Looking for information (links to industry articles would be great if you have them saved somewhere) to use as ammunition in a dispute with our builder.
We bought a spec new construction house in Wisconsin recently. The builder had solid
Bellawood "Brazilian Chestnut" installed. After closing during the move-in process it was noticed that the finish was starting to bubble in spots along the grain.
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The builder was super helpful until the manufacturer declared it as moisture issues and not covered by the manufacturer warranty. He's claimed that it was fine when he cleaned it right before closing so it "must have been something you did".
Here's what we've been able to figure out:
- The floor was most likely installed in the middle of the Wisconsin winter.
- We don't know yet how long the floor was allowed to acclimate.
- We don't know what the RH% of the house was during that period
- The issue didn't start showing until the beginning of July when we had our first big hot and humid weather
- The floor does not have the 3/4" gap recommended by the manufacture around the outside as the baseboard is only 3/4"
We've consulted a friend of a builder friend who has 40 years flooring industry experience and he's of the opinion that nothing we did caused the issue. He also stated that the floor is likely Cumaru which is known for having moisture issues. He listed a dozen things that he and the contacts he consulted thought could have caused it, most on the installer and none on us. The top was not enough acclimation and improper humidity levels at installation.
As the floor has dried approaching winter we're seeing gaps and ridges. I bought relative humidity meters and the current air humidity level has stayed between 40-60% since I got them. We're currently in the upper 40% range, but I expect that we'll have to run a humidifier in the winter to keep it over 40%.
My wife wants to ask the builder to replace the floor with something more suited to the climate like a pre-finished hard maple. Her position is this is not our issue and the builder needs to hash it between himself, the installer, and the manufacturer. The other option we see is refinishing the floor if the floor is now considered "stable" enough. We're looking for ammunition to go back to him, trying to avoid spending the money on a professional inspector but are willing to go that route and to court if necessary.