Practicing on the Customer's Floor

Just when I have an experience with a good installer, I end up with one with a poor installer.  Or maybe I should say uneducated installer.  I visited my sister earlier this week on my way to another inspection. She had just had a new floating floor installed in her house. The floors looked terrible, with lots of uneven joints. She showed them to me (though they were quite obvious), and said the installer indicated that it was the first time he had ever installed a floating floor. I looked at them, and told her she needed to get someone from the store back out there. (Sadly, it took my comments before the store would send someone.)

Turns out that the grooves were cut oversize, and the tongues were randomly glued to the top or the bottom of the groove, resulting in lots of overwood and unevenness.

I guess my point is that if you don't know how to do something, learning at a customer's house is not the way to do it.  I am surprised at the number of installers who don't even read the installation instructions.  If instructions come with the flooring, they are routinely thrown away or otherwise ignored.  Often, instructions don't come with the material, whether it be flooring, adhesive, or underlayment, but they are relatively easy to find on the Internet or by phone call.  If instructions are not readily available, in print, maybe you should use a different product.

As an inspector, I will check to see that the floor was installed per manufacturer's instructions. Manufacturers will look for the same thing. And many court cases have been determined on proper installation, even if the issues are not related.

My sister ended up getting a new floor, and a different installer.