Hardwood Floor milling tolerance-Gettin' ready to rumble!

[mschrank]

We're at the point in our remodel where things are starting to be put back together rather than demo'd.

I bought 700 sf of pre-finished "massaranduba" (yeah, I'd never heard of it either, but sure is beautiful). It's a Brazilian hardwood. Really heavy, dense stuff.

It's been acclimating in my living room for a couple of weeks.

The installers showed up to start Monday. Found out real quick that there are some pretty bad variation in the width, both piece to piece and within a single piece. It's ranging from 3-7/8" to 4". Doesn't sound like much, but it just isn't going together well. The installers say it's the most difficult job they've had (I know these guys, trust 'em). They said if it was "cottage" or "cabin" run grade, they might expect it...but this is supposed to be top-shelf stuff. I sent the installers to another job...hope I can get them back.

A distributor rep came out today and took some caliper measurements and pictures to send to the mill. He couldn't/wouldn't tell me what the milling tolerance was. Says he'll get back to me within a couple of days.

To my way of thinking (and LOML's, and we know how much her opinion counts!), it is unacceptable and they should take it back.

Any input from you fine folks?

[crokett]

They need to take it back. 1/8" is way too much variance for flooring. My brother did about that much sqft with oak that was not premium grade and his is tighter than that.

[JimD]

I would also want to know why it is varying this much. Was it milled wet and is now drying out? Is it done drying out or will it continue to shrink? Sanded in-place hardwood shows gaps real well. The gaps in our oak floor are much less than 1/8, I don't think the big ones are even 1/16, and they still show clearly. If it is 1/8 today, what will it be a year from now?

Jim

[mschrank]

Yes!

The distributor will take the flooring back! Unfortunately, they want me to repackage all of it. I had opened all the boxes as per the acclimation instructions, and cut a few apart. Last night, I salvaged a few boxes that I had thrown outside and brought them in to dry out.

I didn't have much luck with the flooring company when I called them...got a customer service rep that answered the phone with a snotty attitude. She told me they have up to 30 days to accept or deny the claim from the distributor, because they only have one person in the claims department. I asked if they were so inundated with claims that it would take 30 days to get to mine, and the conversation just went downhill from there.

So, looks like it will be about a total 2-3 week delay. We've decided to give Brazilian Cherry a try this time around. I'm hoping they can deliver the new flooring and pick up the old on the same day early next week.