In May 2008 I had Mercier Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors put into my dining room, hall and living room. I selected Mercier Brazilian Cherry hardwood because I had it installed in another room six years ago.

Within 3 months after the installation I noticed several boards were starting to crack. The degree of cracking varies from noticeable splintering with the top coat being broken on many and distinct crack lines on others without any splintering (yet).

The installer came out and looked at the floor and told me it was a manufacturing problem. The wholesaler who sold it to the Retailer I purchased it from came out and agreed it was a product defect.

Yesterday the Mercier rep came out and looked at it. He told me they would do board replacements (cut out the problem boards and glue down replacements). Then he told me to "adjust my expectations" and "pick out the boards that bothered me the most" because if he could not see a crack when standing directly above a board then it was not considered a problem.

Due to the posting rules I can't use the words to describe my opinion of that fool. I am looking for 1. recommendations and how to approach this problem, and 2. any information on problems others have had or are aware of related to Mercier products.

Hre is a link to some pictures of the cracking http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p64/ ... =slideshow

The rep is misinterpreting the standing position standard, either out of inexperience or simply a company man... I won't speculate here.

You need to be firm, polite and cordial and go over his head if necessary.

The standing position guideline pertains to issues that are more or less a permanent thing , ie;....direct/indirect light , reflective lighting, finish blemish, chatter marks, face nails holes, ect. What you have is an ongoing or more fluid type situation.... you just didn't go to bed one night with perfect boards and get up the next morning seeing splits.

Has anyone taken any moisture content and relative humidity readings?

Thanks for the information Jerry. The original installer did moisture readings before and after he installed. The installer, distributor and Merier all did moisture readings when they inspected the problem boards and they were all within the expected range.

I will do so more research on the "standing position standard".

Thanks again.

They expected to see the readings they got, for the concern they saw?

or

Did they get readings expected for an occupied home kept between35-50% rH??

None of the humidity readings were suggested to be a reason for the problem.

they got readings expected for an occupied home kept between 35-50% rH?? They were also testing the humidity in the wood itself which again came back within a range that they considered normal.

I have used this product and have found it to be very susceptible to these types of imperfections. It seems to be very "crunchy". The wood easily cracks and dents, normal usage (i.e. dropping something on them) could cause it. Also, is it possible that the wood (some of them) was already cracked and defective and the installer installed them anyways and you just happen to notice them at a later time?

I do not believe the were cracked when they were installed. I think there are defects in the wood or the finish that are causing the problem. Mercier is offering to do "board replacement" for about 3 boxes of wood. This will create a significant dust mess in my home and then I will have glued down boards. Mercier is not a company I would do business with again.

If they offered you new flooring throughout, would you complain about the dust mess that is going to create, or the furniture and molding that will need removal and replacement and repainting, among other things involved with wood flooring replacement?

Your lucky they are willing to replace the affected boards at all. Bruce will leave you high and dry, telling you the humidity is not consistent, or too low in your home causing the cracks and it is your fault.

I guess I don't understand your point. I paid a premium price for a premium product with a very good warranty promise. The floors cracked within a few months and the failure rate is already 15%+. Would anyone expect individual boards to be replaced in that instance?

I would recommend staying away from Mercier products since the warranty is not worth the paper it is written on.

Common practice on claims is to replace the damaged area only. And with the adhesives today, nothing wrong with gluing down the replacement boards. If the cracking continues to effect more of the flooring, then Mercier may consider a full re-placement. I'd let them make the repairs but continue to keep the complaint open until you see how the replacement goes and if the floors stop cracking.

So you are saying that there are at least 15% of the total area that are damaged and counting? If they agree to do the board replacements, let them do it, there is nothing wrong with board replacements, except for the new board might take a little while to age so that it looks uniform with the rest of the floor. Once the replacements are done, if the problem continue to show itself, then there are obvious defects with the wood. From the pictures, it doesn't look like a finish problem.

Any ideas on how to reduce the amount of saw dust that will be created by cutting out 85 to 100 boards?

It seems silly to me to go through the labor cost to cut and replace this many individual boards. Not to mention the dust cloud that will dirty my home and impact two kids with asthma. Then we can look at the checkerboard floor until the colors catch up.

This Mercier product is not worth the premium they charge.

No matter what you do there is going to be dust. If the floor is totally replaced then cuts have to be made to rip up the old floor. and then there will be as much dust as the original installation. I don't think there will be more dust one way or the other. if a vacuum hose is held near the exhaust of the saw it can minimize the dust but there will still be some. the best thing would be to remove all the furniture or at least cover it during the process.

I might be in agreement IF I saw the entire job and the scope of the work. It is also possible the manufacturer isn't paying for all the labor. They maybe telling the installer they are partly to blame and have to supply some of the labor for free. You'll never know unless someone tells you. To be honest with you, unless the installer is very patient and top flight, I'd expect some of the replaced boards to not fit as well as they would had Mercier replaced the entire floor. I say that because of the amount of boards needing replacement and how very tedious work it is. However, the manufacturer has decided on this course of action and unless you can change their mind, there isn't much you can do. Even if you refuse and sue them, they would testify that you would not allow them to repair the floor. Then the court would adjust any settlement based on that. I'm afraid you will be major inconvenienced for awhile, unless Mercier changes their mind.

I'm in full agreement with that. If it were me I would hire my own certified inspector for a second opinion before my house gets torn apart like that. You would want an inspector who has an extensive wood background and is NWFA or NOFMA certified and has no dog in this fight.