folks Read the Directions

On every single box of hardwood delivered to this job, BR111 and all major manufacturers has an insert providing installation specs that include what is not acceptable and how to go about handling it. From BR111:

DO NOT install defective flooring. You will be the final judge of acceptable quality. Flooring that has been installed is deemed to be acceptable. BR-111™ shall not be responsible for costs associated with installing, finishing, and/or replacing of flooring installed with obvious defects.

In conclusion, the manufacturer BR111, went above and beyond helping in taking care of this problem. It solidified my opinion of a very sound and professionally run company. In addition, they checked all material in inventory on the same product and pulled it from distribution so others would not go though the problems I did. I'm only saddened my best contact with BR111 has since retired and moved back to Australia.

Related Pages:

• Avoid Hardwood Floor Problems - Before they start
• Hardwood Installers - State Of The Industry