Pictures?

Manufacturer? Type of flooring? Engineering wood? Laminate? Thickness? You need to be aware that a refinish may not even be possible.

The manufacturer is Pinnacle, we have the varied width planks in Shadow (Hearthstone collection, I believe). Unfortunately, they are no longer listed on their website, but I found this description on another retailer's site, which seems accurate to the research I did when we selected the flooring.

"Beautifully hand scraped, pillowed sides and edges display a 1.5mm face, this 6" x 3/8" hardwood flooring collection also boasts a 7 Ply construction. Equipped with a beautiful Amceric finish to protect your floor. Comes with a 25 year residential warranty and a lifetime structural warranty. Also available in mixed widths."

Here are a few pics. The 2nd picture is near our fridge and extends nearly the length of the appliance.

Sounds like you need to do some vigorous searching for your builder. If you know where out of state he moved to you have an advantage. Also, do you know any of the subcontractors that he used? Do you have any warranty paperwork for the house that might be helpful? Any neighbors who might still have contact info?

Try the BBB (search nationwide) and your state's business license bureau. Search for his name on facebook, LinkedIn, Google or Bing.

Those last two should bring up directory search sites like Whitepages or PeopleSearch, and some of those search sites will allow you a day or more of searching for only $1 - then you can discontinue your subscription before full price kicks in. They work even if you only know his name and approx. age because they will show where he previously lived.

My DD was able to locate a former employer who had closed their business and moved out of state - she needed a reference specific to her job duties with them.

Even if he is retired, the builder may have documentation of his suppliers or at least remember who he used.

Another thought - he likely bought the material locally, so search the manufacturer's website for their retailers (many will list them), and contact local flooring wholesalers to see if they carry or carried the brand 4 years ago.

You are not effectively refinishing that. That is a prefinished floor, with those micro bevels and the hand-scraping you would need to sand past those to refinish properly. do you know the thickness of the boards by chance? A prefinished floor warranty will be almost worthless as they are designed with so many outs that the hoops you need to jump thru all end up no where as something will not meet their warranty.

wear layer is only 1.5mm cann't refinish even once I believe unless 3mm wear layer.

shouldn't pinnacle have a warranty?

What's your cleaning method?

Cleaning method is to use a "hardwood approved" vacuum, wipe up spills as soon as they happen. I know that mopping with water isn't recommended. We had brand new wood floors in our previous home and didn't do anything special to take care of them (I used a variety of cleaners to figure out what worked best) and they still looked new when we moved out after 7 years. So I'm baffled at this flooring.

Warranty is 25 years, but you can only claim through your retailer.

Good news! I looked through all of our paperwork and found the vendor. Any tips on how I approach the conversation (located in a different city) so it will be over phone or email?

Thank you so much for this incredibly detailed response, it was very helpful! And also I've realized that I likely wouldn't get through the process. We do monitor the humidity in our house since I have indoor allergies (but I'm not sure how to prove this) and I've limited cleaning products to those swiffer wood floor wipes (though I'm not sure if these are approved, I checked the manufacturer's' website for recommended cleaning products when we moved in, but they didn't have any listed). I don't own a steam cleaner. It's no wonder that flooring manufacturers offer such great warranties since it sounds like they never have to pay out!

"swiffer wood floor wipes"

If they are the wet floor wipes, they are about the worst thing going for wood floors.

I think "woos" is the wrong term.

Oh dear. Swiffer wet wipes. Sigh. That explains the extensive damage. I'm going to guess you use the wipes 2x more often in the kitchen = first place it started. Sound about right?

Here are your Maintenance Instructions: They are under the NWFA Guidelines...

GENERAL FLOOR CARE DIRECTIONS Initial Care-Clean the floor thoroughly by sweeping or vacuuming. Use an approved wood floor cleaner as directed. Routine Care-Sweep or vacuum floor regularly to remove dust and dirt, both of which may dull the shine and scratch the finish. Promptly wipe up spills. To remove problem marks, apply acetone to area with a soft cloth. To clean large areas, use a cloth dampened with an approved wood floor cleaner, and dry with a clean cloth. Buffing is not required.

Swiffer 'wet' anything is not approved by the NWFA. Sorry but your cleaning option has most likely done the most damage. These Wipes are SOAKING wet. Which means it is too wet for a wood floor.

When we talk about 'slightly damp" we mean it. If you can imagine a damp cloth that has had ALL the water wrung from it (by hand)...that's they type of 'damp' we are talking about.

Your cleaning should be:

Sweep: 2-7 times per week

Water-Only SLIGHTLY damp mop: 1 per week

pH neutral Hardwood Cleaner: Spray the microfibre mop head with cleaner (very little) and then move across the floor = 1-2 PER MONTH

Yep. You only "clean" your hardwood 12-20 times per YEAR. And the clean is used VERY SPARINGLY.

It looks like the thinness of the veneer (1.5mm = budget-thin) and the Swiffer cleaner have done the damage. At this point you need a new floor. There is 'almost' no way to fix this. Not one that looks good anyway.

I use wet Swiffers at LEAST once a week on my wood floors, and have done so for the 9 years we’ve lived here (and also in our previous home.) I’ve never, never, never had it do that to my floors. I think it might be a manufacturing issue or something. The wet Swiffers aren’t even all that wet! If a Swiffer caused that damage, the stain or sealer weren’t properly applied.

"These Wipes are SOAKING wet. Which means it is too wet for a wood floor."

Yes they are. I use them on my porcelain bathroom tiles and I have to put them on the applicator in the bathroom, by the sink, because they drip so much. Even after the package has been opened for months, they still drip. I was hoping they would dry out a bit. Nah. Still dripping.

I've been using the Bona wet wipes for my engineered wood floors. Are they ok for long term use?

A two year old thread where the OP states that he contacted Pinnacle flooring and the flooring he was considering had a 'UV oil finish'.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5073140/pinnacle-hardwood-plantation-8-series-uv-oil-finish-or-amceric

There is a current thread on how painters' tape stripped the finish off of an oil finish floor.

The good news is you have a rough flooring that will disguise imperfections. I would try to stain the exposed areas with a marker or some wood stain in the appropriate color or even black. Nothing to lose.

People who successfully use wet cleaners on engineered wood flooring probably have a commercial type aluminum oxide finished flooring. Your finish looks less than paper thin.