Recently we had a exotic hardwood floor installed in our home. We are first time hardwood owners and love the beauty of the floor. We want to be sure that our install has been completed properly and that our floor does not have a manufacture defect (420 sqft of flooring installed and 110 boards have splinters.) We do not know what we should expect from a newly installed floor...is this type of thing normal?

We also have some concerns about how our stairs were completed and would like to find out if the installer used materials that were appropriate and meet industry standards. Our staircase is mortised treads and risers. We selected a white riser for decorator reasons as well as it was more economical. The installers used 1/4 inch luan/lucite board for the riser. By doing this we have lost tread depth and we have large indentation in the baseboard that they filled with caulk. Research shows that had we gone with a hardwood riser the depth would have been 3/4 inch thick. Can anyone please provide advice on how our stairs should have been completed? Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Kim, Your questions are difficult to decifer. 110 boards with splinters? Floors are not supposed to have splinters but perhaps you mean something else. Mortised treads and risers? Are you speaking about how the rough frame stairs were made? There are usually two ways. Housed stringers (into which the risers and treads are fit) and standard carriages built of 2x12's and plywood. Once again, your terminology is confusing. My advice is to speak with the salesperson or installer who did the work. Ask them your questions. If something doesn't look right to you, ask for an explanation as to why it was done the way it was done. If you are not satisfied with the answers you get, you could hire an independant inspector to have a look and see if everything was done as it should be. Kinda hard for us to tell without pictures or better descriptions.

Who manufactured this exotic wood and is it a solid, or cross-ply engineered?
Is it square edge, beveled or eased edge boards?



Are you saying, if they would have use the ¾" riser board instead of the ¼" , it would have covered the gap left in the baseboard/stringer up the side of the staircase, instead they caulked it?

If so, that sould have been noticed right off and addressed so minimal caulking, if any would have been needed.

Sounds like a hole left was left on each side of the stair stringer/skirt when the nosing was cut off and pull out to allow for the installation over the stair sub base. Yes 3/4" riser material and new nosing would have covered it. Caulking is a poor mans way out of that one. Spackle, sanded and painted would have left no noticeable effects unless you looked for it.