A couple months ago (04/15/08) we replaced the carpet in our family room with hardwood. The product was engineered wood made by Capella Hardwood - pecan, if that makes any difference. It is tongue and groove and glued directly to the concrete slab.
When it was installed, it looked great. Since then, several boards have edges that are higher than the boards next to it. This certainly was not that way when it was first installed. The height of the raised boards varies from .005 to .017 inch, measured with a feeler gauge.
I called the dealer, who is local and been in business for 30 years, and who I have known for about 12 years. Fact is, after I retired in 1990, I went into part time contracting and whenever I had a customer inquire about flooring, I sent them to him. Probably only once or twice a year, but I am sure that some of those I referred to him bought from him.
Anyway, he came out and seemed to be spoiling for an argument from the time he walked it. He had a brand new feeler gauge, which I suspect he stopped and bought on the way over. He said that a variation tolerance of one board over the next was .012, and that most of the boards were within that tolerance. I said that this was not explained to me when I bought to floor. Since, I have gone to the web site of Capella Hardwood, and they make no mention of this variation.
He asked me what I wanted him to do. I said I wanted it fixed and he asked me how. I said I wasn't in the floor business and couldn't tell him how to fix it.
He said I could get another floor company to tear out the floor and install a new one, and if it wasn't the same way, that he would give me my money back. I thought this was a ridiculous solution for obvious reasons, mainly it would cost more just to have the old floor removed. Then he said he would call an independent floor inspector to come out and give an opinion. I didn't buy this either because if he hires an independent inspector, that inspector is going to obviously lean toward the dealer's position since he will be thinking of future business. At this point, the dealer (my friend) said I called him a liar, and went off on a tangent.
I said I wanted a company representative to look at this and get their input. This will happen next week. Of course, I don't know what the rep will say, and if they tell me this is normal, what path options I have or which to take.
If there is anyone in this group that has knowledge and experience with hardwood floors, I would sure appreciate your comments and suggestions.
Thanks in advance, Bob-tx (Georgetown)