Thank you so much. We weren’t given an option for glue down assist. Now that we have the whole house humidifier will the floors self correct or will they continue to get worse? The gaps are one thing but the squeaking is particularly awful. So disappointing after we spent 30k on this floor. The installer warned us against too much humidity from painting but not too little humidity which is really hard to come by in Colorado even with a whole house humidifier

The manufacturer directions say it can be nailed down, glued or floated. No indication that it must be nailed and glued. The basement is glued and floated but still presenting gaps. the floor is engineered hardwood 7.5 inch wide

The installer needs to use their own discretion in regards to which installation method is suitable for your region. That will be based on experience and not on national standards.

Will the floors get better with more humidity? What will happen in the summer when the air conditioning is on?

If, you have a HVAC system, get a inline whole house humidifier installed. It is more efficient compared to portable humidifiers. Set it to 40% and forget it.

Thank you all! Yes we have a whole house humidifier just recently installed so hopefully we will see results

An update: we’ve come to find out that the product required glue down assist. The floors were nailed down on main level by installer, no glue was used. This is the level with extremely loud squeaky and large gaps. We paid for glue down on the basement level only to find out at walkthrough he used a combination of float and glue. The boards that were floated are squishy and spongy and seem like they are going to pop up when you walk on them. My 30 lb toddler was jumping and you can visibly see intense movement of the boards. We’ve altered the installer along with the directions for install and haven’t heard back yet. The installer recommended these floors to boot.

My question is

1. what is our recourse with the installer? What can he do to make this right? Can certain areas be fixed or is this a rip and replace?

I’m extremely concerned about the longevity of the floors if these issues are presenting after only 8 weeks and 1 week of occupancy. We spent roughly about 14k on materials and 12k on install.

Thank you for the advice!!

Install instructions

Have you paid the installer in full? Is he licensed and insured? Approach him first but you very well may need your attorney on this one if he is pain on full. First floor may be able to be lifted, renailed with glus assist or it may not. The basement with the combo is probably toast and will require rip out, floor prep and new flooring.

Thank you millworkman. Appreciate the response. As far as we know he’s licensed and insured.

And yes we’ve already paid in full unfortunately

You would need to prove that the contractor ignored the manufacturer's instruction intentionally. Which sounds like they did

What did they pre-sell you at the time of quoting the project? Did you compare the quote to any other ones? You compare procesess? Did they disclosed all information regarding installation?

You have a one year warranty. If, the contractor does not warrant it. File a complaint with the state and take them to claims court.

Thank you so much everyone. We met with the contractor and he came up with a bunch of excuses for the poor performance of the floor mainly that more renovations took place after his job was done and there were environmental conditions at play, which seems crazy since it is common practice for flooring to go down and renovations to continue.

As for his reasons for not following manufacturer instructions using glue down assist for wide plank flooring, he claims that he couldn’t use glue because we asked for sound proofing. He recommended the eco quiet walk product, he did not say it would impact manufacture installation instructions.

My question is, can you still use glue down assist with underlayment?

Thank you so much!

Some sound proofing underlayments allow you to do a glue down over it. You need to check with the manufacturer Quiet Walk does not allow double gluing but, Quiet Walk Plus does allow double gluing. You need to use a universal flooring adhesive for Quiet walk plus.

The contractor is a advisor to the client. It's the contractor's responsibility to have knowledge of which type of product is required and a fit for certain types of project. Knowing that you want sound proofing with a wide plank installation. Proper recommendations should have been made for a successful installation/outcome.

You could have used cork for sound proofing. The cork would be glued down (full spread) and then the wide plank would be glued (full spread) and nailed on top of it. We call this a double glued installation. The glue and cork is your sound proofing system. You have three layers of sound proofing material, two layers of glue with the cork sandwiched in between.

A double glue down with nail assist is considered the best installation method for wood flooring. You have three layers of sound proofing. Not, only that, the sound proofing materials are moisture retarders. So, your wood flooring is well protected from underneath. The flooring is fastened down with full spread of glue and nails. If, you ever need to make a repair. It will probaly take a couple of hours to remove a single board.

Thank you so much G & S for all of the expert information. You’ve been so wonderful. I can’t thank you enough.

The exact product name is Eco Ultra Quiet Premium Acoustical Underlayment. I do believe the product allows double glueing but I’m waiting for the exact installation instructions from manufacturer.

Appreciate you taking all the time to help me out. Thank you again!

I am looking to purchase this same floor. Aside from the problem with installation are you happy with the floor?

I live the floor its so beautiful for rhe modern farmhouse look. make sure instlaller follows instructions! we sued the contractor and won

We love the floor, its gorgeous. very durable w/ kids. doesnt show dirt. just make sure installer follows directions. we ended up suing. we won but its still a huge hassle not replacing the floor anytime soon

Can you post a few more pictures of what it looks like? Is it more gray or beige?

Hi, decided to go with this floor. It's being installed on Wed. I opened some boxes and laid the floor out and there is a ton of variation in the planks- color and grain. Did you notice that? Can you send a few more pictures?