The quality of that stair rail leaves a lot to be desired. I wouldn’t expect to see unfilled nail holes, a chunk of wood missing, uneven cuts and overuse of putty on seams.

While the joints aren't the best, the finishing isn't good. That end grain in the second picture should have been sealed up a bit so it didn't suck in so much finish and turn black. There should be no visible sanding marks.

Thank you for your input. We have not had many renovations done previously and I was pretty sure that this work was sub par but did not want to be overly critical.

As for the sanding marks, the same installers left similar marks on our living room floor and insisted it was because of the age of the wood- this is the first time the floors were sanded and refinished.

Its very poor workmanship. Why are you letting him continue to do things, when he is so bad. You will just have to pay again, to have things properly done. Remodeling, should increase the price of your house, if you should sell it, not decrease it.

The contractor's attempt at destressing looks depressing.

Thank you everyone for your input. The carpenter installed the stairs and handrail, posts, etc the floor installers came back to stain the stairs and handrail.

I almost hate to ask, but since he installed stairs and handrails, have you physically measured to see if it meets the very stringent codes for stairs?

Thank you. We will check on the stair measurements. The flooring store/contractor tried to tell me when you fill in the nail holes it makes dark marks- as though that were the only issue and implying that it is normal to leave nails showing (in addition to mis-cuts and missing chunks of wood). I asked if they have a different carpenter that they work with and the answer was "no".

Doesn't look like the floor installers bothered to fill the nail holes on the stair parts. Looks as though excess stain pooled in the nail holes. That, and the crappy sanding is on them.

I'll add that the milling on the stair parts (Picture #3) looks suspect. And bad milling may explain the gob of filler in Picture #1.

Carpentry work B- or C. Finishing (fill, sand, stain work) is a big fat F.

Thank you. I am going to ask for the handrail to be redone. The owner of the flooring store that we contracted with saw the pictures and said it would be fine when the last coat of sealer went on and would not discuss the mis-cuts and missing pieces of wood. I am also convinced that he is not using a licensed carpenter for the job.