It is a combination of Hickory and the final sanding. Post a photo at a different angle - 90 degrees from what you have here.

Another angle

Another

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Last one

Those dark blotches are caused from the big machine, uneven sanding, slight chatter and drum lines along length. The final sanding with their buffer needs to be done better. Using a hard plate, multi-head or a firmer buffing pad, such as a single or double maroon pad with 120 grit screen. 120 grit sand dollar will work, also. I believe it is the green color sand dollar. They need to slow down on the final sanding and use lighting for inspection so, these flaws do not get pass them. Only fix is to redo, unless you can live with it. If so, ask for discount.

Thank you for this feedback. I'll definitely share this with them. It doesn't looks good at all so we definitely want it to be redone but now I don't know if I can trust it to be done right the second time. When I shared the feedback when they were on their second coat, I was told this is how the wood absorbed the stain and they do not have control. This just feels unacceptable

Oops...What do my eyes spy, "When I shared the feedback when they were on their second coat..." Second coat of WHAT? Stain????

Yes second coat of stain

But the color didn't change at all

"When I shared the feedback when they were on their second coat"

That is a big, big no-no. You never do 2 coats of stain it greatly increases the odds of adhesion failure with the top coats.

As above. The good news is this is a do over. The bad news is these people don't have the knowledge to get hickory to take stain.

My worry is that they'll redo and it still will be terrible :(

In the building industry, the rule of thumb (please look into state's/province's statutes) is the original contractor (are you sure you hired a reputable wood flooring professional?) to make ONE attempt to correct their mistake. Once that mistake has FAILED your requirements - which you were smart enough to write down in a text or email WITH a response from said contractor - you can then remove them from the contract (they failed to meet terms) and you can go out and find someone else to do the work. The courts like to see ONE attempt to let them fix their mistake and make their money.

If they applied a second coat of stain, it *sounds like (I'm assuming, only you and the contractor were there...which is why you document, document, document...and if in doubt...document) you have already voiced your concerns with their first attempt at stain application.

OK...you need to get all this in texts/emails. You need to give clear, well written directions that the contractor MUST create/produce/or correct to ENSURE they get their payment.

What does your contract say? What COLOUR are you trying to 'force' onto hickory (hickory is like a brindle pitbull...it is HEAVILY striped browns, red-oranges, walnut browns and strong blondes). Hickory can be stained...but it takes a LOT of effort to get it to do something AGAINST its inherent nature.

I'm working on sending an email right now! Planning on adding other pictures and share that we are not happy with the final results. I took a look at the contract and there isn't much other than:

'[[Company]] provides one-year warranty (non-transferable) on the installation labor, and material warranties will be handled by respective manufacturers. We will certainly aid in any warranty claims. We want you to be 100% satisfied, so please communicate to us if there is anything you are not happy with.'

We were provided a color catalog to choose from that will work well on Hickory and we tested it on the existing floors to ensure we like it. It looks different when the entire room is stained.

We did hire a local, reputable flooring professional so we're hoping this will be corrected.

I’m considering hickory also. Can you share what width it is and is it Select or Character grade?

I currently have the same problem on floors done yesterday. Looks like there are dirty footprints throughout. I'd like to know if you ever were able to resolve this issue? Please advise. Michele

Hi mosko3m, we ended up restraining something darker and it looks waaaay better. The crew did it again for free because it was obviously terrible. They also sanded it again with an even more fine sanding. Darker looks better for hickory

My husband thinks it might be because they didn’t use a conditioner on the wood initially - nothing to do with the sanding as you were advised. Did your same contractor redo the job or did you go with someone else?

Sorry - I just re-read your post. Same crew but redo with a dark stain? Could you please post a redo photo ? Appreciate your help !

No worries! Yes same crew-- more fine sanding and a darker stain (I also believe they conditioned or did something earlier). Here's what it looks like now. The darker looks so much better and definitely lesson learned that lighter stains don't really work on hickory floors. I hope you can get it redone! Are you thinking someone new or the same contractors?

We also tried almost 10 additional stains after and darker just looked better. We would've wanted lighter stained floors but realized this isn't the wood for rhat

Same contractor

They look beautiful!

Thanks so much for sharing. Very helpful

@Sarah Sanger: congrats on the end result! Sorry what you had to endure to get there! What stain color did you end up selecting? It looks great. Thanks!

@meghan - apologies this is a bit late but we went with the 175 jacobean (duraseal quickcoat)