Recently had Robbins Exotic Bister Walnut installed in our living room by a local company, which says they had 20+ years installing wood flooring. On day 1, and by the time they laid about 3/4 of the room, we noticed that the pattern of the wood was not appropriate. With exotic wood, you get a variety of colors/shades and the idea is to mix them well so they're alternating. I figured the installers knew this and would pull from many boxes, but they didn't. One by one, they laid the floor and now we've got big patches of dark and light wood (not mixed well)! I had the owner of the company come out and he says they did nothing wrong. In fact, he said that we paid them to "install, not design" which is ridiculous! He even went on to say that doing it the right way wouldn't look good either. He ended by saying that the wood wasn't good either. Beyond this, they laid the wood too close to the wall (didn't leave the expected 1/4 inch around the perimeter) and staped the planks, even though the instructions say to use glue only. Many issues here and obviously he's not owning up to anything and frankly gave us a bad attitude. Told him to stop the project (we're installing same floor in our dining room too) and we'll settle up what we owe - although we're not paying until we get this resolved. Since then, we've had several people come over to look at the wood - interior designers, flooring installers, carpenters... all said the same thing - it wasn't installed properly. I'm prepared to go to small claims court with this guy and just looking for ammunition to use against him. Any input would be appreciated.

(P.S. - How do I post an image?)

EDITED By Administration. Added Photos

You should pay to get a report from a certified wood flooring inspector to go to court.

A racing stripe.... @ no extra charge, he said

agree with wiwbar , lol thaat looks so bad , good luck ,sorry
tommy

20 years and they don't blend the boxes? WOW !!

Small Claims Court? Are you able to sue for enough money in Small Claims to recover your investment?

As an installer i always pull from several boxes and make sure nothing looks "odd" or color varying isnt crazy. Acorrding to most manufacturer's the guideline is to "pull from several cartons" while installing just as it says for the Robbins floor you purchased. Technically speaking "Several" means more than 1. So if they are pulling from 2-3 boxes they did nothing out of the norm. I have never found it necessary to open all X amount of boxes and lay it out due to shade variation. Thats a tediuous and ridiculous process.

To solve your problem since your shading problem does not appear to be everywhere, i would just do like 15 board replacements and call it a day.
Even if you get an inspector what are they going to say? The wood has major color variation. Well thats obvious. Most exotic woods due. I bet if you just moved your furniture back and started living on your floor you wouldnt even notice it; it would be more normal to you. .

This is not the function of this board, to supply consumers with ammunition to use against installers. Read the forum note below the message board title. It says, "Forum to help with installation, refinishing and purchasing of hardwood flooring for contractors and DIY."
Had you asked our opinion on the quality of the installation, and left it at that, then you would have received a "warmer" welcome. As it is, I suggest you do as Wiwbar suggested and hire an inspector.

Gary:

That's probably my fault because I asked him to post the information and did include those words...ooops Not only is there poor board color mix, but the staggering is not proper either. I like the board replacement idea as an option, but are they able to handle that function?

Just goes to show you that people who claim to have 20 years exp are sometimes not the best at their craft.

Every floor installer is responsible for the way your floor looks, and needs to lay things out properly and mix the boxes. Unless you have really bad flooring with defects that are beyond their control.

Maybe your installer never delt with exotic woods before and the greater variance in colors.

Sorry to pile on, but that floor looks terrible like that. Hope you get your money back and can have it done right.

I honestly hate to pull up an old thread, but I'm new here and had an opinion. Man... That's bad. Granted, they are correct in saying they don't do "patterns". They are indeed paid to install. BUT, and the big "but"... They should have common sense. If I wouldn't do it in my own home, why would I lay it like that in yours? Honestly, they did a half-ass job if you ask me.

And taking them to small claims isn't worth it all that much... The money you pay to go there doesn't even amount to what is lost. I'd most likely just take the loss. The money you'd owe them is the money you had to pay to have that crap fixed, if not ripped up.

Since we don't know the square feet needed to repair this................

It may not be a big expense to replace a few boards to blend in and make the install look great.

sometimes 20 boards can take care of alot of problems like this one.