wood flooring

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from http://schhresidents.forumco.com/

"We had Bruce manufactured wood floors put down in several rooms earlier this year and they looked beautiful when first installed but the finish is already deteriorating. We talked to the Bruce distributer about our problems and got nowhere. Our installer has been in and taken new moisture meter readings and tells us the readings are in the high end of acceptable for the product but based on the readings, moisture should not be the cause of the problems. Has anyone else encountered similar problems? We are paying to bring in an inspector who specializes in flooring issues. We will know more after his inspection, but was interested to see if anyone else had problems with Bruce flooring products and if so how were they dealt with.Thanks."

Ray Koenig Posted - 07/17/2010 : 3:49:37 PM

All wood flooring manufacturers that I’m aware of have very specific instructions regarding allowable moisture levels, slab preparation, and vapor barrier installation. These are typically printed on each carton and on a separate sheet inside each carton. The instructions can also be found on the manufacturer’s website.

• Were moisture readings taken BEFORE the floor was installed, as manufactures’ recommend?


• Did you observe the installation?


• Was the concrete slab cracked?


• Was there water, or evidence of water, coming from the crack(s)?


• Were cracks filled with an epoxy as manufacturers recommend?


• Was a vapor barrier installed as manufacturers recommend?


• Were edges sealed?

To those contemplating wood floors, follow the manufacturers’ instructions explicitly, or make sure that your installer follows manufacturer instructions explicitly. This includes manufacturer instructions regarding acceptable moisture levels. Manufacturers are quite clear that their product should NOT be installed if moisture levels exceed the recommended maximum.

In January 2009 we bought some Pergo wood flooring on sale at Lowe’s and installed it in our den. Detailed instructions regarding allowable moisture, surface preparation, and vapor barrier installation were on each box (roughly 15 or so boxes), in each box, and on Pergo’s website. When I took up the rug and padding there was a HUGE crack that ran from wall to wall. The vapor barrier, that is SUPPOSED TO BE UNDER THE SLAB when it is poured, came through the crack. SHODDY CONSTRUCTION BY PULTE.

http://peretired.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-is-this.html

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.The slab is VERY uneven (up and down). MORE SHODDY CONSTRUCTION BY PULTE. Fortunately, the slab was not wet, nor did it appear that water had come through the crack. I filled the crack with epoxy and installed a vapor barrier per Pergo instructions. Except for the uneven floor (which has nothing to do with the flooring), the Pergo flooring looks as good today as the day that I installed it (according to Pergo’s instructions).

I encourage anyone with a bad experience with products/vendors to post on my blogsite, http://customertalk.blogspot.com/. SPEAKING UP and SPEAKING OUT PUBLICLY is the way that that we seniors can fight incompetent and unscrupulous companies.

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do NOTHING." Edmund Burke
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